Double Wide Cat

Georgetown, Bahamas 2010-2011 After arriving in Georgetown on December 5th, we quickly settled into our new routine of living at anchor in Elizabeth Harbor. This harbor is made up of 6 or 7 different anchorages, each with its own personality. We prefer Volleyball Beach anchorage because it is at the heart of the cruising activities. Because Double-Wide draws less than 4’, we are able to anchor very close to shore. Our life at anchor is strictly, “off the grid”. We must depend on our battery bank to power the electrical appliances we use, including radios, PC, cell phone and lights. We have several ways to replenish the batteries. Primarily we depend on our solar panels, then our wind generator and finally, we have a 4.2 kw generator that can power a battery charger. The daily routine ... read more

Heading South -2010, part II After a quick trip to Baltimore and a long weekend in Atlanta visiting with our daughter Julie and her husband Dan, we returned to Charleston to get Double-Wide ready for an offshore trip to Florida. Monday November 8th dawned clear and cool. The weather report called for high temperatures in the 60’s and an offshore wind from the NW at 12-15 knots. It looked like an excellent chance to sail on a beam reach down the Carolina and Georgia coast. This section of the coast does not run North/South but more NE/SW until Georgia meets the Florida border. We started out motoring out of Charleston harbor then were able to raise the sails and begin a beam reach as soon as we cleared the long jetties that extend past the mouth ... read more

The Abacos 2010 - The Second Time Around After an exciting crossing from Spanish Wells we decided to enjoy a couple of days in Little Harbor, a small bay with all around protection. On Tuesday morning the skies cleared and the wind was light and from the Southeast. We motored out the channel and decided to make some fresh water since the wind was too light to sail. It was a short two and one half hour jog up to Lubbers Quarters, a small island just off the South end of Elbow Cay. We found a quiet spot in crystal clear water about ½ mile off the island. Our friends on Tamaki sailed in about 30 minutes later and anchored nearby. After lunch we launched the dinghy and headed ashore to do some exploring. The shore ... read more

“Winter 2010 - Georgetown and Surrounding Harbors” Our arrival in Georgetown was delayed somewhat this year due to our month long stay in Ocean Reef Resort. However, life in Georgetown was much the same as the two previous years. Our mornings are usually spent doing boat maintenance, going to town for supplies, laundry, dropping off trash or filling our water tanks. Most afternoons cruisers gather on Volleyball beach to hear the latest cruising gossip, play cards or dominos, and usually take part in a couple of games of “fun volleyball”. Fun volleyball is played with 9 people on each side (3 lines of 3). Therefore it is a low impact sport. A couple of times a week there will be an ARG meeting (Alcohol Research Group) where we have a sunset beach party with drinks, hors ... read more

Life in Ocean Reef - 2009 We are now safely tied to a slip in the “Ocean Reef” resort near the town of Lucaya on the south coast of Grand Bahama island. We crossed over from Lake Worth (Palm Beach) Florida on Monday the 30th of November. The trip across the Gulf Stream is always a bit exciting. The gulf stream is a river of water that is about 30 miles wide and moves from south to north at anywhere from 1.5 to 4.0 knots. Since we are moving from west to east it is necessary to cross this current to reach the Bahamas. We left Vero Beach and traveled down the ICW to get a little farther south before attempting our crossing. We spent the first night in a very picturesque place called “Manatee Pocket”. ... read more