We arrived in Georgetown on January 6 at 14:30 and anchored in Kidd's cove just in front of town. We made a run into town for fuel and dropped into the grocery store for some fresh produce. The shelves were almost empty. I did manage to purchase some lettuce, celery, a small cabbage, bananas, and a couple of lemons, but that was it. The staff indicated there would be no more produce until Monday Jan 9 when the supply boat was to arrive. Oh well, it's not like we were going to starve but it really is nice to have some fresh stuff to provide a crunch factor.
The next morning Paul made a couple more trips into town with our water jugs so we could fill up our water tanks. Paul, Charlie and I had a burger and a couple of Kalik's for lunch then went back to move the boats over to the Sanddollar Beach anchorage to get set for the weather event that was scheduled to arrive in the early morning hours of Jan 8. It was hard to imagine anything significant was going to happen because the water was like glass all night. Then at 05:30 there was a gentle shift in wind direction, a thunderstorm with heavy rain then around 08:30 the wind increased steadily to 35 knots and pretty much stayed between 25 and 35 all day and all night. And the blow continued for another days!
Other than one small venture into the beach at sanddollar to search for my silver palm leaves and to let Edwin and Martha test drive our 9.9 outboard we didn't leave the boat! Paul and Charlie made one trip across the harbour in the dinghy to order our new 15 hp outboard motor! It should arrive within two days that is if the supply boats are running. For anyone who thought about coming to the Bahamas for a visit be very glad you didn't pick this particular two weeks. So what's it like being stuck on the boat? Well, we find it is sort of like a long ocean passage. You can't get off the boat and you never really get a solid sleep. Instead of shifts at the helm you are on anchor watch. At least for the first few days then you relax a little because the anchor is probably almost in China by that point.
You try to do some boat projects but the constant motion of the boat swinging on the anchor makes most of those uncomfortable. Paul was able to work on our cockpit back enclosure and I was amazed he could. He set up the sewing machine inside the main cabin and went to work. I couldn't spend more than short periods inside the boat. I pretty much set myself up in the cockpit in the fresh air. I was even sleeping up there during the first 3 nights.

to be continued.....

Paul made a few torturous trips across the harbour to Georgetown. The trip , once to pick up our new outboard motor and the other times to get some more water in our jugs. When he did make these trips I would usually get him pop into the grocery to see if he could get eggs and some fresh produce. The first time he came back empty handed except for a small container of ice cream. What the heck? Well, he told me there were no eggs and that ice cream did in fact have eggs in it! Hmmmm. The supply boat did finally arrive and the next grocery run was much more successful. Although the ice cream was a nice treat.
By day 4 of the big blow we were feeling comfortable enough to leave the boat for longer periods and head to shore for a walk on the beach or to find a happy hour where we could enjoy a cold Kalik and a chat with some other cruisers.
A pod of dolphins, including a mother and her calf, were regular visitors to our anchorage. The arrival of the dolphins would be announced by our neighbor’s dog Gizmo the Jack Russell Terrier, who could be found barking enthusiastically as they swam by his boat. I think the dolphins actually liked the dog because they kept coming back and swimming near the boat. It was the same thing with some sea turtles who would surface at the back of the boat with Gizmo going crazy. One afternoon the dolphins remained in the anchorage for and extended period. Paul jumped in to swim with them and could see them but not all that clearly. The normally clear water is a bit murky. Probably from being churned up by wind and waves for 10 days straight!!
On Sunday evening, Paul and I headed for the St. Francis Resort to play trivia. We didn’t win but did have a great time with lots of laughs. Jan 16 was Charlie’s birthday so we celebrated a little on board 2 Outrageous with some chilli and a jam session with neighbouring boat Kahina. Some great tunes!
Finally! The wind is forecasted to moderate over the next day or so. Woot woot! We should have five days of settled weather before there is another blow but this time it will be from the west. Not sure what we are going to do for that one but we are going to be on the move tomorrow and enjoy a change of scenery even if it is only for a few days before we have to hunker down again.
I can say for certain that this past 10 day stretch was the longest period of time we have ever spent on a boat without changing locations. I think our previous record was 6 days.