Back to Exuma

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We arrived back in Georgetown on February 15th after a smooth sail with 10-12 knot following seas from Long Island, Bahamas. The harbor in George Town seemed to grow by another 50-60 boats while we were gone. There is a big event called George Town Regatta in early March and many boats in the Bahamas attend every year. Some years as many as 400 boats are anchored in the harbor at this time.

While we were in Long Island we did not have access to email, so when we got back we checked our messages and found an email from Julie requesting that we call her as soon as possible. While on their vacation to Maui Julie and Dan became engaged. On Valentines day morning, they went to see the sunrise from the top of the volcano Haleakala. What a perfect spot for a proposal! We are thrilled with this news as we have grown very fond of Dan and think that they make a great couple. This announcement is also special because April 14th we will celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary and Dan’s parents will soon be married for 50 years. I guess we will be involved with wedding plans once we get back to the states in a few months.

Some of the events we have been taking part in lately have included a Sunday night trivia contest on the deck of the St. Francis marina, a beach volleyball tournament, a seminar given by Chris Parker the Caribbean and Bahamas weather guru and another talk by Monty and Sara Lewis, the couple that writes the Explorer chart books of the Bahamas. This couple has been charting the Bahamas for over 20 years and their data is now used by most of the chart plotting companies because it is much more accurate than the paper charts that were done by the British back in the 1800’s.

On another evening we were invited aboard “Nemo 5”, a C&C 35 owned by a French Canadian couple - Remy and Suzanne. They entertained us by singing old sailing songs in both English and French.

During the recent full moon, we took a late night beach walk on the ocean side of the harbor with fellow cruisers Doug and Sharon. We were amazed at how bright it was. We did not need a flashlight. It was a spectacular sight with the big orange moon rising above the nearly calm ocean. The next night we gathered a group on Double-Wide to watch the eclipse of the moon - What a spectacular sight!

We finally climbed the highest hill in Great Exuma called Momument Hill. It has a tall stone pillar which was used in the sailing ship days to alert vessels that salt could be loaded in George Town. From the top of this hill we could see the entire harbor and the ocean side for miles in every direction.

One night a week or so ago, we saw a sea plane land about 1/4 mile from us in the ship channel. Then the plane proceeded to steer directly toward us. They passed about 75' in front of our boat headed toward the beach. Finally it spun around and backed up to the beach in front of the beach side bar called "Chat & Chill". Next, six or seven well dressed people disembarked and went to the bar. About an hour later they reboarded the seaplane and it took off over our heads. Rumor has it that these people flew down from Muesha Cay, a private island about 40 miles north, that rents for $275,000 per week. It is a getaway for movie stars and other rich folks.

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Photos

Julie & Dan
Sunrise at Haleakala

Nancy & Sharon
On Monument Hill

Ocean View
From the Monument

Elizabeth harbor
From the Monument

Sea Plane
A quick trip to "Chat 7 Chill"