We are definitely getting in tune with "Island Time". We roll out of the sack around 7:30am and make coffee and then tune into the Cruisers Net on the VHF radio. They give the weather forecast, business announcements; new arrivals get to introduce themselves (this morning there were 12 new arrivals to G-town including 2 new kid boats!) and departing boats say goodbye. Then events or happenings are announced (today for example there is a kids art project planned at noon on Hamburger beach) and boats can ask various questions or seek assistance. If you are having a mechanical problem here you can almost be guaranteed there is someone in the anchorage willing and able to help you fix it. It is a very neat floating community.

After the net we have breakfast (yesterday we had Michele's first attempt at homemade Baguettes and they were pretty dang good), do bible study with the kids and then they do school which usually takes about 2 hours. I may tackle some minor boat project or may blow it off and read. By lunchtime we are ready to eat and head for the beach to play. In the evening we either watch a movie, play games (or the Wii ) or get together with friends for drinks and yummies.

Things are slow and easy..... just like we want!

Alex , Sam and Guin on "Splendid" decided they were not in too big a hurry and they have delayed leaving for at least a week. Our friends Rian, Diane and Owen also decided its just too nice here to leave yet and they are extending their Bahamian cruising permit. The gang on "Happy Ours" is waiting on a new transmission to arrive from the states and also needs to replace their battery bank before leaving so they will be here at least another few weeks.

We were invited over to "Happy Ours" the other night for dinner and Stephanie really pulled out all the stops. We had a full 4 course meal... steak.... Along with a salad and desert plus rum drinks. It was awesome and we had a really great time. Their girls, Kaylie (8) and Avery (6) get along with Jackson and Taylor great. Jackson is playing it pretty cool but I think Kaylie may have a bit of a crush on him!

We are pretty sure we are hanging here until after the Family Island Regatta toward the end of the month. All of the newly arriving boats are here for the races and the entire event is supposed to be a huge and fun party. Bahamians come from all over the islands to race their wooden, hand built sailing vessels and I hear its even possible for some cruisers to crew.... If so I will be looking for a boat to race on! We shall see. The harbor is said to fill up with hundreds of cruising boats for this big event so we look forward to meeting more cruisers and having lots of fun.

We have now been in the Bahamas since March 21st and to date we have spent $1,635 including $300 for Bahamian customs and immigration (our cruising permit) and $675 for the Marina slip and diesel fuel in Nassau when we first arrived. At the rate we are now burning fuel.... The 90 gallons we bought will last us at least several months and perhaps until we are back in the states. We do prefer to sail all we can so minimizing the fuel costs is fairly easy. We have no plans to get another marina slip until we are back in the states and the cruising permit is good until we leave. So it looks like we should be able to live well within our budgeted limit.

One of the biggest recurring questions on all the cruising websites and bulletin boards regards "what does it cost to cruise" and the most common answer is "everything you have". When I was trying to plan this adventure and figure out how on earth we would pay for it all I found this kind of answer less than helpful. There are some cruisers who post detailed information on their costs in an effort to help others who are still in the planning stage and I found this hugely helpful though most of these did not cruise with kids. So, in the interest of helping those who are still planning I will in the future post more details on our budgeting and actual expenditures.

We have discovered some interesting expense things. For example, we figured out that doing your laundry yourself here in G-town ends up costing the same or perhaps even a bit more than simply dropping it off and picking it up later cleaned and folded. We had a massive amount of laundry done yesterday including all of our bed linens for $40. I know the coin machines would have cost at least that much.

Food here can be expensive.... But if you choose carefully it can also be pretty reasonable. We went grocery shopping yesterday and got a good bit of stuff for $80. All we really have to buy is items to supplement all we have stowed from provisioning in the states. We still have LOTS of food aboard.

One of the things some folks expressed big concerns about relative to going cruising was health care. Most Americans tend to believe that the rest of the world has no modern health care which of course is silly. My friend Alex has had a persistent ear infection for a couple of weeks so he went to the Clinic in Georgetown yesterday. The doctor gave him a complete exam, did some tests and then filled two prescriptions for antibiotics. The cost of the entire thing.... Including the drugs.... $41. In the states the same care would have run several hundred at least. Here, you do not need a doctors prescription for most drugs. You can go to the pharmacist and describe your needs and things like antibiotics and pain medications can simply be purchased cheaply. In the states you must see a doctor (expensive) and then the doctor will prescribe a drug for which he has no clue what the costs are nor does he care. When you have a system where the providers of a given service have no idea what the service costs and shopping the costs to multiple providers is not possible.... Something is badly broken.

I have been getting my butt kicked by the wind-surfer rig on my paddle board. The You-Tube videos make it look very easy... its not. I am determined to get good at it though regardless of how big a spectacle I make of myself in the process. The paddle board overall is a big hit as not only do I enjoy paddling it around (and it really is great exercise) but the kids adore playing on it like a small floating swim dock. The other day there were 6 kids standing on it together and we took turns skiing on it behind the big dinghy from "Happy Ours".

There is still lots to do here that we have not done. We want to hike to the top of Monument hill, explore and snorkel on the ocean side of the island, go fishing and spear fishing on the reefs to the north of the anchorage, find and dive on the two "blue holes" that are said to exist on the ocean side of Stocking Island, play volleyball and look for shells on Sandollar Beach.

Visitors from home would have a great time here.... There is the St. Francis resort about a 2 minute dinghy ride from where we are anchored and flights direct from the states arrive in Georgetown daily. Anyone interested send us an email, we would love to have friends visit!

More later and as requested I will post a gallery of exterior photos of the Lillie Mae.