socializing

Social Butterflies

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We were certainly sad to see Micki and Nathan go home to Colorado. But we consoled ourselves by leaping into the Georgetown social scene with both feet. Did I mention we were there during the Cruisers’ Regatta? This is basically two weeks of boat races, games, competitions, and socializing…all revolving around the hub of Volleyball Beach on Stocking Island. It’s been taking place for over 30 years, and several of the cruisers we met had attended every year. It seems to be a particularly big deal for Canadian cruisers – they sail south from their home marinas on the Great Lakes, arrive in Georgetown in time for the festivities at the end of February, and then start the long trek back home. Unfortunately, we missed registration day, so many of the games were already fully booked. But Capt. Mike managed to snag a spot on a bocce ball team.

And we had the opportunity to meet cruisers from all walks of life. One afternoon, the Women Who Sail Facebook group held a meetup at the Peace and Plenty beach club. It was great fun to share stories and experiences with such a varied group of women of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of experience.

On another afternoon, the captain of Bel Canto announced a get together for Colorado cruisers. Super fun! I think there were twelve boats from Colorado, and we enjoyed hearing how all of these landlocked folks discovered sailing and a passion for the water.

And then of course there was the ARG (Alcohol Research Group) happy hour on the beach. Seemed like the perfect time to break out the last of our coconuts and bring them as our “research material.” This event even boasted live music – a jazz band of fellow cruisers. Also had the biggest, best potluck spread of the season.

As I write this, even I’m amazed at how many social events were squeezed into one week. You can start to understand why Georgetown exerts such a gravitational pull on cruisers. There’s so much to do, so many people to meet, and if you’re there for even a short time you start to make plans and commitments: “Next week starts a new Texas Hold-em tournament.” “Saturday is a concert at the Peace and Plenty.” “There’s a fundraiser for a new roof for the library coming up. We’d better stick around for that.” Next thing you know – a month has passed by.

But I’m an introvert. And after a while, all that socializing gets to be a bit too much. So then I turn to my favorite thing about Stocking Island – climbing the hill to the pristine Ocean Beach, and hiking for hours at a time. I measured it using my Garmin GPS watch. It’s 1.75 miles from the rock cliff at the south end to the north end of the beach. If this gorgeous place were in Florida, it would be covered in Condo high rises and sunburned tourists. Here on Stocking Island, I never saw more than five or six people and a couple of dogs.

And there’s a climb up to Monument Hill at the north end – just to get the blood pumping.

A little solitude, a bit of exercise, and I’m ready to be social again! We were finally reunited with our buddy boats Elixir and Leef Nu. Better yet, it was Trish on Elixir’s 30th birthday! So we celebrated in the best way – another night of Rakin’ and Scrapin’ at Eddie’s. The kitchen was not at its best that night. Between the eight of us at our usual patio table, only three plates of food ever got delivered. But the band was rocking, and we all had a fabulous time. I don’t think Trish will ever forget this birthday!

Speaking of reunions with old friends, Drew and Sharon of SV Z-Raye arrived in Georgetown from Key West while we were there. So we had a fun time catching up and making plans to travel together to Conception Island and Long Island.

Our First Guests, Part 2 – Georgetown, Exuma

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After a couple of days anchored out and living off the grid, we sailed south to the (relatively) busy port of Georgetown on Great Exuma, catching some big shiny barracuda along the way.

It took us three tries to find the perfect spot to anchor, and Capt. Mike and I just might have gotten a bit testy with one another. Micki and Nathan discretely used that time to prepare a lovely charcuterie platter and fresh coconut water cocktails to celebrate anchors down.

Last year, when we visited Georgetown, we got a good feel for the “summer camp for adults” vibe of this cruisers’ mecca. This time, the energy was even higher because we arrived during the Cruisers Regatta – two weeks of races, games, challenges, and events augmented with daily parties. I admit, it was a bit of a shock to the system after the quiet days on Lee Stocking Island! After our delicious snack, we headed ashore to make sure that Chat ‘n Chill on Volleyball Beach was just as much fun as we remembered. Never fear – it’s still a lot of fun, and the de-facto gathering place for the cruiser community.

The beach life is fun and all, but we decided to mix things up a bit and hit some nightlife by dragging Micki and Nathan to a traditional Bahamian rake ‘n scrape. This Monday night tradition at Eddie’s Edgewater is a ton of fun. After eating a big plate of chicken plantains, and rice and peas, and after drinking a couple of Sky Juice cocktails (gin, coconut water, and condensed milk) we were ready to dance. The band included everything from guitar to horns to the saw – that’s what makes it a real rake ‘n scrape as opposed to just a boring old band. Micki loves music and is always ready to learn something new, so she got a quick saw lesson, mostly in how to hold it so you don’t cut yourself, and then she joined the band. We pretty much closed the place down, dancing until we couldn’t handle the heat and the Bahamian volume of the music, then catching our breaths hanging out with other cruisers on the patio, then dancing some more. Eddie’s is always a great night!

All too soon, it was time to say goodbye to Micki and Nathan and wish them a safe trip back to snowy Denver. Things got a little bit tricky on that last day. They’d spent a lovely night at the Peace and Plenty hotel ashore (and shared their hotel shower with Sanitas’ crew – hot showers are delightful!) but then we’d anchored back out on Elizabeth Harbor for the final night. The wind was up, and the harbor was very choppy that last day, we weren’t sure our little dinghy, Bug, could get four people ashore safely and keep the luggage dry. So we devised a complicated plan. Capt. Mike took Bug across the harbor by himself. The remaining three of us called Elvis’ water taxi and reserved a ride across the harbor at 10:00 so that we could pay for a safe, dry ride. However, nobody ever explained which boat was the water taxi, or how it would find us out at anchor. So…to make a long story short…. they didn’t find us. I hailed the water taxi on the VHF radio on channel 16, channel 14, and channel 68 and called them on the phone. I stood on the bow of the boat waving a bright shirt and yelling at any boat that looked remotely like a water taxi. And as it got closer to the time of their flight, I started waving at any old fishing boat that looked like it might get us across the harbor in time. Eventually I flagged down a water taxi a whole hour later than the original plan. The driver said, “I saw you waving at me, but why didn’t you hail me?” Hello!?! What did you think I was waiving that bright shirt and yelling so frantically for? Just to be friendly? It was quite the fiasco. But all’s well that ends well, and we had just enough time to grab a quick lunch from the jerk chicken shack and walk to the yacht club to catch a taxi to the airport. I hope Micki and Nathan enjoyed their visit! Thanks for the gift of the Peace and Plenty beach bag!

You Can’t Miss the Super Bowl

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By the time the 5Fs festival was over, we were desperate for some fresh provisions. Because the one teeny tiny grocery store on teeny tiny Little Farmers Cay sold out of everything by 10:00 am the morning the supply boat arrived. No eggs. No milk. No bread. No produce. We did buy the last three limes, a liter of rum, and a ziplock bag of ice. That and my store of canned goods got us through the festival weekend. Since woman cannot live on rum alone, we backtracked north to Black Point on Sunday afternoon where Adderly’s Friendly Market set us up and we even found eggs at the Laundromat.

Have I told you about the Rocksound Laundry on Black Point? Ida Patton runs an amazing business offering everything a cruiser might want or need. Clean and well-maintained laundry machines, of course. But also hot showers, a place to charge electronics, cold drinks, homemade carrot cake and conch fritters, fishing supplies, and haircuts! I got a trim while enjoying the best view in the islands, and got tons of compliments on the cut.

We had the opportunity to meet fellow Pacific Seacraft owners in the Black Point Harbor. Amy and Roger on Shango spent five years circumnavigating the globe. (Wow!) And Charlie and Nancy on Tracey J split their time between working in a hospital in Seattle and sailing in the Bahamas. Always interesting to learn how other folks are making their sailing dreams a reality.

They invited us ashore to Scorpios for the big Super Bowl party with the enticements of a new big screen tv, chicken dinner special, and 2-4-1 rum punches. I’m not much of a football fan, but how could we turn that down? Elixir’s dinghy was giving them trouble, so little Bug towed them to shore like a prince and a princess.

David at Scorpios really does make the best rum punch I’ve had in the Bahamas, and he has the nicest, friendliest smile to go with it. His picture is a bit blurry because it never stopped moving all night.

The game wasn’t terribly exciting, and the Patriots won, but everyone in the bar was friendly and in the mood to socialize. Even the Maroon 5 half time show sounded amazing when blared at Bahamas high volume. I met another Women Who Sail friend Cindy in person after several earlier Facebook chats, and Trish and I “borrowed” a few of the Junkanoo parade costumes in the pool room when we had had enough of football.

The next morning, we moved Sanitas just around the corner to the beautiful little bay by the Sand Castle House. This beach is also in the running for most beautiful in the Bahamas, and we took our time exploring the rocks and sea creatures, floating in the cool waters, and soaking up the sun on the sand. Several new friends we’d met at the Super Bowl party had moved here too, so we threw an impromptu sunset happy hour on the beach. We made good use of the fire pit and the coconut palm tiki bar in the trees, staying ashore until the bugs drove us off the beach and back to the water.

5 Farmers 5Festival 5First 5Friday 5February

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5Finally !!!

One of our main goals for the 2019 cruising season, was to make it to Little Farmers Cay in the Exumas in time for the 5Fs festival. It’s the tiny island’s annual homecoming festival, and the regatta race for Class C Bahamian wooden sloops from all the neighboring islands. It’s kind of the little brother festival to the National Family Islands Regatta that we attended in Georgetown last year. So we considered ourselves lucky to find a small weather window to leave Warderick Wells on Thursday 31 January to head south.

Slightly chaotic leaving the Warderick Wells mooring field…. the current was absolutely ripping when I dropped our mooring lines, and Capt. Mike asked where was the floating mooring ball, to make sure that he didn’t run it over or tangle the thick lines in our prop. Well, I looked to port, looked to starboard, looked forward, and looked aft but couldn’t see it. So we kept drifting in neutral, almost to the point of running aground. Finally we gave up and motored off, trying to decide if we needed to anchor and dive the boat to determine whether we were dragging a 24 inch diameter ball under our keel. But Kevin on Leef Nu dinghied over to check out our spot, and radioed to tell us that all of the mooring hardware and lines were still there, except for that big white ball. It must have popped or broken in half during the night. So THAT was what woke Capt Mike up at 4 am! We radioed the info to Sherri at park headquarters and continued on our way.

By 2:30, we were anchors-‘down near Little Farmers Cay and I’d say there were at least 100 other boats already in the anchorage. One or two of them were definitely pushing the “no anchor zone” in front of the air strip, lol. You’re the one risking your mast – not me!

We hustled to get Bug in the water and get ourselves over to the Farmers Cay Yacht Club in time for Happy Hour and FREE FOOD. Perhaps I should restate that. Where cruisers are concerned, you have to be at the front of line when free food is advertised. Our attempt to wander in an hour late was not successful. By then, the lines were long, we made our donation to the Methodist church for the buffet, got to the front of the line, and learned that all the meat was gone. So our $15 dollar donation got us each a scoop of peas and rice. Oh well. It’s for a good cause, right? And we got a chance to meet and talk to lots of fun people.

The first race of the Regatta was on Friday, and we were so excited, we couldn’t contain ourselves. We had watched the race boats come in on the mail boat and have their masts restepped. Unfortunately, the boat in this picture, Legal Weapon, got dropped and was damaged too badly to actually race.

Even though the weather was nasty with wind and rain, we hopped into our trusty Bug and dinghied out to watch the race. And out…. And out …. Only later did we learn that this was the “Ocean Race” – one long sprint from the staring line a couple miles out to the finish just off shore. So by the time little Bug made it out to the starting line, we got a quick view of the start and then and long, wet, miserable ride back through rain and waves that almost swamped us. No fun at all! But watching the start of a race up close is still very exciting. The crews start at anchor. And when the horn blows, the biggest guy starts hauling up the anchor rode, while the next biggest hauls on the halyard to raise the sail. Then there’s a free-for-all of shouting and swearing and jostling for position and to claim the best position to the wind. Be still my beating heart!

After warming up and drying off and fortifying ourselves with caffeine, we headed ashore followed the sound of dance music to the party on the lawn of the Ocean Club. Capt. Mike got scolded for assuming that the folding table covered with bottles was an honor bar, and attempting to pour his own drink. Oops. But we also had the chance to meet the captain and crew of the Long Island boat, Whitey K, and Mike gushed about how much he admired their sailing prowess. Their captain said “And we’re handsome too!” And posed for a selfie.

We learned our lesson, and watched the rest of the races from the deck of Ty’s Sunset Bar, leaving the chasing to those with bigger, stronger dinghies. Still lots of fun to listen to the trash talk between Bahamians from different islands, and to watch the betting go down. In between races, there were games, drinking, and dancing, and a pop-up conch salad stand right on the beach.

We did dinghy out a little ways to cheer on the finish of the final race. Sometimes you just gotta get right out there in the middle of things. All the more exciting because our new besties from Long Island swept the Regatta and won every race.

Ok 5Fs Festival. Your weather could have been better, but otherwise, you didn’t disappoint!

My Favorite Place in the World

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Once we tackled our jack line and solar panel repairs, we could relax and enjoy our stay in the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park – one of my very favorite places in the world. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…. I would be perfectly happy staying right there in the north mooring field until I ran out of $20 bills to pay for the daily mooring fees, and emptied the bilge of cans of tuna fish for meals. On our first full day in the mooring field, the cruisers organized a beach happy hour potluck, complete with live music.

The Park was established in 1958 and protects 176 square miles of islands and seabed. It is a no-take zone for fish and turtles, which means that the marine life is glorious and varied. My favorite part of the Park is the hiking trails on Warderick Wells Cay, which provide an excellent opportunity to stretch the legs after days and nights on a tiny boat! There’s a cruising tradition to make a sign for your boat out of natural materials (no plastics, please) and to add that sign to the collection at the top of Boo Boo Hill. A half mile into our hike, I found the perfect piece of wood…. and then found myself committed to carrying it for the next five hours!

This year, I finally managed to pack enough water, snacks, and sunscreen to hike from the park office all the way to the south end on the island to Pirates Lair and Turtle Beach. It took us five hours to make that round trip – way longer than you’d expect from the mileage. But often, the trail is only a suggestion, and it’s always a mixture of sharp eroded limestone rock and dry loose sand. Even at sea level, the hiking is slow going! But Jeff and Trish of Elixir were good company, and we peer-pressured each other into continuing south at each trail intersection. Phew!

Capt. Mike thinks that Perky Turkey Jerky should sponsor our adventures. Here he is practicing his brand placement and his Vanna White skills.

Beach planks! Gotta stay in shape!

We collect photos of Sanitas’ sister ships wherever we meet them. Here’s the beautiful Island Lady – a 31 foot Pacific Seacraft captained by Cree.

For the final ritual of our stay in the park, the whole crews of Sanitas, Leef Nu, and Elixir climbed Boo Boo Hill one last time, and added our sign to the pile. We were here! In case you were wondering, our Dock 4 sign from last season is still there too.