Our Georgetown anchorage, early evening
The dinghy dock at Exuma Market
Why we have a water maker!
Wind. Wind. And more wind. Our progress south (but we have to go north and east to get there) is being slowed by a series of fronts, ridges and simply put – inconvenient weather for that trip. The wind has been a steady 20 plus knots from the northeast.
Last night there were lots of anchor drills in the anchorage – a catamaran dragged its anchor and hit another boat – anchor lines got all wrapped up and wrapped around rudders, dinghies came to the rescue – people had to get into the water … whew ! Luckily Astarte held firm at anchor and no other boat around us had anchor issues. Of course none of this happens in daylight!
We spent most of yesterday trying to get phone calls made from Georgetown. But "it’s the islands, mon". There was no way to call home. We tried everything (except buying a costly cell phone from Batelco) and no luck. We spent hours in town hoping JK Productions would open – but it never did – we heard from some other cruiser that there were issues yesterday with phone and internet.
Wind. Wind. And more wind. Our progress south (but we have to go north and east to get there) is being slowed by a series of fronts, ridges and simply put – inconvenient weather for that trip. The wind has been a steady 20 plus knots from the northeast.
Last night there were lots of anchor drills in the anchorage – a catamaran dragged its anchor and hit another boat – anchor lines got all wrapped up and wrapped around rudders, dinghies came to the rescue – people had to get into the water … whew ! Luckily Astarte held firm at anchor and no other boat around us had anchor issues. Of course none of this happens in daylight!
We spent most of yesterday trying to get phone calls made from Georgetown. But "it’s the islands, mon". There was no way to call home. We tried everything (except buying a costly cell phone from Batelco) and no luck. We spent hours in town hoping JK Productions would open – but it never did – we heard from some other cruiser that there were issues yesterday with phone and internet.
The internet cafe, closed yesterday for the regatta events!
If the wind settles at all today we’ll try again – but at this point it’s not prudent to leave the boat.
It’s regatta week in Georgetown. So the activities are accelerated. There always are plenty of activities – but it seems regatta week brings out even more. Yesterday there was a boat parade (though fewer boats participated because of the winds) and several ran aground. Most were decorated with lots of flags. There was also kids festivities in a park yesterday.
Coming up: a pet parade; Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournament; Golf tournament; Trivial Pursuits tournament; Coconut Harvest Contest (where teams of four in a dinghy with no motor and 4 flippers – (each person with one flipper) have to collect floating coconuts with a bucket); Volleyball tournament; Tennis tournament; dinghy dance; Dance contest, Amateur Night (karaoke gone crazy); T-shirt design contest; softball tournament; Kentucky Derby Hat contest and pseudo horserace; Sock Hop; registration party; and, believe it or not – an actual boat race/regatta around Stocking Island (though even that is kinda funky). Then there is the legitimate race for Bahamians and Bahamian boats only – called the Family Regatta. It cracks us up just listening to the announcements on the radio.
Speaking of the radio – we’re entertaining ourselves with commenting on all the different boat names and callers. There is one woman who’s always on the radio and she has a voice that is fingernails on a blackboard! She’s nicknamed the “Tongue of the Ocean” (actually that was what someone called her this morning on the radio and challenged her to WWF Smackdown wrestling match as a regatta activity!)
We’ll find boat projects and if the wind settles to anything below 20 we’ll make another attempt into town today to see if we can make phone calls. The dinghy ride is wet and wild getting into and back from town – full rain gear required.
So still in Georgetown…trapped on the boat listening to the wind.
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