5-24 Elizabeth Harbour

These last few weeks have found us anchoring in several spots between Georgetown and Stocking Island depending on the weather. What we did find was that irregardless of wind, unless you go thru the dinghy cut into Victoria Lake at slack water, entering and leaving the lake by dinghy is like getting tumbled around inside a washing machine. At times, we would have been best served by wearing our wet suits! On top of that, our Yamaha 15 HP outboard has been temperamental. I've taken apart, rebuilt and cleaned about everything I know of - twice - but at high load the motor stalls out. Hmmm. At any rate, for Mother's Day we went over to the Chat n' Chill for their Sunday pig roast and conch salad. It's a bit pricey, but a good place to meet other cruisers. During the week we've really been in laid-back mode. A bit of hiking and swimming...mostly just chilling, reading and eating. We've met Steve and Rhonda of sv Cloud 9 and have enjoyed getting together with them a few times. The other night we had a "pizza night" aboard with them and Jody and Dan of Champagne Moment. I made the dough, and everyone brought the toppings they wanted. After 5 pizzas, all of us were stuffed. Every Monday night, Eddies Restaurant has their Rake and Scrape. We hitched a ride with Steve and Rhonda into town from our anchorage at Monument Beach. There were 5 band members who did a really credible job and the dancing music was great. Lots of cruisers and locals, and another enjoyable evening. We got to bed after 10:30...late for us! Yesterday, we did a bit of provisioning as Ty and Hanne arrive tomorrow, and Jon and Ashley Saturday.

5-8 Calabash Bay, Long Island

Pos: N23deg38.07min/ W075deg20.43min. We took advantage of the good weather and headed out this morning from Cat Island, after staging just north of Hawk's Nest Point yesterday afternoon. The latter saved us 10 nm from our position at the very head of the bay as well as a few hours travel time on our route to Long Island. This morning's wind was NE 8-15 knots, and with full main, Yankee and staysail drawing we saw our speed from 4-6.3 knots. The really good news of the day is we landed a beautiful 4' mahi-mahi (dolphin fish) that Sue promptly filleted. Finally! One of our favorite fish, neither of us can remember the last mahi-mahi we caught so we're looking forward to dinner! We're anchored in 15' sand in front of a beautiful sandy beach; the Cape Santa Maria Beach Resort & Villas are nearby. Don't know if we'll visit there or not; that's for another day.

5-3 Exploring New Bight

We started walking in the rain to the Hermitage (I'll explain that in a minute) and were picked up by a kindly sole who drove us to the entrance. Actually, the walk from the beach where we landed the dinghy to the site wasn't that far, but with the rain coming down fairly hard we were appreciative of the lift. The Hermitage is a mini-monastery built by Father Jerome (aka Monsignor John Cyril Hawes,1876-1956) who was a Church architect, building cathedrals in England, Australia and the Bahamas. On Cat Island, he built the St Francis of Assisi Church, the Holy Redeemer Church as well as his retirement home, the Hermitage. The latter sits upon Mount Alvernia at a height of 206', the highest peak in the Bahamas. He lived there 17 years and this served as his spiritual retreat, having been built by hand using native materials. The buildings and furniture are all simple and non-decorative, as if to put the supplicant in closer touch to his surrounds and God. The views from the summit are beautiful and one can climb past the stations of the cross up the fairly steep terrain to reach it. A sundial greets the visitor at the top. The cathedral bell sits in the bell tower which was hit by lightning a few years back. Several small out-buildings serve as kitchen and pump station. The bedroom comprises a small plank for the bed and the tiny chapel is also a simple affair but very moving. Other than the mockingbirds singing, there was no other sound except the wind. As said above, a very spiritual place. Afterwards, we walked down the hill and explored the waterfront area. There's a newer, green-colored building with toilets and a shower for visitors; I can't think of anywhere else in the Caribbean or Bahamas, or anywhere for that matter, that provides such a luxury. We ate lunch at the Sunshine Cafe, where we enjoyed conch fritters and baked chicken. After, Pompey Johnson treated everyone to an impromptu Rake & Scrape on his concertina. His two daughters accompanied him, playing a cowhide covered drum and saw/screwdriver rhythm section. Fun music on the island whose inhabitants think theirs is the best Rake & Scrape of all the Bahamas. When we got back to the boat, I stripped down the Yamaha 15 outboard as it was running rough and was difficult to start. I cleaned the carburetor and fuel pump and changed the spark plugs. It started right up and sounded good, but some late afternoon squalls are rolling thru so we'll have to take a test run tomorrow.

5-2 New Bight, Cat Island

Pos: N24deg17.159min/ W075deg25.268min. We left Georgetown at 0615 and had a nice 50 nm run to Cat Island. Our speed was good to the Hawks Nest Point waypoint but slowed considerably as we motorsailed the last 10 nm to the anchorage in front of the Batelco tower in New Bight due to adverse tide and 20 knots of wind directly on the nose. We anchored at 1645 hours in 6.8' of water at near low tide, so have plenty of water under our keel. There are lots of squalls around and the weather forecast for the remainder of the week doesn't look all that good either. We'll go exploring tomorrow.

4-29 Lots going on

Where to begin? The wind was really honking last week, and our friend Judi's flight was cancelled due to inclement weather. She re-scheduled and arrived this past Wednesday, in time to see part of the 64th National Family Island Regatta which takes place here in Georgetown every year. Racing Bahamian sloop sail boats from many of the Bahamas islands participate and the competition is intense. There are three classes of boats depending on size, and none of the boats have an engine or enclosed ballast. Crew act as ballast and go out on a "pru," which is a long plank shifted from side to side across the boat when tacking. The pru helps keep the boat sailing flat, and timing and coordination, as well as the talent of the skipper to play the wind gusts, is paramount. There were hundreds of spectators ashore and it was a carnival-like atmosphere. Food and drink booths were in abundance and there were kids aplenty playing in three different inflatable bouncy pens. BBQ chicken, ribs, pork and steak were commonly served, as well as conch fritters and conch salad. There were dance and band competitions, a fashion show, a skulling competition and a cultural show. The highlight of the last day was the performance of the Royal Bahamas Police Force Band. Future visitors to Georgetown and the Family Island Regatta: this performance is not to be missed! We had just finished a BBQ chicken platter (prepared by Grill Masters out of Nassau) and found ourselves directly in front of the reviewing stand where the Officials sat. What a great place to film from! The band marched directly in front of us for about a half hour, and we took a gazillion amount of photos and movie clips. We've been anchored at Sanddollar Beach at Stocking Island, and the dinghy ride back from town has been a wet one. At least the water's warm. During her visit, Judi conducted a few yoga classes at volleyball beach the last few mornings which were well attended. Between the hiking, swimming, trips to town, the Regatta, yoga, strumming her guitar, blowing the conch horn, and just chilling, she had a wonderful visit, and took the water taxi to town to get the taxi to the airport. We'll be here another few days before the weather calms down enough for us to leave Georgetown; our plan is to go to Cat Island. We plan...God sometimes laughs.

4-23 Update

It's been a mixed few weeks; some boring days, some busy days. Georgetown is a very sticky spot with lots of cruisers staying around for long periods of time. There's a daily VHF net at 0800 channel 72, and the hailing channel on VHF 68 is usually busy. The water taxis and dinghies run around with cruisers filling their water jugs with free RO water at the dinghy dock, as well as shopping or eating out. Here's a partial list of activities: water aerobics, Texas Hold-'Em, volleyball, bocce ball, trivia, Mexican train dominoes, informational talks from cruisers and other experts, music on the beach, bonfires and happy hours on the beach, and daily lunch and dinner specials at a variety of restaurants. Some folks get here and stay for the entire season, then store their boat at one of the local "hurricane holes" (good luck with that) for the season. So, all this as a prelude to say that in addition to attending a few of the former, we've also been busy hiking, reading, and just being lazy. We've done a variety of minor (thankfully) boat projects, and have re-anchored in a few spots just to have a different view. Today, we pick up our friend Judi who is visiting from Florida, and since she's a yoga instructor, she'll be giving lessons on the beach for the few days she's here. Fun and games in Georgetown; all's well aboard.

4-8 Update

These last days have been a hoot. Yesterday morning we dinghied the 1.2 nm across Elizabeth Harbour to go to town. Just in front of the entrance to Lake Victoria we saw the catamaran Tackless Too, with our friends Don & Gwen aboard, who we hadn't seen since dinner at our place in Florida back in October (?) 2016. After coffee and catching up, we found the dinghy dock and walked around town. Georgetown isn't too big and most shops are within a relatively small area. After a bit of provisioning we went back to the boat and in the afternoon dinghied to the beach where Sue cut my hair. For happy hour, we dinghied (notice a trend here...our dinghy is the family car...) to the Chat 'n Chill at Volleyball Beach here at Stocking Island, which closes daily at 1900. I was underwhelmed by my cheesburger, although Sue did enjoy her conch salad. On the way back after dinner, we spotted an SSCA Commodore burgee and stopped by Allegria, where Dee & Mollie invited us aboard where we spent a congenial few hours chatting; it was like meeting old friends again. When we finally returned to Infini, we had been aboard about 5 minutes when Kalle & Doris (sv Blue Sun) came roaring up to invite us to their farewell happy hour aboard sv Worlddancer II, graciously hosted by Heike & Herwig. We hadn't seen the folks from Blue Sun since Cockburn Town, and Worlddancer II since Boqueron. It was a late night... This morning at 0700, I blew the conch horn (yes, I am improving...) as Blue Sun motored nearby saying goodbye. After the 0800 VHF net (channel 72), we dinghied back to town to do a laundry, stopping briefly along the way at sv Champagne Moment to see Jody & Daniel. Unfortunately, we found the laundromat closed until Monday; this surprised a lot of cruisers...We spent the morning going to many of the shops we hadn't been in, and did further provisioning at the Shop Rite. We've found that shopping both at the Exuma Market as well as Shop Rite afforded a good selection of meats and chicken, as well as fresh veggies. We ate lunch at the Jerk hut, joined by Jody & Daniel; really good BBQ chicken, ribs or pork in large portions for $10-12; both of us shared one lunch. For those following, a few details: gas at the Shell station is $4.80/gallon. Provisioning as noted above. There is also a farmer that sells his veggies several days a week across from the Exuma Market. For wine and spirits, the Liquor Store offers a 20% discount when 12 bottles (of any combination) are purchased, as well as forgoing the 5% credit card fee usually charged at most stores. In the Bahamas, this is a very good deal indeed. Btw, to clarify...no, we did not buy 12 bottles; this is for public information only....
Pic: Notice the conch barge getting ready to go to the conch graveyard. Delicious conch salad while you pet the stingrays.

4-6 Sand Dollar Beach, Stocking Island, Exumas

Pos: N23deg30.68min /W075deg44.67min. We had a beautiful run from Conception Island here. Winds S-SSE 14-16; full main and Yankee, speed 6+ knots. We entered the Exumas at North Channel Rocks and motorsailed to here, anchoring in 17' sand. There are lots of boats here; all of us waiting for a cold front to arrive tomorrow bringing strong winds and squalls. We're about 1.25 nm from Georgetown by dinghy; we'll see what the weather does before going exploring.