For the last month, we've been in and around GeorgeTown renewing old friendships and making new ones, with about 400 or so boats that were in the harbor for regatta. Bob's brother-in-law Charlie Knapp stayed on board SeaTryst for a week and cruised with us.
When we returned in late February, we put out a call for help to repair our single sideband radio, which had stopped transmitting. Nice thing about the GeorgeTown cruising community is everyone is willing to help where they can. You can usually find someone with the right skill and equipment to fix just about anything. Tom from Anania answered the call, came with the right tools, and helped Bob identify the problem - a corroded connection buried deep in the aft locker (as usual it is always in the most difficult place to access).
We had the first farewell dinners with Al and Jennifer on Tanden , this one at the new St Francis Resort & Marina in Hole One, Stocking Island, GeorgeTown. It's a beautiful facility that's good competition for Chat 'n Chill.
We were in GeorgeTown at start of Cruising Regatta festivities. For the next 10 days, GeorgeTown was filled with fun and challenging activities. Doug and Sherry invited us to join them on Bad Boy in the boat parade, where boats of all sizes got dressed up to pass in review before the anchored committee boat. It was a busy day, as we dashed off Bad Boy and over to Sand Dollar Beach (our favorite anchorage) for a farewell party to say goodbye to Jim and Barbara on Blossom II.
On Monday, Feb 26, the cruisers' Weather God Chris Parker gave a seminar at the community center; we left it early to go to Exuma Market to pick up Charlie who was coming for a week.
Fortunately, the weather was better this year for Charlie's visit. Last year he and Michelle got here just as a front came through the brought strong winds of 20+ knots every day.
We had to show Charlie our life here - off to town, then to the ARG (Alcohol Research Group) meeting. Along the way, our dinghy motor stalled out. Fortunately, we were near Barefoot'n, so Bobby towed us back to SeaTryst where Bob figure out the problem.
Getting it running in no time, we were off to Hamburger Beach, where we met up with a hundred other cruisers and a million mosquitos. Among the cruisers was a couple from Babylon NY who grew up with Bob's cousins. Small world.
Tuesday, we took off - motored 10 miles to Emerald Bay Marina, where we met up with Al and Jennifer. We thought we had found heaven -- Emerald Bay is just beautiful with plush facilities, free laundry, wi-fi, and use of the pool and hottub at the nearby resort - all for .75/foot (about $34 a night). We took full advantage, and loved every minute, in fact we stay an extra day just to pamper ourselves.
In the above picture Bob is getting advice from Prince on how to cook the fish he caught in the Jumentos. We had another farewell dinner with Al and Jennifer, as they prepared to head north to the Abacos. It was sad to say goodbye; we'll miss our friends, buddy boat and Henry the dog.
The laundry facilities are free, but there are only three machines, which are used constantly ... so Maggie was there at 4:45a to start out the day. That's ok, because that afternoon she was able to relax at the pool, bringing her computer along for the wi-fi connection. We had lunch at the Four Seasons Resort, a short walk down the beach. Ahh, life is so good!
As enticing as it was to stay, we wanted to give Charlie a chance to see some of the more remote islands, so we left the dock about noon and went north to Williams Cay.
It was a beautiful evening, with a gorgeous sunset, full moon and dinner in the cockpit. Even Rosie decided to come up on deck to watch the sunset.
We were up early the next morning to watch the moon set. It was a bit breezy and choppy, so we dinghied around, walked up the hill to catch the views. Later it calmed down, and we swam off the boat, and enjoyed watching Charlie relax. We can't quite figure out why Rosie feels comfortable in her new spot, unless it's that if she is on the computer, we cannot chart a course to move again.
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Sunday morning, we needed to head back to GeorgeTown since the wind was picking up again and to be sure we'd be there for Charlie's flight on Tuesday ... plus we could go to the pig roast at Chat 'n Chill. It was flat calm early in the morning, so we took a dinghy ride around the islands and caught a shot of a stingray swimming near us.
Returning to the boat to prepare for getting underway, we heard of an accident just a few miles south - a small Bahamian outboard boat was crashed on the island, engines still running, dog in the cockpit, blood spattered around, no body in sight. We quickly weighed anchor to join the search. Along the way in very shallow water, we missed the channel and went aground on an outgoing tide. Bob maneuvered the helm, while he ordered Charlie and Maggie to run to the bow, back to the stern, up to the bow, back to the stern .... and on it went while he freed SeaTryst from the bottom and got us moving again. Boy, that was a close one, we could have been there until the next high tide 12 hours later.
We listened to the search and rescue mission and scanned around for a body, and along the way passed the sight of the accident. It was heart wrenching to see. (We heard later that Roy Aubry's body was found; apparently he had been drinking and fell asleep at the wheel.)
Arriving back at Sand Dollar, we were immediately welcomed by Smiles, who told us that Barefoot'n had left that morning. We were disappointed that we didn't get to say goodbye to them. Off to the pig roast, we meandered around Volleyball Beach and connected with friends we met last year, Roxanne and Mark on LaGalaput, and Neal and Stephanie on Rhapsody.
Maggie had her goombay smashes (she set a new record of three before she no longer could walk straight)and new friend Wendell, while Luther enjoyed the familiar surroundings.
The wind returned, sustained at about 20-25 out of the NE. We said farewell to Charlie, who caught the water taxi for a smoother ride across the harbor. We had a couple days of wind, and even some rain. Rosie takes advantage when she can, lapping up the water on the hatches, and Bob puts out the towel to funnel water into our tanks.
Thursday was the Elizabeth Harbor race, which was delayed due to squally weather at start time. Not long after the race started, the wind died. We went to the finish line to watch, but since so many boats were going backward we decided to go to lunch at Peace and Plenty, and joined Smiles and Cheetah II. In the meantime, the current and a slight breeze carried the racers across the finish line.
The next day was the Around the Island race, and Bad Boy called us to see if we wanted to crew. What a race it was, 20+ knot winds and a 54 foot boat under us! We had one goal - beat Camelot - and we did. The race is not just about sailing - there are contests for best baking while racing, and best pictures. When things got too much with the alphas on deck, Sherry and Maggie went down below to bake and have some fun. Our picture won the Most Humorous award.
The Saturday Variety Show ended the Regatta, and the big exodus started of boats going North. We knew that our Lucaya crew all planned to leave soon, so we had them on SeaTryst for a reunion and farewell. In less than a week over 150 boats left GeorgeTown.
Then the wind picked up from the NE and made it hard for boats to travel north, so they stayed for another few days. We had more chances to say goodbye - drinks and hugs on Smiles one day, and then on Eldridge C another. Finally on Friday, they could move. With promises to stay in touch, it was still sad to see our friends depart.
We moved across the harbor to pick up wi-fi on the boat. Maggie was working on a deadline for Peter and needed to get material sent out. Murphy was with her, as the satellite phone quit working, the wi-fi system was down for maintenance, the email programs didn't cooperate in sending the mail, and the local phone system was having problems. She found her way to Peace and Plenty, where she was able to get her work done.
Finally returning to the boat, we heard loud blasts from the oil tanker trying to come into the channel that was blocked by boats. Bob jumped into the dinghy, as did Neal, and they pushed a boat out of the channel to make way for the tanker.
A squall came through at 3:30a, so we were up with the engine running and listening to the radio reports of boats dragging and grounding, with the pouring rain and thunder and lightening all around.
The weather forecast is calling for 20-25 sustained for a week, so we took off for Red Shanks. How happy we were to see Barefoot'n in the anchorage ... and to know we can have wi-fi here. We think we'll be here for the week, before we can move about again.