We know many sailors/cruisers love Georgetown, but it is just not for us. We anchored at Stocking Island outside the Chat N Chill. They have a nice beach, with huge friendly stingrays, and a great tree swing. Georgetown proper is actually a mile long, wet dinghy ride across rough, windy water. We couldn’t anchor in Georgetown Harbour because of the wind direction. There are only a few boats here, with several in the “Hurricane Holes”. No one seems to be on these and they are here I guess until November. Georgetown is pretty primitive compared to Marsh Harbour It is much smaller, only about 900 people and much poorer. There is a pretty good grocery store here, the Exuma Markets. The owner is very generous and provides free RO (reverse osmosis) water to boaters. He has also built a really nice dinghy dock and has a picture showing 100 dinghies at this dock in peak season. There are some nice beaches on Stocking Island and it is known for good shelling, but we didn’t really see any. What we did like about Georgetown were its very friendly people.
We had 6 large laundry bags filled with dirty clothes as we hadn’t done laundry for almost 2 weeks. We docked at the dinghy dock but still had to carry the bags about 4 hot blocks, watching out for traffic, to the Laundromat. While the kids and I did laundry, Dan set out to find an internet café. We had seen a few advertised. The one he eventually chose turned out to be a betting joint with internet access. About 70 people were in there placing bets and Dan was the only one using the internet.
When we were finished with the laundry, the lady who worked there saw our huge pile of clothes and gave us a ride in her car back to our dinghy. The next day we headed back across the 3 to 4 feet waves in our dinghy and went to Eddie’s Edgewater Restaurant. They had free internet access and the guidebook said they had very good food. A sign on the front door said it was closed from August 1st to August 30. This was August 3rd. The door was open so we went in. Another sailing couple was there using the internet. I went up to the bar and asked about lunch. The lady behind the bar said that the kitchen was closed the month of August. I said alright, and bought some Gatorade instead. A few minutes later she quietly called me over and said she could make some fried chicken and fries for us. The chicken was excellent. As we were leaving she gave us a big smile, and told us her name was Larissa. She said she loved to cook and even though the kitchen was officially closed, if we came back she would be happy to make us lunch again.
We needed to get some fuel before we left to head to the outer islands, where there is little to no provisioning. There are no fuel docks for boats. If you need fuel you need to jerry can it. The town has 2 gas stations. On this day, the Shell station had run out of gas, so everyone headed to the Exxon station, causing huge traffic backups in town. We loaded up 2 six gallon jugs with water and 2 five gallon containers of diesel. The wind was really kicking up the waves on the way across the harbor. The dinghy was so loaded down with the water, diesel and the 4 of us. The waves were about 4 feet and quickly filled our dinghy with water. Luckily we had 2 empty Gatorade bottles. Tristan and Tessa used them to bail out the water that was quickly coming into the dinghy. Tristan said he didn’t sign up to be the bailer on the SS Titanic. The kids really got into the bailing, filling the bottles and flinging the water over the side, as fast as they could. It was really funny and even though we were thoroughly soaked by the time we reached our boat, we had a great time.
But there is just something about the place that doesn’t make us want to stay long. As soon as we got a good weather window, we were gone.
Well we made it!! We got here on August 1st. We really have very limited internet service. Today is Emancipation Monday so everything in Georgetown is closed. We are sitting outside Eddie’s Edgewater, which is closed and there is another guy here using the outlet to charge his cell phone, a crazy Hatian sitting in the middle of the road and our kids playing in the park. So I will limit this update until we get to Rum Cay which should be in a few days!
After a really good breakfast at Staniel Yacht Club we headed out. We are definitely on our own out here. We haven’t seen any other sailboats. I guess all the sailboats are back in Florida. We head into Little Farmers Cay, our last stop before Georgetown. Little Farmers Cay is a unique island, surrounded by white sandy beaches. It was originally settled by a woman named Chrisanna a freed slave from the island of Great Exuma, who moved there with her two sons and daughter. They bought the island from the English and willed it to their descendants as family property. The land can only go to descendants of the original family.
The town numbers about 60 people, and there are several youngsters we saw when we pulled up in our dinghy. They were having a great time jumping off the dock, trying to keep cool in the oppressive heat. Most of the islanders in the small town farm or fish. They take such pride in their island and their heritage that they even designed their own flag, giving thanks to the sea, the environment and to the oneness of all creation. I love that! And even though it is pretty small and quiet here, there is an airstrip. Most of the islands in the Exumas have an airstrip. This probably accounts for the several submerged planes we have seen. We were lucky to see a plane make a safe landing shortly after we pulled in.
We headed into town in search of groceries and laundry. The guidebook said to call the Ocean Club on the VHF if you needed anything, but we decided to walk into town first and see if we could find it. It was easy to spot, a little blue building at the top of a small hill. It was pretty nondescript from the outside but we were pleasantly surprised when we went in. It was a bar/restaurant, with cream colored walls and deep dark wood tables and trim. Hung from the ceiling were different boat flags yachties had left from their last visit. Narrow archways lead to a small bar where we were greeted with a big hello and bright smile from Meghan who was tending bar. She had just moved back from Nassau When I asked her why she told us about it being a family island. A family or generation island means she is guaranteed free land on which to build a house. She seemed a bit young to be worrying about a house, but she was tired of living in Nassau.
A young man sat at the end of the small bar, the only other person in the place. I noticed he had some kind of badge around his neck and I asked him about it. Turns out he was the police; the only policeman on the island. Meghan laughingly added that he was a policeman with no car and he had to walk to the scene of the crime. There was very little crime there, lucky for him.
The prices looked good so we decided to hang around for an early supper. We have been so hungry for lobster. Lobster season doesn’t start until tomorrow, but they had one 16 oz tail in the freezer. We ordered that and a steak and sandwiches for the kids, and set a time for 5:30. It was about 4:00 now and we didn’t feel like heading back to the boat so we hung around looking at all the memorabilia on the walls. Meghan put in a movie for the kids “Arthur and the Invisibles”. It is not really out on DVD yet so she must have her own “Geno” who can get DVD’s. When the food came it was delicious. We couldn’t decide which was better, the lobster or the steak. The lobster tail was huge and they only charged us twenty dollars for it. The Ocean Club had such a great atmosphere we hated to leave. I asked her about getting bread at the grocery store and she said they didn’t sell bread there, only a few canned goods and no milk. I asked how the restaurant got their food and she said the boat came from Nassau. Then she added that the boat hadn’t come for 3 weeks!
As we left to head back to our boat we saw another Osprey resting on the beach. As we got closer to him he flew off. That night sitting in the cockpit we saw a beautiful, orange moon rising up on the horizon. We were the only ones on a boat in a big harbor to enjoy it.