The best of George Town and Stocking Island

On Dec. 3rd, we were up at 6am to make the slack current at Dotham Cut and begin a 45 mile sail to George Town, Exuma. The cut was choppy but Billy Ruff'n, and captain Andrew handled it well. The rising sun on the eastern facing cliffs made for a dramatic scene.

We hoisted the main in 10-12 knots, rolled out the jib and were moving along at 6.5 knots but the wind was a bit shifty. We set the spinnaker and picked up a knot or so and kept adjusting course and sails to keep Billy moving, eventually picking up to 7.5  knots on average and overall a nice sail. We arrived at Conch Cut, the entrance to Elizabeth Harbor, around 2:30 and slowly motored through the shallow spots to an anchorage off Monument Beach on Stocking Island, which is across the harbor from George Town.

George Town is a cruising hot spot with all of the essential services and a large cruising community. The  day after we arrived, we dinghied thru the narrow cut that provides small boat access to Lake Victoria and a town dock. We walked around, past the delicious smelling roadside barbeque, the park all dressed up for Christmas, the straw & souvenir shops, the hardware, some small hotels & restaurants and back to the liquor and grocery stores for provisions.

That evening, back on Stocking Island, we took a dinghy ride to the hurricane holes with numerous boats tucked up in them, past Chat & Chill Beach Bar & Grill, to Peace & Plenty Beach Resort, with its sweet beachside cottages and romantic cliffside restaurant.

Over the next few days we survived a hike to the top of Monument Hill, drew our boat name in the sand and took pictures of her in the background and played Backgammon with Mike & Mary from Dream Weaver, who we continue to hang out with almost daily. 

For lunch one day, we enjoyed delicious frozen mojitos and fish sandwiches at Peace & Plenty and the next day fed stingrays and savored the most excellent conch salad, expertly prepared by Renaldo, who has been catching and chopping conch at Chat 'n Chill since he was 16 years old.

So now, you are caught up with where we are in our 2021 Bahamas adventure. We will most likely be hanging out here in George Town until we fly home for Christmas on 12/20. Hope to catch up with many of you in person over the holidays.

Getting to know the locals on Black Point & swimming the cave at Oven Rock

After snorkeling in Staniel Cay we weighed anchor for Black Point, a small settlement 7 miles away and a short motor sail. Once in town, we dinghied to Lorraine's for lunch, where we met Killer, the bartender. Killer is originally from the Philippines but learned his craft in Dubai and now is famous for his long list of creative cocktail drinks & flaming shots. It wasn't quite cocktail hour so we just went for the shots and promised to come back another day!

After lunch, we walked through town to see a blow hole with fabulous vistas on the ocean side and then back to Lorraine's where we bought homemade coconut bread from her mother, who lives next to the restaurant where she weaves baskets and bakes bread every day for the island visitors.

The next morning, we had the BEST FRENCH TOAST EVER made with Lorraine's mom's coconut bread, while motor-sailing to an area named Oven Rock, due to the large landmark rock that looks like a pizza oven. We landed the dinghies on the nearby beach in sand made of bits of coral that looked like grains of rice and began the search for a path to an underground cave. There we swam in the cold & salty but refreshingly clear water in a black hole that looked like a moonscape once your eyes adjusted to the dark. 

Back in Black Point the next day, we anchored off the infamous Rock Sound Laundromat, in order to get some laundry done. We had heard from a few different cruisers that this was the best laundromat in the Bahamas because it is relatively large, clean and well run with a little store to buy soap and other sundries as well as a colorful deck to sit on and watch the nurse sharks feed while you wait for your clothes to wash. 

Well, the pink & aqua porch was about all we found to be consistent with the descriptions. Mary and I had to search all over town to find someone who knew someone, who could call someone to come over and sell us coins for the washers & dryers, half of which were out of order. When the washers were done, Mary checked one of her loads and, although the coin was taken, the machine had never started. We tried to find the guy who sold us the coins but never did and decided we'd try again the next day.

That evening, we had an excellent dinner of lobster & ribs served with Bahamian mac & cheese and plantains at Lorraine's, where she joined us at the table while we commiserated over our laundry experience and enjoyed our orange and green 'Killer' cocktails with names like Melon Ball, Liquid Marijuana, Sexy Legs and 99 Bananas. 

The following day, we met Ida, who runs the laundromat but had been in Florida buying new machines the day before. She was very helpful and in fact had to let Andrew & I into the grocery store because the grocery lady was out of town! It sure is interesting the way things run down here in the Bahamas. The people are nice & friendly and business gets done when it gets done.

Swimming with pigs and snorkeling Thunderbolt

On Nov. 28th we set out for Big Majors Spot, the home of the original swimming pigs and Staniel Cay, a good anchorage nearby. We dropped anchor around noon and took the dinghy over to see pigs of all sizes swimming and performing their tricks as well as the almost as entertaining humans petting, feeding and posing with them.

On the approach to Staniel Cay's dinghy landing, you see these cute cottages in pastel colors lifted above the beach on stilts. We landed on the beach, walked around, had a beer with the locals and checked out the grocery store but that was about all there was to this little settlement besides the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. The Club is the central meeting place for yachties and sports flags from clubs around the world. We had a nice lunch there with Mike & Mary from Dream Weaver and enjoyed catching up with a family of Salty Dawgs that were travelling with their kids.

The next day, we snorkeled Thunderbolt Grotto, a cave with entrances that barely show above the water so you have to duck under to clear them. Once inside, the overhead dome is pierced with dramatic shafts of sunlight. Below the water with your mask on, you can see swarms of fish looking for handouts. If you bring along a bottle of broken crackers mixed with water and squirt it out for them, they will follow you anywhere, nipping at the bottle cap even after you've closed their food source. It was worth the trip and I wish I had the pictures to prove it!

Exploring Exuma Land & Sea Park

On 11/26, we left Highborne Cay for Norman's Cay, approximately 7 miles away once you have negotiated all of the rocks, coral and shallows. Just offshore near the cut, there is a sunken WWII era military transport plane that was once used to support Pablo Escobar's cocaine business. In 1978, Pablo's point man began purchasing a portions of the island to use it as a location for resting & refueling. In 1980, one of the pilots fell short of the runway Pablo had built and landed the plane on a shallow sandbank. The pilot, passenger and its cargo survived and plane floated to its' current resting place to create an artificial reef and an excellent snorkeling spot. We enjoyed the snorkeling immensely but unfortunately didn't get any of our own pictures due to a leaky Go Pro.

After Norman's, we weighed anchor for Shroud Cay, which marks the beginning of the breathtakingly beautiful 176 square mile Exuma Land & Sea Park that was established in 1959 to preserve and conserve the local flora and fauna. We found a spot on the western shore with quite a few mega yachts and all of their play toys (including helicoptors, giant rafts with slides, jet skis, etc.). It was the first we saw more than a handful of boats near our anchorage, let alone these apartment building sized ships.

   

We were anchored near the entrance to a heartland of mangroves and creeks. I pumped up my stand up paddle board, while Mike & Mary (on Dream Weaver) unloaded their kyacks and we went for a paddle with Andrew as our chase boat in the dinghy. We didn't see much other than a few small fish and a 3 foot barracuda, but it was an idyllic spot for paddling around.

Back on board, we had Mike & Mary over for BYO ribs and whatever other sharable food we could find while watching the horizon for the green flash at sunset. Andrew thinks he saw something green!

The following day, we weighed anchor for Warderick Wells, our last stop in the Land & Sea Park. We arrived around noon and lazed about while Mike & Mary scouted some snorkeling spots. Eventually, we dinghied in to the park office onshore to pay the $0.50/foot anchoring fee. (The park is the only place we have encountered an anchoring fee so far.) Later, we snorkeled Emerald Rock, which had a variety of small white, yellow & blue fish but nothing too spectacular. We were all looking forward to the next day when we were to visit the swimming pigs!

Things to be thankful for on Thanksgiving Day!

By Thanksgiving Day, we were tired of waiting for the weather to cooperate for our trip across Exuma Sound to Highborne Cay. It was supposed to lightened up later in the day but it was still blowing 20-25 knots when Dream Weaver tossed her lines first. Their departure went uneventfully, except for the stern line chucked into the wind vane, which snapped off one of the brand new blades Mike had just replaced. 

The wind was blowing us against the pilings of their slip, so Andrew rowed out in the dinghy to put releasable loops around the pilings on the other side. The plan was to (literally) winch our way up against the windward pilings and then release stern, mid-ships and bow (in that order) as Andrew gunned it out of the slip. Unfortunately, my lock on the bow line, which was on a capstan, didn't hold. The bow of boat blew over into the slip Dream Weaver had just vacated and we were cattywampus across the two slips. After swearing at myself, I vowed that we were going to get out of this predicament today because I had no intention of paying for two slips that night! 

Amazingly, Andrew held his temper and set about tying 3 lines together and rowing back out to the  piling we had slipped off. With assistance from the dockmaster, who showed up and politely asked if we needed help, we re-winched our way back into our original slip and tried the plan all over again. The dockmaster lept off the boat just as Andrew hit full throttle and 45 minutes after Dream Weavers' departure, we cheered our own!

We put out the jib and motorsailed because we were too tired to attempt the double reefed main that was required in this wind. Our destination, Highborne Cay was one of the deeper and wider cuts for entering The Banks, which is on the western, more protected side of Exuma and the easiest way to island hop, but also much shallower than the Sound. We entered the cut with steep waves behind us and rocks close by on either side but fortunately the slack current wasn't against us as we were approaching shallows where we found Dream Weaver settled on her anchor.

We dropped anchor, cooked up some peas & mushrooms and packed a bottle of wine for a Thanksgiving feast on board with Mike & Mary. We had turkey & gravy, mashed potatoes, and carrots and lots of gratitude for a safe journey and gracious hosts.

Three days of luxury at Cape Eleuthera Marina

Because we were expecting some high winds and heavy seas (too much for comfortable sailing in and out of cuts & anchorages), we decided to delay our voyage across Exuma Sound and enjoy a few days of (relative) luxury at Cape Eleuthera Marina on the southern end of the island. Furthermore, we would be able to look up friends of our nephew, Jack, who worked at The Island School in Eleuthera in its' formidable years.

Our friends, Mike & Mary on Dream Weaver thought our plan sounded like a good one so together, we weighed anchor  and proceeded to pick our way through the sandbars of Davis Cut. Having a 6 1/2 foot draft (vs. our 7 feet), Dream Weaver was very helpful taking first position and steering us away from low spots. We arrived at the marina around noon, finding beautiful white cottages at it's entrance with an inviting pool, overlooking the exquisite turquoise blue ocean and white sand beaches. Quintessential Bahamas and we had access to it for the next few days.

That first day, we hung at the pool, got laundry done and made plans to meet up with Chris & Pam Maxey, friends of our nephew and founders of The Island School. The second day, we rented a car with Mike & Mary and on the way out of town watched a kite surfer doing flips off the ocean waves. We would later find out, it was Chris!

Our first stop in the car was the Blue Hole in Rock Sound. It looked refreshing but we didn't have suits so we briefly watched the other families dare each other to jump in from the low cliffs and proceeded on our island tour. 

We drove through Tarpoon Bay to Governors Harbor, which was a spot I had wanted to stop in the boat but was talked out of by Mike, who has been to the Bahamas before and knew that the harbor didn't have holding. Andrew concurred. Driving through town on the harbors' edge, watching the choppy water splash up over the road and the boats lurching this way and that in the harbor, I was thankful to be sailing with such skilled seamen!

From Governors Harbor on Exuma Sound, we drove to the Atlantic Ocean side of the island in search of lunch with a view. We found La Bougainvillea restaurant & resort, the perfect spot for sharing grouper fingers and a chicken curry wrap.

On the way back to the marina, we went grocery shopping in Rock Sound and thought about getting a turkey breast for Thanksgiving but deciding it was too much for just Andrew and I, so we went for pork ribs. Mike & Mary had a similar thought but went with the turkey and invited us over to their boat for Thanksgiving dinner! What a great idea!! With the continued high winds, we had decided to stay another night in our slips and make our way to Exuma for turkey day.

That evening, Andrew & I were invited to Chris & Pam's for sundowners and to discuss a plan for a tour of The Island School the following day. It was great getting reconnected with them having met some 20 years ago!

The tour of the school was certainly one of the highlights of our visit to Eleuthera. Chris showed us the cistern supported buildings that our nephew Jack was instrumental in designing and building with a crew of college mates that he had recruited to help.

 

Chris told us about the program that Jack designed which took gallons of green cans full of vegetable oil from cruise ships and made it into biodiesel for use in the schools' trucks and boats. He explained the gardening system that used pigs to fertilize rotating sections of a pie shaped garden, and the hydroponic system that used fish poop to make lettuce grow! It was fascinating and fun to learn about this amazing organization that supports non traditional learning for students all over the world and to hear about what a legend our nephew, Jack is at The Island School.