We have arrived in Georgetown, on the island of Great Exuma in the Southern Bahamas. Georgetown is an extraordinary place. Year after year this town plays host to an armada of cruisers who set out from Florida in mid-November and spend the winter months here with most boats returning to the states in May. the more adventurous will strike out for the Caribbean. At present there are 290 boats anchored in Elizabeth Harbour, the equivalent of a small town. The population of Georgetown is only 800 people. There is plenty to do in Georgetown. First and foremost there are more children!! Daniel and John are having the time of their life! There are great tree swings and rope bridges and forts which kids have built and everyone has a great time playing together. The boys have hooked up with David(Contented Turtle), Kelby(Quixotic), Anthony(Camelot 2), Jack and Jesse(Manx Cat) and have made new friends as well!! Volleyball beach is the main hangout, there are 3 sand courts for adults and kids to play on, all measured to exact size. When we were here in 1993 there was one court we would draw out each morning before playing. There is also a small restaurant/bar on the beach- Chat and Chill. Pig roast every Sunday afternoon, we saw them put the big piggy on the spit yesterday! Chat and Chill has cable TV and we watched CNN and read a day old newspaper! Wow!! Learned about the huge snowstorm that is blasting through the northeast right now...sorry, we are all in bathing suits. We will get some good wind from the storm starting Sunday afternoon but the storm will moderate quite a bit by the time it reaches us. Also read that the Olympics opened in Turin, Italy on Friday. I will miss not being able to tune into the games. It is fun to meet up with friends we met coming down the island chain and of course allll of the new ones which we haven't met yet!

Georgetown is also a good provisioning stop- we went into Exuma Market yesterday and Daniel and John went wild with excitement in the fruit section! Fresh fruit again- apples, mangoes, pinaeapple, plums it was great! It is a family event to go shopping! Last night was pizza and movie night on Eira- David and Kelby came over and the boys watched Captain Ron, a perfect cruising movie! The parents all stayed and we had a fun evening on Eira. Today is Sunday and there was Beach Church on Volleyball Beach at 930am. Menno and the boys went to the service which had a very good turnout. The kids got to sit up high in the tree branches and they were all referred to as the"Tree Angels." (Kathy, I think being able to climb in trees helped!) Homemade sweets and coffee were served after the service and Menno says it was a nice gathering! Daisy and I stayed on the boat and had a nice morning together. So there you have it, our first day in Georgetown.=