On to Georgetown - April 26th

April 26 - Tuesday


Day #6 at Black Point Settlement, Exumas.

After spending the morning on shore, getting two loads of laundry done and having lunch with Greg and Janice (s/v Glenice), we returned to the boat and decided that we had definitely spent more time here than we wanted. And just because the weather was too rough to cross over to the Exuma Sound and head to Georgetown, that didn’t mean we couldn’t continue cruising south along the Exuma Banks. So that’s what we did. Anchor up around 2:30pm and off in search of a new anchorage. Even though the routine is the same, just the process of reaching a another anchorage is an adventure.

Dan got his first hair cut since November! (thanks Janice!)

And this adventure did not disappoint. We travelled about 5 miles and found Jacks Bay Cove that had just enough room for one boat – us! This marks our first totally secluded and private anchorage since we’ve been in the Bahamas. A little slice of heaven all to ourselves. We borrowed some DVDs from s/v Kismet so we were able to watch “The Kings Speech” and “True Grit” ... now we feel a little bit more current with what’s new with the world.

Jacks Cove Bay

April 27 – Wednesday

No reason to leave this lovely little anchorage today because we cannot attempt to cross over to the Sound until Friday. So we slept in and treated ourselves to a decadent breakfast of French Toast (made with fresh coconut bread – an absolute delight!), our last package of bacon, and a bottle of champagne to enjoy the view (hence, the decadence!).

Then we dropped the dinghy in the water and spend the afternoon on the private beach that went with our private anchorage. Ahh, so nice! This was a good day! Swimming and reading and hiking over to the Sound to watch the breakers crash on the rocks.

View of the Exuma Sound ... rough and tumbly water.

Around 5pm, we dragged ourselves back to the boat to face one of the bigger frustrations of cruising the Bahamas – lack of fresh water. I yearn for a long shower that actually leaves you feeling squeaky clean, especially after spending the day in the ocean and sand. The R.O. water (reverse osmosis) water we get here is desalinated ocean water, and the more remote the location, the more primitive the R.O. process.  I've been drinking salty lemonade for the past two weeks and the shower still leaves the feeling of ocean water on your skin. Even paradise has its downside!

April 28 – Thursday

Today we moved down to Farmers Cay where we plan to make the cut over to the Exuma Sound at first light on Friday morning. The winds have been ~20knots all week and the seas about 6ft. The prediction is for the winds and seas to lie down tonight, and Friday is the day for making the passage into deep water and on to Georgetown. If all goes well, we’ll reach Georgetown late Friday afternoon, giving us a chance to see the last day of the Family Sailing Regatta on Saturday.

We were underway by 7:30am to take advantage of the calmer conditions. This ended up being a good decision because we heard from other boaters leaving Black Sound today that they were only able to make a few miles before the rough conditions on the water forced them to anchor. They won’t make Georgetown before another cold front passes through Sunday/Monoday, and since you cannot change the weather, you’ve got to change your sailing plans.

We arrived at Farmers Cay around 10:00am, so that left us all afternoon to explore the island. 60 people live here so the restaurant, bar, grocery store and liquor store are all run by the same 2-3 people! That means that when Brenda is in Nassau to see her doctor, the café and liquor store aren’t open! Friendly people … everywhere we walk, someone is inviting us in to chat. Too bad it is so damn hot on shore … the boat is definitely the most comfortable place to hang out. So while Dan processes the cocoanut he found a couple of islands ago so we can have curry chicken with cocoanut rice for dinner, I’m going to make cookies and defrost our little freezer.  We do have chores!

View of anchorage from the stern.

Dan was able to get internet on his little XO computer.

Friday – April 29

Today is the big day … our 40 mile passage out Farmers Cut (the narrow opening between Big Farmers Cay and Little Farmers Cay) to the Exuma Sound and down to Georgetown. Getting thru the cut from the shallow banks to the deep ocean will be the hardest part. The current is quite strong thru the narrow cut and the wind is pushing the ocean waves right on our bow as we pass through. We wanted to clear the cut at slack tide, but that was at 6:00 am and it was still dark. Since we also have to pilot around a couple of sand bars, we needed some sunlight to help guide our way.

We were underway at 6:30 am. This is the first time Dan has been truly nervous about what we’d encounter in the cut and how he and Maja would handle it. And it was one hairy ride! Rocks with breaking waves on both sides and something akin to a washing machine straight ahead! Rocking and bouncing and dropping down waves and watching that depth sounder! We thought the worst part would be clearing the cut but we found the ocean to be equally in turmoil. We had expected to find 3ft swells, but instead were greeted by 6-8 ft waves and white caps. Uh Oh … even though it’s a beautiful day, blue skies, puffy white clouds, I don’t know if I can take 10 hours of this! The waves were running about 5 seconds apart, and Maja fell off every third one with a hard thud that buried the bow and sent water splashing back to the cockpit. We were motoring directly into an 18-knot south wind, so we quickly gave up on the idea of fishing today.

There is no good anchorage on the sound between Farmers Cay and Georgetown as reefs line the coast, so our only choice was to go on to Georgetown or turn back. We decided to give it an hour and see how the ride went, and after a while, we did fall into a routine of rolling with the swells, staying securely wedged into the cockpit.  But I had to tell Dan that we’d be existing on water and Zone bars today because going down in the cabin was no fun at all!  Because of the waves breaking over the bow, we had to keep all the hatches closed so it quickly became hot and stuffy down below. Add to that the unpredictable pitching motion, and going to the bathroom was such an effort that I figured the risk of dehydration was the better of the two choices!

After about 4 hours, we noticed a welcome drop in the wind to around 10 knots and the seas responded in kind and dropped to 3-4 ft swells. Now these are the conditions we were expecting, so life was good once more! Except no luck with the fishing.

Approaching Georgetown. Still in 273 feet of water.

Back to 20 feet of water!

We arrived at Elizabeth Harbor, Georgetown around 3:00, and it took another hour to pass through this HUGE harbor to Sand Dollar Beach on the south side. There are probably 200 boats here for the family regatta races (down from the high of 500 boats in Jan/Feb), so there's plenty of space for everyone to anchor. We met up once again with our sailing buddies, Hank and Carol on s/v Kismet, and were able to watch the last race of the day before going ashore to check out the regatta festivities.  .

YaHoo! We made it to Georgetown! That was always our goal, but more than once we questioned whether we'd make it this far south this year. Definitely a sense of accomplishment! This is as far south as we’ll travel, which means now our thoughts start to turn towards the route we'll take to cross back to Florida.  But first we’ll head north and check out many spots we passed in the Exumas on our way to Georgetown. A few of the boaters we’ve been quasi-travelling with have decided to leave their boats in Georgetown and fly back to the US from here. It is quite a temptation to do that (at least for me!), but Dan isn’t so keen on the idea. We’ve got boat work to do and boat parts to buy, both of which he’s more comfortable getting done in Florida.

Saturday, April 30

The town of Georgetown is actually on the opposite side of the harbor from the anchorages, so it’s about a 10 minute dinghy ride across the choppy harbor (20 minutes if crossing into the wind).

The entry into Georgetown from the habor

Inside the inner harbor (Lake Victoria), they have a dinghy dock with free water, so we always make the long crossing with at least one water jug to fill. And, it's the best tasting water we've had since we left Florida! Georgetown is one of those places where many cruisers come and don't move for the entire season. They have a great grocery store and liquor store, which are always our first two points of interest! Because of the regatta, there are also lots of vendors and food booths and a straw market set up down by the water. Some people avoid civilization while cruising, while we like the energy and commotion of a town after being on the boat by ourselves for several days. And the Bahamian people are so damn friendly!

The Family Regatta is a big deal here, and we are so glad we made it in time to see some races (thanks for the encouragement, s/v Synergy!!). The boats range in size from 18 – 24 feet, with very shallow decks and very big sails. This race is just for the Bahamians who live in the ‘family islands’ in Exuma. While in Black Sound, we saw large ferries every couple of days transporting the boats down to GT.

It’s just wild when the race is underway. Dinghies and power boats of all sizes are everywhere on the course, zigging around to catch the racing sailboats at each mark of the race. And of course, we were right there in the middle of it too!

Trying to overtake the leader.

In between the races, we explored the beaches on the east side of the harbor. The Chat and Chill Beach is the populated favorite, with a requiste beach bar and volleyball area and lots and lots of people watching. With $4.00 burgers, we stayed for dinner and sunset on the beach.

The Chat and Chill Bar ... they recycle!

All kinds of cruisers drop in!

 Sunday, May 1, 2011

Happy May Day. We’re in our 3rd month in the Bahamas (our tourist visa expires on May 24th). From what we hear from MN, we are glad to be missing a cold Spring, but at the same time, I’m definitely missing the fresh water that you all take for granted!  I now wash dishes in sea water and rinse with fresh, which does a lot to extend our 90 gal water supply.

View of the beach from Maja at anchor.

Up with the sunshade.  Dropped the inside temp 8 degrees!

Thanks to our Sirius radio, we were able to hear Obama's announcement tonite.  Way to go Mr. President and all you badass special forces dudes! (and thanks to Michelle for the head's up phone call or we would have been in bed by 11:30pm!)

Tuesday, May 2

The harbor has cleared out and quieted down now that the races are over.  We'll be staying here in Georgetown until Thursday or Friday when it looks like we'll have a nice weather window for a long sail up the Exuma Sound and hopefully some successful fishing in the deep water.  At some point, we'll pick a cut to cross back to the Exuma Banks (shallow water) and head for the Exuma Land and Sea Park.  It's got the best snorkling around b/c no fishing is allowed. 

From there, we'll have to decide whether we will return to FL from Exuma (which requires a 2-night passage but takes advantage of the Gulf Stream to speed us north) or whether we'll continue heading over to Eleuthera and then back to the Abacos where we'll return the way we came (a 17-hr passage).  Who knows?  No doubt it will depend on the weather ....