It seems like forever since I have blogged.... And its not for a lack of stuff I have wanted to post!

This past week was Regatta. The official name is "Family Islands Regatta" but nobody calls it that particualy the Bahamians, its just "Regatta". This is the Super Bowl for the Bahamians. Normally tranquil and slow Georgetown transforms from a sleeply village of around 1,000 people to a booming party extravaganza with many thousands of visitors and racing sailboats from all over the country here for 4 days of races and parties. They race hard and they party hard.

I had hoped to get to crew on one of the race boats (and plenty of cruisers did so) but basically a combination of laziness and other fun choices lead to it just not happening. I went over to town on Wednesday the first day of races but decided not to take a crew spot because the winds were very light and it just did not look terribly exciting. I did not make it back over on any of the other race days, though I wish I had on Saturday as the wind was really blowing and the racing was pretty crazy. At least 1 boat was sunk in a collision!

The Bahamian race boats are all built to a very strict formula and the racing is serious and tight. Now, when I say it is very serious you have to understand that I mean in a Bahamian way. In other words, they take it extremely seriously but then again they have no issue having some American cruiser tag along as crew. Think about that.... If a Bahamian came to America and got Super Bowl tickets and then somehow managed to wander down into the locker room just before game time what are the odds of the head coach and players thinking it's a great idea if their new friends wants to start the game as a free safety or such? But here.... No problem mon!

We had a good if wet time riding around the harbor in our dinghy watching the races one day and I think the kids did get a good grasp of what was going on. The "A" class boats in most of my pictures are 28' long and have a mast 60' tall with a boom 32' long. Yes... the boom is a good bit longer than the boat! The amount of sail area these small boats carry is just crazy and they put these 15' long hiking boards out and when its blowing hard there are 5-10 guys are dangling out on this plank fighting not to fall off.

We have also been having lots of fun with new friends. We have hiked all over Stocking Island including to the top of Monument Hill (I posted some good pictures from here) and all along with ocean side of the island. We spent a day on the ocean side with our friends from "Avalon" and "Keewatin" playing in the tidal pools and snorkeling in hopes of spearing some fish. We saw lots of small fish but nothing big enough to eat. We also found a really neat waterfall type of formation in the rocks on the shore. The waves had eroded a path through the rocks and in the process created a serious of pools where incoming waves would push water in a cascading serious of water falls. The result is something like a combination of white water rapids and Jacuzzi. The kids had fun playing in this, until Jackson was sitting in one of the pools rather far up into the serious and a giant wave suddenly came pounding in. Before anyone could move... he was swept up and tumbled end over end through the rocks and out onto the beach, smashing into the rocks all along the way. He had quite the scrapes and bruises (see the picture in the Georgetown gallery) but he was a trooper about it all and enjoyed showing everyone his manly bruises for days afterward.

I also went snorkeling at the extreme south end of Elizabeth Island in the cut leading to the ocean trying to find and spear fish. Again... no fish of a size to spear, at least not that I got close enough to spear, but the coral was jaw dropping. I saw brain coral the size of a small car, giant elk horn coral, fans and corals of every size and color and thousands of small tropical fish in schools everywhere. It was like a TV show.... Amazing. But no fish for dinner!

Lots of our friends have headed out. "Splendid" has headed south for Jamaica and the San Blas islands off Panama, "Thursday's Child" has headed north for Florida and then New England, "Avalon" is also on the way back to the states and it appears that just about every boat in the harbor is now working hard to prepare and leave. I expect Georgetown to be about empty in another week, but hopefully we will not be here to see it!

We are getting laundry done, picking up final provisions and taking care of boat projects so we can head out either tomorrow or Wednesday. We hope to buddy boat with "Amazing Grace II", "Hook" and "Happy Ours" to visit Long Island to the south east and then Conception Island and perhaps Rum Cay. There is a famous blue hole on Long Island we would like to visit and snorkel in and Conception Island is supposed to have some of the most beautiful coral and diving on the planet so we have to see that. We want to cruise along with other kid boats so Taylor and Jackson have some playmates. They have both gotten totally spoiled having TONS of other kids around all the time playing.

Georgetown has been a non-stop play and party bonanza but like all good things it must come to an end. We are actually ready to once again raise the sails and let Lillie Mae do what she does best. Its time to get back to sea and go see something new.

When we leave G-town it may be several weeks before we can post any updates as most places we are likely to visit in the short term have no towns or means of internet connection. We will have the spot on whenvever we are moving so our location and progress can be easily tracked.

Our plans are staying pretty fluid. I have learned that planning more than a week ahead is a complete waste of time. We want to see Long Island, must see Conception and since Rum Cay is said to have the best spear fishing in the entire Bahamas I really want to go there but beyond that we have no firm plans. We may buddy boat south with the gank on "Happy Ours" to the Dominican Republic and spend some time there before making an offshore passage back to the states or we may sail slowing back north through the Exumas and on to the Abacos before getting back to the States in early July.

We do plan to be in Jeckyl Island, GA by July 1st and we will keep the boat there for a month before hopefully heading north to tour the US east coast. We would love to have visitors come to Jeckyl and see us!