The end of February found us in George Town for Cruiser’s Race Week, where we joined 400+ fellow boaters in Elizabeth Harbour! It was a special week with lots of fun activities. Family race day featured paddleboard, kayak and dinghy (no engine) racing. The funniest race was the Coconut Challenge. Part 1 – Each dinghy gets a crew of four and each person gets one swim fin to paddle with. The goal is to collect the most coconuts floating in the harbor. Anything goes, as crew are drenched with buckets of water or pulled into the water by competitors. The “booty” is counted, and then it’s on to Part 2 – the coconut toss. The crew stands on one side of the volleyball court and throws their coconuts into a graduated ring on the other side to get points. This is a change from years past when 2 people would hold a garbage bag in the air to catch the coconuts thrown from their team mates. Apparently there were a few bruises from that version! There were also big boat races in the harbour and around the island, baseball games in town, and bocce, volleyball and dominoes tournaments. We attended a workshop on how to make a conch horn, and enjoyed a gathering with Nica and fellow Boat Galley followers. It was fun to meet up with Nica and Jeremy on Mischief again, and impressive to see them sailing through the harbor with all flags aflyin’!
Lisa had no idea how hard a conch shell was. It took her 45 minutes with a hack saw to cut the tip off the shell, only to find the hole too small. (Yes, Fred offered to help, but she is stubborn that way). She got it right on the second slice, and with some practice is getting pretty good at sounding the horn at sunset. Although at times it can still sound a bit like a sick moose…
From here we had planned to head further south into the Bahamas and Caribbean, but Lauren was able to make arrangements to fly into Staniel Cay for a visit, so we headed back north. We call this island the “Hollywood” of the Exumas. Though it is small, there are many attractions that draw not just cruisers but also huge private yachts and tour boats from Nassau and George Town. The area has gotten insanely busy. After Lauren left, a woman was killed when a fast moving tourist boat plowed into their dinghy. Her husband was airlifted to Nassau in critical condition and is now back in the States healing.
It was a whirlwind week with Lauren! We anchored at the Pig Beach and got to hold a few piglets; we fed the iguanas and explored at Bitter Guana Cay, where we had only one other boat; and we enjoyed the SSCA cruiser’s gathering and sloop races at Black Point. Then it was back to Staniel Cay for snorkeling at the Thunderball Grotto (where the Bond movie was filmed). We dinghied Lauren to the airport for her flight out, and were hit by a rainstorm which caused a delay, but she made it back to Seattle by that evening. You will have to ask her about the leg from Nassau to Staniel Cay on Flamingo Air – an older 12 seat, twin engine prop plane. We suspect that was an adventure all its own!
The other happy coincidence of going back north was reconnecting with Jeanne and Sheldon on Shank’s Mare! We had parted at Key Biscayne in Florida when we crossed to the Islands, so it was great to catch up. We spent a long weekend together in the anchorage “Between the Majors”, riding out a nasty storm (where their dinghy, and several others, were flipped over by the wind). After the storm we moved back near the Pig Beach and had a beautiful evening with dinner aboard Shank’s Mare, then bid goodbye the next morning. Fred’s sisters had managed to get away for a week and were flying into George Town!
Back south we headed, with an overnight stop at the south end of Great Guana Cay. We found the trail leading to a cave and a beach on the other side. The cave was cool and dark, with stalactites and a pond. Supposedly one could dive in here and emerge on the outside, and we watched a family snorkel around, but they did not go through.
We thought we had timed our exit through Little Farmer’s Cay Cut with slack tide, but still encountered a bit of current and short waves as we passed out between the islands. We had already found that transiting a cut with tide against wind could be unpleasant – this was not so bad. Fred got out the fishing line, and as we got closer to Great Exuma Island he got a strike and landed a nice-sized mackerel. They are supposed to make good sushi, and he had it cleaned and stored (this time with no bloody mess in the cockpit) before we entered the cut into Elizabeth Harbour and George Town.
We enjoyed a few days anchored near Chat ‘N Chill and Sand Dollar Beaches. The cruisers potluck on Easter seemed like a nice idea, and Fred wore his Blind River ball cap. A guy walked over chuckling and said “For real? I’m from Massey!” – a town right down the road. We love these connections! There is also a boat here from South Haven, MI with crew from Kalamazoo, and another boat from the Detroit area. It does seem like a small world sometimes.
In order to spare the sisters a choppy, wet dinghy ride across the harbor, we moved Ritual close to town. Bonnie and Debbie had joined us in Key West last year, so they knew what to expect as far as tight quarters and little privacy. Their goal was to chill out on a beach, drink some Coronas and catch up with family. We also hiked them around Stocking Island a bit! We hit the town for groceries, beer and a couple lunches, with a visit to the straw market for tee-shirts and souvenirs. We enjoyed the beaches at Da Sand Bar, Jolly Hall, Chat ‘N Chill and Sand Dollar, interspersed with short hikes to the Monument, ocean side, Art Trail and Elizabeth Cut. The weather was perfect and the week flew by.
Now we find ourselves at a crossroad. Continue on south as originally planned, or follow the wake of several of our friends who are trekking back north to the States? We would really like to return to Portugal this fall for a few months, and feel we should get Ritual out of the “hurricane box”. Being away during a hurricane season (and this one has the makings for many storms) has us waiting for a weather window and pointing the bow back north. We will be slowly making our way through the Bahamas until the end of April, then up the East Coast – location to be determined. We will keep you posted, and for now, fair winds!
Fred and Lisa
Sailing Ritual 