Georgetown, Bingo

Again, we listen to the 8:00 clock net. This time I turn our radio power from 1W to 25W in case someone could of not hear my request for the particular impeller that I needed. This time I go into a more detail. A short while later I get a response on the VHF and connect up the Dale McDaniel on “MokaKat”, a Leopard Catamaran. He has a couple spares for his Rainman. We quickly hop in the dinghy and head to his boat. I of course wear Leopard Catamaran baseball cap.

He also learned the hard way previously that you need to have some spares. His son is flying down in the next couple week and will be bringing other boat parts and now another extra impeller, which I funded. We are very happy to get the impeller. Our only other real option was to have one shipped via Amazon to the Watermakers Air office in Fort Lauderdale to be put on their daily flight to Staniel Cay. We would have to sail north 50 miles or so to pick it up.

 

Linda visiting with Sherry Haefele from Ithaca, NY while doing Laundry. She and her Husband are RVer's who many be "Mooch Docking" in our driveway some day and us in theirs.

We then head into town to the local laundry-mat. Not the best laundry we have been too, but adequate. We run into Mark and Karen in the Exuma Market decide to go to lunch. We wind up at a place that is very hard to find, no sign on the building. Food was good but seating and location was greatly lacking. Hopefully this fellow can take care of the seating and signage and be successful.

We head back to Exuma Market and get some fresh produce and a pint of Ben & Jerry's for immediate consumption, as Mark and Karen had just done. Since they were finished when we got out of the Market, and the Ice Cream was well frozen (rare in the Bahamas), we quickly ran back to the boat and ate half and put the rest in the freezer for after dinner. Meanwhile Mark and Karen go to the Tourism office to arrange a rental car for tomorrow. We have been here 4 times but have not seem much of the land side of Great Exuma.

I make up the bed and then head back into Georgetown to refill 3 - 5 gallon diesel rail cans that I just transferred into the boat fuel tank. I also fill the 5 gallon rail gas can and the 6 gallon dinghy fuel can. 

 

 

This evening someone on a nearby Catamaran has a piano concert for people to attend sitting in their dinghies, sounds like fun. I get back from town a little late and head over by myself, Linda is not interested.

 

 

 

I miss Mark and Karen, but do run into Alain and Diane and meet a few other interesting folks. We have late shower and a later dinner.

Party is over, everyone heads "home"

Georgetown Harbor, Great Exuma on the left (west) and Stocking Island on the right (east)

 

Georgetown, The Net

 

We are up at 6am. We listen to the morning VHF net at 8:00am for Georgetown cruisers, to get the latest local cruiser news and events. This week is the annual cruisers regatta, with event schedule each day. Even without the Regatta, there are plenty of events each day. My goal was to request a need for an impeller for our Rainman. water maker. I do not get any responses. I later posted a more detailed request on the Georgetown Facebook page.

I contact a couple marinas here in Georgetown and Long Island with no luck. Check a couple place ashore in town with no success. We check out the Exuma Market and they have a mail-boat delivery coming in tomorrow, they are lacking a lot of items they normally have. 

"Lake Victoria" access to the Exuma Market dinghy dock

Linda and I head over to “Peace & Plenty” a local hotel and restaurant for lunch which over looks the Georgetown harbor.

When we get back to our boat, we see that Mark & Karen have arrived and are anchored near us. We put groceries away, shower and head to the “Chat and Chill” on Elizabeth Island which form the eastern side of the miles long Georgetown harbor. We expect it to be crowded, but strangely have the place almost to ourselves. They have great BBS ribs. We ride back in the twilight to our boat, grab a couple drinks and head to “Sea Vu Play” for cards.

Beach at the "Chat'n Chill"

Panorama of the Chat'n Chill beach

Twilight at the "Chat'n Chill"

 

 

Georgetown

  Lee Stocking Island to Georgetown Video

(On PC full screen "lower right zoom")
(On phone/tablet full screen "pinch-zoom")

Anchor watch, over three days, from east to north wind, anchor held well.

 

Spent sometime this morning catching up with kids and friends with FaceTime and plan old phone calls. We leave around 11:00 waiting for a rising tide because we will be trying to go through some shallow spots. Not quite enough wind to sail so we motor-sail with the engine at a low RPM. We anchor at Sand Dollar beach in Georgetown around 4:00pm. We don’t get off the boat and relax for the evening. Cell data rate is not too bad. I thought with all the boats here it might be nearly non-existent.

Entering Georgetown Harbor

 

 

  Lee Stocking Marine Research Center Video

(On PC full screen "lower right zoom")
(On phone/tablet full screen "pinch-zoom")

 

We tried to visit the old Research Center the other day but it was too rough to land. Today it is calm. The Marine Research Center lost it funding from the US Congress and was abandoned back in 2012. The current owners are planning on restoring it. There are worker's there during the week, working on building maintenance. 

The once-bustling Perry Institute for Marine Science, on Lee Stocking Island

 https://www.cruisingworld.com/exumas-ghost-town/

 

Research Center Dock, seen better days

Most of the buildings are in fair condition

Old Computers, rusting away

The old runway, with encroaching trees and vegetation

Research aquariums sitting where they were abandoned

 

Lee Stocking, Catchup

Today we spend the whole day catching up with internet stuff since we have stuff good cell connection here. I will probably not be as nearly a fast at Georgetown town with 300-400 other boats there.

We have happy hour on Blow Away Too with Alain & Diane and Bev & Allan. They had previously met on the trip south in the USA.

 

Nile, Bev & Alian

Linda, Allan & Diane

Lee Stocking, Hike

  Hiking Lee Stocking Island Video

(On PC full screen "lower right zoom")
(On phone/tablet full screen "pinch-zoom")

Breakfast is Panttone French toast. At 10:30 we head out with Alian and Diane to hike to the top of Lee Stocking the highest point in the Exumas. 

Start of out hike

 

Top of the Exumas

 

 We had hoped to checkout the old research center that is currently being renovated, but the wind and waves out of the south make is nearly impossible to tied up to the dock or beach the dinghies. We had back to Williams Bay and meet up with a bunch of kayakers, from Michigan, out for a few days. We do a short hike over to the ocean side. I am amazed how much stuff they have in their kayaks. I would not want to be camping on beaches and only having water to drink. Last time here we meet a young woman kayak camping by herself who was covered in sand flea bites. We invited her to stay on our boat for the night and treated her to dinner and a shower and respite from the bugs for the night. Linda had a cream for her bug bites.

Nile, Alian, Diana & Linda

 

Nile, Diana & Linda

Kayak campers

 

Before we head back to the boat we meet Bev and Allan on a Sabre sailboat. They are from Montreal and kept their boat at Mooney Bay on the New York side of Lake Champlain. We were just a few days ahead of them heading south from Lake Champlain.

In the evening Alian and Diane come to our boat for happy hour.

 

 

Lee Stocking

  To Lee Stocking Island Video

(On PC full screen "lower right zoom")
(On phone/tablet full screen "pinch-zoom")

In the morning about 6:00 Mark yells over to use that they are not concerned since they were pumping out more water via the bilge pump. With the shift in wind we are able to swing the two boats together and discuss options and exchange repair materials. The bilge pump can handle the small amount of water leaking in, but they want to head back to Nassau to get hauled out and fixed. I give Mark may supply of epoxy putty that bonds well even under water. It is about 10 years old, so I am not certain how good it still is. I also give him a roll of self-bonding silicone tape that is excellent for patching leaks if you can rap it around the pipe or hose. This stuff will even stop leaks on hot engine heater hoses. Anyways, Mark uses the epoxy and it seems to nearly stop the flow. They still decide to head back north to Browns boat yard in Nassau, where we hauled out 6 years ago with our rudder issues. They leave around 8:30 am and it will take them two day to get there. 

 

Leaving Rudder Cut Cay

Stone Beacon entering Adderly Cut to Lee Stocking Island

 

Highest point in the Exumas, Lee Stocking Island

Busy Williams Bay at Lee Stocking Island

 

We head to Lee Stocking Island and arrive around 11:30. I work on odd jobs on the boat. I had earlier texted Alain and Diane on “Blown Away Too” and find they are a few hours behind us also heading to Lee Stocking Island. We have Happy Hour on their boat that evening.

 

 

Rudder Cut Cay

 

  To Rudder Cut Cay Video

(On PC full screen "lower right zoom")
(On phone/tablet full screen "pinch-zoom")

 

Galliot Cut

We have another short day to Rudder Cut Cay and leave around 8:00 AM. Half the boats here seem to be leave at the same time. We are going to leave the shallower back side to head through Galliot Cut, just south of Little Farmers on to the deeper and rougher oceanside. The cuts can get very rough with wind and current oppose each other and the current can really rip through the cuts. 

 

 

Fortunately the wind from the south east is fairly moderate, but the current running to the east our direction is moving about 3 knots, so we peak at about 9 knots at our fastest point. There water is pretty choppy going out the cut, but not too bad.

An hour of so later we come back into the bank side at Rudder Cut. Behind Rudder Cut Cay the current is ripping and not the same direction at the wind. The holding here normal is very good, but it takes a couple repeated anchorings to get a good set. I goal this afternoon it to dinghy south to Darby Island and hike to the “Castle”. Darby Island is private and has a no trespassing sign, but has and email address on it to request permission to hiking. I have pictures of this sign from other cruiser blogs, so I had emailed the other day and asked for permission and was promptly given it.

The Castle

 

Darby Island dock

The Trail

The Castle

Inner

"Floating" near Rudder Cut at low tide

 Darby Island

The island is for sale, 40 million or so. It has an interesting history. Was a coconut plantation started in the late 1930’s. Apparently employed a lot of people at the time.

https://tropicalislands.net/big-darby-island/

 

 Once we get back to our boats we find it much calmer and it is slack tide. We grab or snorkeling gear and head over to David Copperfield’s Stainless steel “Piano and the Mermaid” status in an adjacent cove in 10-15 of water. The current can really rip through here making is hard sometimes to dive of the structure. My goal is to take a selfie sitting on the piano bench with the mermaid. This is the first chance I have had to use my new flippers and booties. Linda stays on the boat while Mark takes Karen and I over to snorkel. As I am trying to put on my new flippers I see they are size small. Damn it, Linda gave me the wrong flippers. I manage to get them somewhat on, rather painful, but it is a short excursion. When I dive I can not equalized my sinuses so it is rather painful down at 10 feet and I can’t stay long enough to get my selfie.

The Mermaid

 

When I get back to our boat I give Linda grief for giving me the wrong flippers, when we discover both pairs are small. At the store I tried on the medium size flippers along with the medium booties and was happy with the fit. My flipper bag even has a big “M” on it and Linda’s has an “S” on it. Well the dummies at the store switched out my medium’s for a small for some reason and we did not notice – ASSHOLES, thank you very much ! Fortunately, I still have my old flippers.

It is approaching low tide so we all head over the cave. At low tide there is a nice beach in the large cave and some other cruisers who we have met before have their chairs set up and music playing chilling out, cool. I had never thought to do that. Interesting, on our fist trip here 9 years ago there was just two or three boats anchored here now there is nearly twenty.

 

Cave dwellers

Party crashers

 

Talk with our daughter and find out the whole family has Covid.

Mark mentioned they were finding quite a few gallons of salter water in their bilge, but did not seem to concerned.

 

 

 

 

Little Farmers

  To Little Farmers Cay Video

(On PC full screen "lower right zoom")
(On phone/tablet full screen "pinch-zoom")

Mark and Karen have never been to Little Farmers Cay. We had stopped there on our first trip and enjoyed meeting Terry Bain and his wife who run “Ocean Cabin” a restaurant/ bar. Terry use to be noted for liking to engage tourists in political discussions. We had a lot of fun with him 9 years ago. He sure made our conservative friends uncomfortable when they could not defend their knee jerk platitudes they regurgitated from watching “Fox News”. Anyways we find a fairly busy Ocean Cabin (25 people) and a rather subdued but still engaging Terry Bain. After all we are almost 10 years older and certainly a little more mellow. 

 

Ocean Cabin

 

Terry Bain

GT

Terry has a sing a long

 

We had anchored by Oven Rock about one mile north of Little Farmers, because the holding is very good. We have anchored there in the past to hike to the nearby cave. It is so calm and protected from the east wind we decide to still put for the night. There are about 15 other boat anchored here for the night. In the past when have only seen a couple boat here and any one time.

 

 

Black Point, Water

Today more chores. I bring our garage ashore to trailer and leave a $20 donation. Black Point is one of the cleanest islands and we appreciate the effort they make to keep it that way. Then I spent the rest of the morning schlepping from the “free” water tap. Great exercise, making me looking forward to getting the water maker working. Linda cleans the boat while I am running back and forth.

 

Welcome to Black Point

 

The crowd at the water tap

After lunch Mark takes Karen and Linda ashore to do some shell seeking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I set the water maker back up to run fresh water through it since I left it filled with salt water. After a week or so unused, in this warm climate things start growing that will damage the Reverse Osmosis filters. A fresh water flush will buy you some more time between uses. After that I decide to go ahead and pickle the unit with a solution of Sodium Metabisulphite, an antioxidant used in beer and wine making. This is good for about 6 months, in case I don’t get the impeller that I need. I plan on selling the Rainman when we get back to Florida.

I also clean our clear vinyl and polish some of the stainless steel, something that we don’t have to do on Lake Champlain. As the say it is stain -less not stain-free in salt water.

For dinner we have reservations at Scorpios new place on the water. We have a good dinner that the waiter tells us we can get mango ice cream for desert on the house. We get excited, but are a little disappointed when the ice cream shows is with a decided red tint, Strawberry.

 

Dinner at Scorpio's

 

Black Point, Laundry Day

We head into Ida’s Laundry at 8:30. The only laundromat that has a dinghy dock and great views. Linda Facetimes her sister to shower the view. 

 

Black Point Laundry

Panorama from the Laundry gazebo

 

After laundry we head over to the “grocery” store and score a pint of mango ice cream. Mark and Karen gets one to and we immediately seat outside and eat it.

We make a dinner reservation at Lorraine’s Cafe for dinner. She also has a new smaller cafe in front of her original cafe on the water with its own dock. The original Cafe still serves her buffet dinner of Ribs, fish, chicken, etc. in the evening. Her newer cafe on the water has a menu and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. After dinner was stay and play cards, because it is raining and we are waiting for it to some. We also pick up a loaf of coconut bread at Lorraine’s Mon’s house next door. She is traveling and her grandson is baker for the time being. He is not as prolific as Lorraine’s Mom who bakes bread all morning so the smell does the advertising for her attracting customers.

 

Black Point

 To Black Point Video

(On PC full screen "lower right zoom")
(On phone/tablet full screen "pinch-zoom")

 

We leave around 1:00 pm for Black Point. We are leaving out the south entrance which it shallow and narrow and Mark is concerned about the depth with their deeper keel. 

Leaving Cambridge

 We take the “inside” route just to the west of Compass Cay. It is also shallow and narrow, so I have to pay attention to the chart plotter and visual cues. As we get further to the lee of the Exuma Island chain it gets a little rougher. We arrive at 4:00pm and anchor close to Dream Katcher (Peter and Theresa), a Vermont boat we last saw at Andros. They stop by in their dinghy for some conversation.

We have dinner at the new Scorpios, now on the water with their own dock. Our dinner is happy hour appetizers. 

The new Scorpio's

Sunset at Scorpio's