Galliot Cay, Exumas - 2/7/02
Galliot Cut is one the best cuts to get through from the Great Bahama Bank (hundreds of square miles of 10-20 feet of water and mostly sandy bottom west of the Exumas) to the 'Sound' (1000+ feet deep also known as the outside east of the Exumas). Since the only way to get into Elizabeth Harbor (Georgetown) is from the outside, one must leave the relative safety of the banks and go outside through one of the treacherous cuts.

We anchored near Galliot Cut just south of Little Farmers Cay with Significant Other and Mystic Adventure.  The plan is to leave first thing in the morning and head for Georgetown. We had briefly met Jack and Jo from Mystic Adventure in Black Point but had not had a chance to really talk so we invited them over for cocktails on Early Out.  Jack has a very unique voice which you don't soon forget.  In fact we had made a passage earlier this year from Beaufort, NC to Charleston, SC and heard Mystic Adventure on the radio several times throughout the night and we said at the time we really wanted to meet him. Funny how these things work out.

The next day was perfect for going through the cut. The tide was almost slack early and there was not an opposing wind. We were suprised to find it still a little lumpy coming out in such perfect conditions and could only imagine trying to do this in bad conditions.  The wind was light for our passage so we had to motor most of the way but we arrived in smooth conditions and navigated the zig zag path into the Northern entrance of Elizabeth Harbor.

Mike, Jack, Fred, Jan and Jo -- enjoying cocktails on Early Out
 

Georgetown, Exumas - 2/8/02 thru 2/20/02
We had heard about the different anchorages around Georgetown and the different personalities they each had so when we first came into the harbor we decide to stick with a pretty neutral site near town just off Regatta Point. It felt good to set the hook and get settled in knowing we would be in one place for a little while. One does get tired of moving all the time. Although we kept hearing about the official boat count climbing to over 400 boats in the harbor, it appeared that there was still plenty of room for more.

The town was very small but had a real grocery store, yeah! And more importantly 3 liquor stores, double yeah! Our supply of coconut rum was getting thin and we were excited to split a case with Mike and Jan shortly after we arrived.  We had not seen a laundry mat since leaving Miami so that was pretty exciting as well. The library was run by volunteers and had a great book exchange. Since we did not really bring a lot of paperback books, the lady at the library let us take a few to get started.  We were happy to have them.

At the well protected dinghy dock there was always a crowd of 'little rubber boats' as one local called them.  The dock was right behind Exuma Market and they also provide free local water (a little brackish) and dumpsters to put your garbage. Doesn't sound like a big deal but try carrying all your garbage around for a few weeks, it gets nasty pretty fast...and other places we came across charged to take your garbage.

Dingy dock.  Boats everywhere.. and this was a light day!  Long panters were a must.

After a few days we decided to commit to one of the well known anchorages.  Since Volleyball beach seemed to be relatively close to town (just a little over a mile dinghy ride) and had a bar called Chat'n Chill with lots of Volleyball nets to boot, we figured we would give it a try. Fred had never really played organized volleyball and it turns out that he rather enjoyed it once he got used to the peculiar rules.  This of course was fun volleyball, so about anything went.

While in Georgetown we celebrated Fred's birthday.  They have a daily net here on VHF channel 68.  Its starts out with business advertisements, then goes onto community announcements and finally boaters general where you can ask questions or whatever.  So I got on the radio and told everyone it was Fred's birthday and that we were celebrating it at the bar on volleyball beach - Chat'n Chill.   Lots of friends showed up.  We had a great time.

Celebrating Fred's big day.  Fred, Jack, Mike, Jan, Glenn, Tom & Cathy

Speaking of the Georgetown net.  Again, it occurs at 8:10am everyday.  With 400 plus boats in the harbor, there's a wealth of talent and knowledge.  So if you have questions on anything, its a great place to ask.  In fact after one of Fred & Mike's fishing expeditions our dingy got several holes in the air floor from a jumpy fish (not to mention they also lost the dingy anchor and towing line).  Fishing is an expensive sport.  :-)  But we asked on the net for suggestions on the best way to repair it and within minutes someone got back to us with a solution.  Lots of great people out there willing to help.  Its nice to see.  And if you want "dinner music", you could tune into channel 82 on the VHF from 6-8pm every night.  If listening to dinner music doesn't excite you, they play games like trivial pursuit on VHF 72 at 7pm.  There sure is something here for everyone.  What a great community.

Another very exciting thing happened while we were in Georgetown.  Mike & Jan noticed a dolphin swimming around their boat.  It stayed near for some time, so Mike jumped in the water to swim with it.  Amazingly it wasn't too affected by him, so Fred and I also jumped in the water.  I was so close to it.  I could get within a foot...but one little flick of his tail and he pulled away.  He stayed swimming with us for over a 1/2 hour.  It was amazing!  Definitely made my day!

Fred's brother Paul arrived from Indianapolis on the 21st via, Atlanta and Nassau (in which he had to stay overnight at a roach coach motel since he missed his flight) and was ready for some fun in the sun. His visit was short but fortunately we had some good weather for sailing so we could show him something other than Georgetown.
 

Long Island, Calabash - 2/21/02  (with Paul)
The wind was a little more east and stronger than predicted the day we left for Long Island but it was still a doable trip and we decided with Mike and Jan to go for it.  It turned out to be a nice spirited sail with the jenny partially reefed going close hauled. Paul was able to see Early Out cutting through the waves and get a feel for the helm in the 4-6ft. waves. He seemed to enjoy this sailing stuff which he hasn't had a chance to do much of lately.  Personally I was glad to have the extra set of hands.  Usually I'm at the helm most of the trip.  It was nice to sit back and relax while the guys steered and tweaked the sails.

We arrived at Calabash in time to enjoy some cocktails and a steak dinner.  Unfortunately for Paul though, what we thought would be a nice quiet anchorage turned out to be pretty rolly.  Swells from the NW kept the boat yawing (rocking) side to side for most of the night.  Infact a nice glass of red wine fell on Paul as the boat lurched to starboard and back again.  You had to really hold on while moving about because you could be thrown at any minute.  Not our idea of the ideal anchorage.  We're hoping for a calmer night tomorrow.

Paul and Fred -- enjoying some coconut rum there Paul????
 
 

Conception - 2/22/02  (with Paul)
After the rolly night in Calabash, we were all ready to move on.   After getting underway, Fred decided it was time to show Paul the spinnaker.  So up it went.  Unfortunately we no more than had it up and the winds shifted and increased so down it came.  But atleast he was able to see it.

Early Out enjoying a spinnaker run

Arrived in Conception early afternoon.  Fred and Paul went off to explore some reefs while I took care of some needed boat chores and lunch.  Then we launched the dingy and along with Jan set off to explore the beach.  It was the most beautiful beach I'd seen so far.  And the sand felt like silk.  It was so smooth...not at all rough or gritty feeling.   That evening we enjoyed cocktails on Significant Other.  As the sun set a couple dolphins came and gave us a show.  Mike was singing some Van Morrison song about ringworm to them while Fred was tapping on the boat to try to bring them closer.  I think the dolphins heard all the loud voices and were just checking us out....or maybe they too were after our coconut rum.

Back in Georgetown - 2/23/02 thru 3/11/02
Time with Paul went by too fast and we had to head back to Georgetown again.  But we had another great, spirited sail.  Anchored back at volleyball beach.  We decided to show Paul a little of Georgetown.  So we took several walks in between volleyball games.  Then our friends on Alize (Bob & Joanne) and Dark & Stormy (Don & Mary) also wanted to meet Paul.  So we had to endure another cocktail hour - this time on Alize.  This island life is so difficult...as Paul was finding out.  :-)

After Paul left, we stayed in Georgetown a while longer because Mike's son, Eric was coming in about 5 days.  Our days were filled with either going into town to checkout the latest produce, give Batelco some more money for phone/email usage ($1/minute....ouch), long walks on the beach, snorkeling, volleyball games, reading, relaxing and cocktail hours.  Its amazing how time flies here.

We had been having some very windy days - 25 to 30 knots in the anchorage....with several boats dragging anchor in the night.  Luckily we were ok.  But we had lots of sleepless nights watching to ensure our anchor was holding.  Awoke after one of the windy days to find George (our wind generator) turning, but not generating any power.  This was terrible as we've come to really rely on "George" to charge our batteries so that we don't have to run our engine.  So the next couple days was spent trying to call Four Winds and tearing apart the generator in hopes that we could fix the problem.  This is where being in the islands became somewhat frustrating.  It was Monday morning and we go into town to use the phone.  First, there's a limited number of phones and since today was the first nice day we've had for a while, everyone was in town using the phones.  Then we ran out of minutes and had to wait in line to renew our $1/minute Batelco phone card with more money.  Waited in line again for a phone only to realize the phone card didn't get updated.  Had to go back to Batelco and the lady didn't seemed too concerned....but by this time Fred had enough of chasing phones and phone cards to last him for a while.  After getting the card updated and finding a phone, the circuits were busy from everyone making calls so we kept getting busy signals.  Finally after about 3 hours of trying to make one phone call to Four Winds we had success.  The net of the story is that we were able to repair George enough to get him working until we get back to the states...whew.  But the lesson is that you can't be in a hurry for anything here.

But the evening improved as we enjoyed a wild game of Uno with Bob, Joanne, Don & Mary aboard Dark & Stormy.  I never knew Uno could be such a loud, vicious game!  I think rum had something to do with it.

After all the company was gone, it was time for Significant Other and us to leave Georgetown and slowly make our way north.   But  Fred & I had to have one last party with Alize and Dark & Stormy before leaving the next day.  This was our big mistake.  After several gin and tonics, the guys decided Fred needed a buzz cut....something Fred's wanted for sometime, but I've managed to talk him out of it.  But with the guys on his side, I was out voted.  Infact they kept giving me coconut rum thinking I'd object less.  Don and Bob got their trimmers out, went to work on Fred's hair and before I knew it, his hair was gone and my head was spinning.

Group shot - Mary, Don, Bob, Joanne, Danielle, Debbbie, Fred, Jan, Mike & Eric
 

Fred - his hair is gone....the result of too much coconut rum!!