The last of yesterday's squalls made for a
dramatic sunset

We're getting the boat ready to move tomorrow morning.  We'll head through Conch Cut onto Exuma Sound tomorrow morning and try to get back onto the Exuma Banks through Cave Cut tomorrow.

We have been busy:  Last night we visited the Exuma Bahamian Art and Music Festival in Regatta Park.  18 of us hired "Elvis", the harbormaster and water taxi captain, to take us over to the Festival and to a barbecue with Rake 'n Scrape music.  Making the most of Georgetown before tomorrow morning we went for a walk on Stocking Island, came over to St. Francis Resort for internet, and will head over to Volleyball Beach for a last few games of volleyball before we head back to the boat to hoist up the 9.9 hp Tohatsu outboard and the dinghy.

Maryanne with the artisan, Arizona, and the basket Maryanne
selected to bring home with us.

Good weather and internet finally!

Sign post on Volleyball Beach, Georgetown.
Bottom sign points to Today Show, 1080 miles

We have been having fun in Georgetown but the wind has been very strong almost every day.  Our most difficult night on anchor was when the winds started gusting over 40 knots.  We think the anchor may have slipped a little but ultimately our 45 lb Manson Supreme anchor held our 24,000 lb boat securely for the night.  Now when it's blowing 25-30 knots we are much more relaxed when we hear the loud whistling of the wind through the rigging!

Maryanne's happy to finally swim and snorkel
off a beach.

We participated in the fun and games at the Georgetown Cruisers Regatta Week.  Maryanne was happy to discover that she could do a creditable job of playing bocce in the tournament.  I got lucky with a good partner and made it through the initial match ending up in the semi-finals and the championship match.  I am now the proud owner of a Georgetown Regatta first place flag and a fifth of rum - prizes for a first place bocce finish!

We have been taking hikes across Stocking Island.  Maryanne finally got a chance to swim off a beach after one of our hikes.  All our swimming prior to this has been off the boat.

Maryanne at Chat 'n Chill with Hugh, a talented local cruiser,
giving a concert on the deck behind her.

We had a nice surprise today.  For only the second time since we arrived here the wind was mild.  We moved our boat over to the other side of the harbor and filled our water tanks using our five 5 gallon water jugs.  Our tanks hold about 160 gallons of water - that means we have to make many, many trips to fill our tanks!  We bought groceries at the Exuma Market and carried 5 gallon diesel fuel jugs from the gas station to our dinghy to fuel up Symphony.

Maryanne on the jungle path to the other side of Stocking Island.
You should see her climbing up the rocky path!

Chuck standing in a heart on the "Table" a rock formation on
Stocking Island below Monument Hill

Our other good news for the day came from Chris Parker who is forecasting a break in the strong winds this weekend.  We'll have some rough weather tomorrow but this weekend we should be able to sail out Conch Cut into Exuma Sound and up to Cave Cay or Galliot Cut to get back onto the protected Exuma Banks.  Ultimately, we're hoping to sail back up to Warderick Wells and then back out onto the Sound to Eleuthra.   If all goes well we should be able to sail north to the the Abacos.

Look back -- I'm gradually adding some pix to the old Posts

Hole One, Georgetown Harbor

On entering Georgetown Harbor I immediately recognized Jay of Merrimar Yacht Basin climbing off his boat into a dinghy and heading over to Eleanor M.  He welcomed us to Georgetown, pointed out a possible anchoring spot, and invited us to a barbecue on the beach that night.  Keeping up with social commitments at Georgetown can be a full time job!

The Atlantic from atop the dunes outside Georgetown Harbor

That night on the beach he invited us to partner with Marsha & Jeff, his newly arrived guests, in a game of trivial pursuit.  The next morning our neighbor, Tom, aboard an Oyster 47, was kind enough to draw us some maps and give us an orientation to the area.  We also explored holes number one, two, and three – small harbors for small groups of boats.  The shallowest harbor had catamarans and houseboats.  Hole number one has a “blue hole” in it but we couldn’t find it.  Tom told us that Jacques Cousteau had dived in the blue hole and had emerged from a grotto on the other side of the island.   Using Tom’s map we went for a hike up some high dunes overlooking the harbor and the Atlantic Ocean.

Our first official Georgetown Regatta event took place at the St. Francis Resort.  We had dinner with Jay, Debra, Marsha and Jeff and then settled down to the serious business of competition.  We quickly determined that our team had no business participating in a Trivial Pursuit contest that was geared to the theme of Georgetown Regatta Week:  Cowboy Boots & Bathing Suits.  We missed relatively easy questions like: Who wrote 27 novels about the Old West.  (Zane Grey)  I offered up Truman Capote as the answer.  We were heartened when we did get some right but we got a good laugh about most of the questions that were way beyond our limited abilities.  It turned out to be a fun night.

Georgetown

I have momentary internet access at the only table in a small restaurant in Georgetown today.  We had a nice passage to Georgetown - passing through 2 cuts on the way. There are potential difficulties when trying to pass through a cut with winds and tides opposing.  It's called a "rage."  High steep waves can roll your boat on its side.  Fortunately, the two cuts we traversed were calm.  We have been having a blast in Georgetown at their 2012 Regatta.  I will post more when time and internet permit.  We are awaiting arrival of a very difficult weather system with high winds Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  We will be pinned down to the boat for a while.  Hopefully our anchor is pinned down as well.

Warderick Wells to Staniel Cay

We dinghied ashore today to climb BooBoo hill.  Our new route avoided our having to wade through the creek that blocked our path yesterday.  Maryanne made it almost to the top.  (Pictures may follow if we get better internet.  Our internet provider posted the following on their login page:

The secret to happy surfing on a slow network?
1. Click on the link
2. Take a drink of your Kalik
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 above until network appears to have blazing speed.

If you see this notice on your network be prepared to lose your connection every time you try to post something.  

We placed a piece of driftwood atop BooBoo hill with the name of our boat on it and the year 2012.  A little below BooBoo hill we went down to the blow holes that we could hear thundering in the distance.  One of them blew spray 50 feet in the air.  Close up the sound of the air roaring up through the holes was scary!

We met our friends Lee and Sherry of the catamaran Alesto and learned that they were planning to leave today for Staniel Cay - and then Georgetown by Saturday.  We jumped at the opportunity to follow them since we are a little concerned about getting through Cave Cut from the Banks out to Exuma Sound.  The Cuts can be dangerous under the wrong conditions.  With few exceptions we have found that experienced cruisers will go out of their way to help newcomers.  We look forward to being able to provide that support to others in the future.

We got underway quickly before 11 and arrived at the fuel dock in Staniel Cay by 2:40.   Lee helped us dock using his dinghy as our bow thruster - pushing our bow in next to the fuel dock.  We filled one of our water tanks paying forty cents/gallon for reverse osmosis water.  The Watermaker company provide reverse osmosis water for all of the islands and have an office here.  Watermaker jets land regularly at the air strip on the island.  We practically had to duck as one of their jets came in low overhead like a bullet streaking toward the landing strip.

Staniel Cay - Finally dinner out at the "Yacht Club"
Very funky 1940's type Bahama Bar/Restaurant

While we were on the dock I could see a 5 foot shark swimming lazily back and forth under our boat.  Chad reminded me that they are attracted by people cleaning fish on the dock.

I am kicking myself for not bringing my trumpet.  On the Staniel Cay VHF net yesterday there was a request for a trumpet player to help a  young student at the local school.  If I were spending a little more time here I would have loved to help out.  It would be wonderful to give back a little of what we are getting from our experience in the Exumas. 

Exuma Cay Land and Sea Park

Dark forbidding clouds with downpours crossed harmlessly in front of us as we left Norman's Cay.  As the clouds passed us the wind shifted to the North indicating the passage of a long awaited cold front.  The winds turned out to be much milder than originally forecast - but in line with updates we had received.  We were able to sail most of the way south to Exuma Cay Land and Sea Park in Warderick Wells.  We were lucky enough to get off the waiting list for a mooring in the preferred north mooring field near headquarters.  Some day we hope to post pictures!  Soon you will see Maryanne standing next to a skeleton of a 50 foot sperm whale.

We did go for a short walk but the terrain across the coral was extremely challenging.  We hope to get up to Boo Boo hill tomorrow.  It is a custom to put the name of your vessel on a piece of driftwood and leave it atop the hill.

Exuma Land and Sea Park - shot from atop BooBoo hill
Ours is the middle boat - the dark water is the channel
The light water is the sand bank where you go aground!

We did do some snorkeling at slack tide off of our dinghy.  We still haven't figured out how to get back in the dinghy having neglected to buy a dinghy ladder prior to departure.  I was able to swim the dinghy from the dinghy mooring at the coral garden to our friends' catamaran, Alesto.  Lee and Sherry were nice enough to leave their swim ladder down so that we could climb aboard and then reboard our dinghy.  The swim above the reef gave us good experience snorkeling and a view of a few fish and some coral.  The previous evening I was startled to see a 5 foot manta ray jump clear out of the water.  We have seen quite a few of them looking like giant black blobs swimming just under the surface.

Our days are taking on a little bit of a rhythm.  Maryanne is up before me at 6:15 to make her coffee.  The day begins with listening to Chris Parker's daily 6:30 a.m. weather synopsis and forecast on the SSB radio.  Chris entertains questions from cruisers about their routes, destinations, sea states, and winds.  The radio show may go on for almost an hour.  We have participated with questions about our routes on a couple of occasions.  After the weather we have breakfast and prepare for a voyage or a land-based adventure.  I have been accused of moving with less than lightning speed in the morning as well as many other times during the day - so our departures rarely take place before 9 a.m.  On the day of a sail I have to check the oil and re-tighten the fan belt on my slightly misaligned high output alternator.  If we are headed ashore we usually plan to be back aboard for lunch and then head out again for swimming or exploring.  Maryanne has been doing an amazing amount of cooking and dish washing.  It is definitely time to find a restaurant - but that won't be anytime soon!  Appetizers precede dinner and by the time dinner is over there is only a short time to read and relax until we start falling asleep by 9:00.  Today after snorkeling I had the pleasure of disassembling part of the toilet while Maryanne enjoyed applying vinegar to the mildew on the area next to our berth.

We plan to spend another day here - next: any island with a restaurant!