I'm writing this Wednesday morning, because we ended up without Internet yesterday. The wind was down and it was supposed to be the calmest day of the week, so we decided it was time to get our chores in George Town done. It was still pretty bumpy at the boat, but we managed to get Fuzzy ashore and settled and then we loaded the dinghy. First trip was laundry, garbage, books to exchange, and bags for shopping. When we got to the dinghy dock it was hard to find a space, as many folks had decided today was a good day to come ashore. Happily a man and his dog were just leaving, and we took their spot.

Bud helped me carry the laundry down to the Laundromat, which is about a quarter mile from the dinghy dock. When I got there, I had to go on a waiting list, as the washers that were working were all taken. I asked the women if I'd have time to go to the library for the book exchange and she said I'd have plenty of time. So I left and caught up to Bud. I was also going to go and pick up the mail so I offered to take the garbage, it goes to a dumpster on the government dock, which is past the post office and library. I could save Bud some walking as his heel is still bothering him.

So Bud started the shopping and I ran the other errands. I had signed up at the library late last season and the huge $3.00 fee is good for a year, so I thought I'd still be OK. I was in the records and I'm good until April 5th. I exchanged 8 books and walked back to the Laundromat, now without the garbage and with the mail. I got back a few minutes before some washers came free. I ended up needing four washers. Once the wash was done I had to wait a bit until the driers came free. Again, the people who run the Laundromat tell you where and when to do your clothes. They keep everything moving smoothly and everyone in order. They didn't take any money from me until all the wash was done and folded. The four loads cost $23, which isn't too bad.

Bud made it back as I was starting to fold the second drier full of clothes. He'd made a trip back to the boat with beer and groceries, a second trip with water, and now was back for the third time. He said it was pretty rough out there. We'd brought garbage bags for the wash. All the folded wash fit in our one large laundry bag. When we got it back to the dinghy we put it in one garbage bag with another to cover the top of it. The photo is the laundry in our dinghy. The canvas bag in front of it has my books and the mail and you can just see a little plastic bag with some local produce Bud bought. We still had to get Bud and I in the dinghy. You can see why Bud would like a bigger dinghy. He'd particularly like one with bigger tubes so we and our stuff would stay drier! We didn't get soaked on the way back, but we got damp.

Once we had everything aboard and put away we decided to pull up anchor. We'd had enough of the bouncy spot. A number of boats had left and we were hoping to get a spot off Monument Beach. We found a spot just south of the beach. There was plenty of room but the water got deeper as you approached shore, so up where we might have wanted to drop it was over 25 feet. We decided to circle back and drop out a little farther where it was less than 20 feet. We ended up in 17 feet of water at the anchor, and by the time we put out enough chain we were close to the mail boat channel. We were thinking of moving in a bit, but another boat came in and anchored in front of us! He had to move in a bit, as the first time, by the time he got his chain out he was too close to us. On his second try he was fine. He's good for the prevailing winds, but he would be very close to the iron shore if the wind came up from the west (which it is not supposed to do). He came by and asked if we felt he was too close. We said no, and explained that we'd had our dinghy out checking our anchor, as we'd just set it (I think he thought we were making sure he wasn't over our anchor). I told him we were concerned about the mailboat channel and he said he'd been anchored here last week and he thought we were fine. A while later the ferry from Nassau came by and the course he took was well behind us. I took photos of the shore from our new spot. We're much better protected here. I also took a photo of the ferry. I'll post them all once we go in and buy Internet this afternoon (3/14).