After arriving in George Town on Dec 18th we went about making preparations for the arrival of Amy (our oldest daughter) only three days away. We settled in at the anchorage near the settlement called Kidds Cove. We were one of only a few boats there as most boats anchor across the harbour away from town along Stocking Island. But in the next few days the anchorage became crowded as a strong cold front was approaching and Kidds Cove was a better place to be than Stocking Island. In fact the worst weather (strong winds and rain) were predicted for Amy’s arrival. However Amy missed her flight as we learned when she called us at a time she should have been in the air. Needless to say we were devastated and disappointed that we would be spending Christmas without her.

After the front passed and the worst of the wind and rain moved out, I decided to make a late move over to the Monument Beach anchorage off of Stocking Island. We had been in Kidds Cove for 3 days and I felt like we needed a change of scenery and wanted to get away from the settlement.

Without any obligations we could move on with our journey as soon as the weather settled down, but the forecast was calling for strong winds behind the front for another week. So it was looking like we would spend Christmas in George Town. We canceled our Sunday reservations for a fast boat excursion that explores the Exuma Islands all the way back to Staniel Cay. Karrie and I took Kelly and Tom on this the last time we were here three winters ago. The power boat covers territory in one day that takes us three days in the sailboat! It was a fun trip.

With Sunday freed up, we attended Beach Church on Volleyball Beach. (every beach has a unique name on Stocking Island). Beach Church is a unique experience. It is held on Volleyball Beach next to the Chat ’n Chill restaurant, There are volleyball courts in the sand next to Chat ’n Chill which makes for a popular place for cruisers to hang out and hold events. Beach Church is held outdoors on wooden benches under huge Australian pine trees near the volleyball courts. It is all volunteer. This Sunday there were all Christmas carols for the hymnals. The choir is four people, two of which play ukuleles. After services, there is coffee provided and everyone brings a breakfast sweet to encourage fellowship. Nancy from sailing vessel “Flying Dogs” took a photo of Karrie and me, which is today’s cover shot.

Following Beach Church we took a ride in the dinghy around the three hurricane holes inside Stocking Island, where a lot of boats are moored. Then we returned to Chat ’n Chill for their Pig Roast, but decided to forgo it this time and returned to the boat for lunch and some college football games.

Christmas Eve and Christmas day were relaxed and centered around our evening meals. The wind was steady but not as strong as forecast and the full day of rain on Christmas never materialized. The weather was actually pleasant. On Christmas Eve Karrie made a new recipe for chicken alfredo which we really fell in love with and on Christmas we had veal osso buco and a vintage 2010 Conn Creek Cabernet that we had been saving for a special occasion.

The remainder of the week we took walks on the beach, explored the island, read a lot, and generally relaxed waiting for the winds to die down, even though the wind was not as bad as the weather forecast was predicting every day. One day we took the dinghy into Hamburger Beach and walked over to the Atlantic Ocean side of Stocking Island. I was looking for shells and sea beans when I was suddenly surprised by a very energetic Irish Setter, owners no where to be seen. He kind of surprised me but once I was over my heart attack, I realized he was friendly. After awhile, his owner family arrived over the dune. They were visiting from Florida and Karrie and the dad started talking Gator football while his family continued their hike, and left him behind. We almost had to insist that he catch up with the group, feeling guilty we were holding him back from his family.

Finally there was suppose to be relief from the strong winds at the end of the week and we made plans to leave. On Saturday, Dec 29th we moved the boat to Hoopers Bay and took the dinghy into the beach where there is a beach access path to the main road on the island. We walked about a half mile to Prime Island Meats to purchase lunch meats (significantly better than packaged meats at Exuma Market in town). Then we moved the boat back to Kidds Cove where we did some final provisioning of fresh vegetables, bread, etc at Exuma Market. After which we moved the boat again to Sand Dollar Beach anchorage which is closer to the south entrance for Elizabeth Harbour in preparation for an early departure on Sunday.

Early Sunday we raised the main sail, pulled anchor and headed toward the cut leading to the Atlantic. We said farewell on the Cruisers Net during their “arrivals and departures” segment and set our course for Conception Island. Along our course we passed Cape Santa Maria which is the northern end of Long Island. There is a statue at Cape Santa Maria commemorating Columbus’ discovery of the island. Conception Island is a low mangrove island shaped like an atoll. It is uninhabited and is part of the Bahamas Trust, which means the entire island is protected. It may be the only island left totally untouched and in its natural state. It is truly beautiful. There is a large reef extending 3 miles to the north of the island which is said to be one of the best in the Bahamas. Too far for me to go in the dingy, I settled for snorkeling the “Kiddie Reef” closer in. Spectacular coral heads rise from 20 feet down, but unfortunately the reef has seen better days as much of the coral was dead.

On New Years Eve we were walking on the beach and met another couple and their daughter, and struck up a conversion. Turns out they were the owners of “Omaha”, one of the three mega-yachts anchored in the harbour. Another yacht, the Seaquest, was one we recognized because it stays at Old Port Cove Marina where we have our condo and kept our boat the first year. Turns out Seaquest had a fire in the engine compartment when they tried to start the engines to move their position (I think they were dragging their anchor). We heard them call Omaha for assistance on the VHF radio as we were taking a ride in the dingy. As we rode past them, they had all the guests off the boat in a tender and the crew was in full disaster gear with fire hoses working to put the fire out. Quite dramatic. The Omaha was very gracious and offered to feed all the guests from Seaquest at a picnic on the beach where they had canopies set up.

The third yacht, the “Advantage” was rafted alongside the Omaha and also belongs to the owners of the Omaha. The Advantage is a “support vehicle” for Omaha and carries all the toys: Open fisherman boats, additional tenders, jet skis, and even a submersible! The Omaha had a giant inflatable slide coming down from the top deck (about 4 stories high) at a steep angle with a up curl at the end. We wanted to see someone come down the slide just to see how high they would fly coming off the end, but no one used it while we were there.

At sundown, a tender from Omaha approached us and the Omaha’s captain (I recognized his Aussie or Kiwi accent from the earlier radio chatter) said they were planning on having fireworks later that night but did not want to disturb us and wanted to know if it was alright. Of course we did not object and that we would be delighted to watch their display. We chit chatted some about their yacht and events on the Seaquest. Karrie laid a little guilt trip on them for not inviting us to their lunch. They left but returned shortly. The Omaha owners sent us two bottles of nice wine and two Omaha ball caps, saying they had enjoyed talking to us on the beach. Nice neighbors! The red Italian wine was perfect for our veal parmesan dinner that night. We went to bed, setting the alarm for 11:40, to bring in the New Year and watch the unexpected fireworks display.

On New Years Day we were walking on the beach again when a bright yellow float plane flew down along the beach, tipping his wings as he passed. He circled around over the interior of the island where there are interesting mangrove creeks and then landed at the north end of the beach and anchored the plane off the beach. As we walked toward them, they greeted us and started a conversation. Turns out they are from Jensen Beach, FL, which is near where we lived in Palm City. His father has a house on Cat Island (the next large island north of Long Island) and they were on a date spending the holidays there. With the bad weather, they were not able to get out fishing or diving much, so they were happy for a good day to bring their sea plane to Conception. Later in the day as they were leaving, they took off from the calm waters and circled our boat twice, tipping the wings each time as we stood out on the deck waiving at them as they flew off into the distance.

What a memorable beginning to the New Year!