Rick and Tracy Return to Georgetown by Boat
14 January 2012 | Elizabeth Harbour, Georgetown
Jill
Well, we're at anchor in Elizabeth Harbour and the wind is blowing like crazy. Of course, the wind didn't start blowing until after the sun set, so we had to motor all the way here. It was almost 42 nautical miles and the most wind we saw during the whole trip was about 4 knots. This wind is predicted to increase through the night so it will be blowing 20 to 30 knots tomorrow, so waiting to sail in tomorrow was not an option. Sometimes that's just how it goes.
The anchorage here is not really crowded yet, but there were still a lot of boats around. So we did a little anchor practicing today. The first time we dropped the anchor Bud decided it was too deep, we'd need to put out too much chain and that would not leave enough space between us and the other boats. We pulled up anchor, came around to another spot and tried again. This time, by time we'd let out enough anchor to set, Bud thought we were too close to a boat behind us, so we pulled up the anchor again (at least time we hadn't set it) and moved up 20 or 30 feet and dropped it again. Third times a charm and the Rocna is buried as deep as it goes, so we should be fine.
We're snugged up nicely close to monument hill. That will protect us from the winds. Unfortunately, that puts us about a mile dinghy ride from Georgetown. Since the wind hadn't started blowing yet when we got here, we took the dinghy in to town today. When I have internet again I'll post a picture of Rick, Tracy, Fuzzy and I at the Welcome to Georgetown sign by the dinghy dock on Lake Victoria. We picked up some food, some liquor, a case of beer and Tracy found gifts for her grand kids. With four people, the dog and the supplies, the dinghy was pretty loaded down. There was now a bit of wind and a few waves out in the harbor. The loaded dinghy didn't like the waves. Bud tried to go fast, but the dinghy squatted so far down in the back water started to come over the stern. If we moved forward, we took water over the bow. So we went fairly slowly straight back across the harbor, and then turned down along the sheltered side to reach the boat. Even so, all of us, including Fuzzy who was in his front pack, were quite soaked by the time we got back.
Rick and I got to blow the conch horns with others tonight. We could hear three or four other boats saluting sunset. We all enjoyed a great curried lobster dinner. Bud made it following the verbal instructions we got from Yellowman on Staniel Cay. Bud wasn't quite satisfied with it, and none of us could remember if coconut milk went in the sauce or not, so we might get a variation of the dish in the future. The rest of us all loved it and we managed to polish off both the giant lobster tails Rick had bought from the fisherman at Staniel Cay.
After dinner we played cards again and tonight Rick and I vindicated ourselves by winning two games, so things are tied at two games apiece.
We're going to be at anchor here for several days. I'm not sure when I'll get to post pictures. Our WiFi antenna is picking up a good signal here, but when I tried to sign up I was having trouble, and now, although my payment was supposedly accepted the username and password I submitted are not showing as valid. I may get it straightened out, or I may just keep posting via SSB.