It was very comforting to be back in Georgetown, Exumas. After Cuba everything felt quite luxurious with the well-stocked shop, laundry, shops and restaurants. Expensive though, but the white sand and turquoise sea make that worthwhile. We even got a local SIM and internet so I was a happy bunny. Our friend Canadian Paul had arrived a while before and we met him for cocktails and a catch up. We hitch hiked to the fish fry and Shirley’s restaurant where we had enjoyed a great meal the year before and it didn’t disappoint.
Lindsay and Ady arrived on the 19th having had a bad night in Miami but arriving in lovely Georgetown made it all worthwhile. Sunday in Georgetown was interesting, everything, but everything was shut. The Sabbath is certainly still observed here.
We settled into the boat and planned to make a 60 mile trip up to Staniel Cay and the swimming piggy’s for a few days then back to Georgetown. In line with our recent luck however, the weather was not playing ball. Over the coming weekend the wind was due to pick up pretty drastically and we didn’t want to have an uncomfortable time or to get stuck further north and be worried about getting back in time for the return flight. Georgetown is so lovely and Elizabeth Harbour full of lovely beaches and places to explore we decided to take it easy and stay local.
We had a great night at the Rake and Scrape, nice meal and a great band with a saw being played/scraped with a screw driver. Lindsay and I danced with the locals, Paul and friends Jerome, Hazel and some other boaters. We found some deserted and perfect beaches for picnics and had a very relaxing and luxurious day and lunch at a lovely beach club pool. We hitched to the Fish Fry again and met some more locals. We invited Paul, Jerome and Hazel for a bring-and-share/potluck dinner on BB which was great fun, lovely food, rum and guitars on a warm evening. We left the harbour for a fishing trip, just out and back and Ady pulled in a lovely Mahi Mahi which we had for dinner, delicious.
As forecast though on Thursday night the wind got up. We were sheltered as much as possible under the lee of Stocking Island but still it was pretty blowy. Lindsay cut James’s mop and coloured and cut mine. What a treat and no mean feat as the boat rocked about in the wind. James and I went for a choppy swim off the boat and L&D bravely headed into the beach for a walk. The sheltered spot meant that we were a good way off Georgetown so any dingy journey was going to be wet and wild, especially if 4 of us went. It was a shame for them to have a couple of days of their holiday with 32 knot winds and mostly stuck on the boat but that seems to be the way of the weather at the moment.
The wind died down and the sun came out. We had a lovely week of sunbathing, visiting all the beaches around the harbour, another day at the beach club and enjoying the company of Paul, Hazel, Jerome and other friends. We had dolphins swimming around the anchorage and they joined us for one of our short hops. As the water is crystal clear it is wonderful to be able to see them so well at the front of the boat as they dive and play in the bow wake. Georgetown is a lovely community of boats many which live here permanently with their owners. Pam runs a boaters net every morning on the radio waking us up with local news, weather, and requests for help, buying, selling and new boats and departures. This is a wonderful way for everyone to stay in touch and get to know each other. We can see why it would be easy to stay, Pam likes to tell everyone how they arrived for a 3 day visit and are still here 15 years later – a very sticky place or a Velcro port as it’s known. Sadly, Paul and Hazel set off for pastures new but we all enjoyed a beach party complete with guitars and singing to bid them farewell.
James and Ady continued to chase the electrical fault that was stopping the ignition working around the boat. A number of times they thought they had found the culprit only for the engine to fail to start again. Each time, though, they felt they were getting closer and when Ady left the engine seemed to be starting reliably but only time would tell. We went to the Rake and Scrape again and had another fishing trip sailing around the island but sadly no fish caught this time. The canoe got blown up and we were really back into beachy life.
The couple of weeks in Georgetown with L&A had really boosted our spirits and we felt we had regained our mojo and were looking forward to the travels ahead. James was not plunged into despair whenever the engine didn’t start he said he was interested in the boat again and felt confident about the trip, at least he didn’t look like the honey monster anymore.