Conditions were perfect for a four and a half hour sail from Rat Cay Cut to Elizabeth Harbour. We suffered a bit of culture shock arriving in George Town after the peace and quiet of the central Exumas. We anchored with at least fifty other boats next to the Chat ‘n Chill bar on Volleyball Beach where the music from the bar is nonstop from around noon until closing time. Fortunately, closing time is early evening.
The season was winding down for many cruisers.e Exumas were already making their way to points north in the US or Canada. I guessed at about 250 boats total in the harbour but we have heard that it is not uncommon for there to be more than 500 at the height of the season. I can’t imagine trying to find a good place to anchor when it’s that busy!
One tomato, a cabbage and an onion is all that was left in the ‘fresh food’ category. The supply of canned food was getting low as well and one freezer was empty. Grocery shopping was a treat after the small stores in Staniel Cay and Black Point. Exuma Markets, conveniently located across the street from the Scotiabank, was almost as well stocked as the Price Right in Marsh Harbour and there were usually vendors next door with fresh produce for sale that they had brought in from their farms. The onions, green peppers, tomatoes and bird’s eye peppers were better quality than those inside the grocery store.
The dinghy dock on Lake Victoria provided by Exuma Markets. On a busy day you really need to use a long painter. You can also fill your water jugs for free here with reverse osmosis water.
We helped celebrate two birthdays in George Town – Isabelle and Alec from Sea Walk
are April babies.
Birthday Greetings to you both once again.
What a delicious cake – home made too! Happy Bithday Isabelle!
Cruiser kids digging for buried treasure. No stopping until every piece of Lego is found. They eventually needed some help from the adults.
Even the adults got to pull.
Three cakes for the birthday boy. It must have been quite a challenge to keep them intact on a sailboat in the 80o F temperatures.
Volleyball Beach is one of the playgrounds for adults that George Town is known for. Every afternoon a crowd gathers on the beach for drinks, dominoes, drinks, volleyball, or just drinks, visiting and hanging out with drinks (or should that be drunks?).
Out on the volleyball court Tom discovered a few unused muscles.
We timed our stay in George Town to coincide with one of the biggest sporting events in the Bahamas – The National Family Island Regatta. In the week leading up to the regatta we watched the sloops and their crews arrive from islands all over the Bahamas, mostly on board the mail boats and other small supply ships with a few who were towed in on their own bottoms. (That would be the boats, not the crew.)
Why install a bollard when a big rock will do?
Unloading “Barbarian” - B Class from The Acklins
Rigging “Barbarian
The government dock was a beehive of activity as the boats were unloaded and the concession shacks went up. Each shack has its own bar and a makeshift kitchen. They were open for business as soon as four walls and a roof were up and electricity connected. Cheap beer (two or three for $5) and sky juice (a premixed concoction of gin, coconut water and evaporated milk – no charge for extra gin) were the drinks of choice and on the menu for breakfast.
Open for business.
The Bahamian food that came out of those little shacks was varied and delicious. My favorites were the conch fritters from Da Peoples Choice and mac ‘n cheese with lobster that came from another shack down the row. Tom’s sheep’s tongue souse (soup) was not pretty to look at but tasted good.
This was the first shack we ate at – Da Peoples Choice operated by Randy and his wife who does the cooking.
In keeping with his modus operandi, Tom became very involved in the regatta. Besides arranging a ride on Lady Nathalie (B Class from the Acklins) he put his power tools and skills to work helping Dave modify the mast angle on Dream Girl (C Class from Rolleville on Great Exuma) .
Working on Dream Girl before just before the collision at anchor with Anna Nicole.
Anna Nicole (A Class from the Acklins) heading for the start line after the collision – no damage to anyone.
He also spent a lot of time finding and organizing cruiser kids for the Saturday morning junior race series on the C Class boats. Laura and Ryan – They sure could have used you.
As official photographer for this blog I had a front seat in the spectator fleet anchored in the middle of the no anchor zone or out in a dinghy trying to keep out of the way. It was not unusual for the racing fleets to weave through the anchored cruisers.
That was a little close!
This was the 57th year for the Family Island Regatta having first run in 1954. Some of the boats in this year’s lineup were on the list of winners from fifty years ago and are still going strong. There are three categories of boats; A Class, B Class and C Class. Each class has strict design specifications that must be met. They must be built in the Bahamas with specific materials and have specific length, beam, and rig dimensions (mast height and boom length). For example, a B Class boat is approximately 24 feet long, with a mast height between 35 and 37 feet and a boom approximately 26 feet long. The sails must be cotton canvas. The crew can only have a certain number of tourists on board.
Two racing sloops under construction in Black Point.
If the tree fits –use it for the bow. We have been told that wild tamarind trees are used.
Some of the paint jobs are pretty creative like the C Class boats from Barraterre.
Races start with the boats at anchor. When the gun goes off, anchors and sails go up at the same time.
A typical start line.
Everything up!
I would like to see a copy of the on water race rules. The reaction to a collision resulting from a port-starboard violation was the offended boat yelling “Sink ‘em! Sink ‘em!” while it tried to do just that! Sunken boats are abandoned on the course with the winner of the collision continuing the race. Making contact with the marks when rounding them did not appear to have any consequences. No 360 rules.
Rounding the mark.
The Bahamas Defense Force will come to the rescue at some point.
Almost up!
Tom did four races on Lady Nathalie in four days. She was not a contender but there was no lack of excitement. They were in two collisions and a near miss with a cruising boat at anchor. Tom enjoyed the experience but is not ready for a repeat performance just yet. It took him three days to recover. Thanks for the pics, Wendy.
Setting up for the start line. Take a look at that boom!
Lady Nathalie in action. As you can see, racing is really close.
They didn’t win but hey – no missing body parts either.
There goes the fleet.
The dreaded ‘Income Tax Deadline’ was hanging over our heads as we prepared to leave George Town. Not knowing where we would get another stable internet connection, we had to make sure that bit of business was looked after before we moved on.
This dusty little place had the best internet in town and was conveniently located around the corner from the laundry.
George Town was another place for goodbyes. Some boats headed north before us, following schedules dictated by insurance restrictions that required them to be north of a specified latitude before hurricane season. Some were preparing to venture further south towards the Turks and Caicos or Luperon in the Dominican Republic. Others would leave their boats in the hurricane hole in George Town and return next season. And others, like us, would be making their way back to the US and Canada but via different routes and paces. We said goodbye to our new friends on Ajaya, Sea Walk, Altona, Texas Two Step, Rozinante, Hook and Sol Surfin. Thanks for the good times everyone. Hopefully our paths will cross again.
