Georgetown to Thompson Bay, Long Island

Tuesday June 4





I took Mercy to Sand Dollar Beach for a quick romp, and then headed for Georgetown to buy some fresh veggies, dump the trash, and buy gas for the Whaler.







Georgetown sort of wraps around Lake Victoria, and there is a narrow channel going under the road that you can take your dinghy into the inside, with places to tie up. Georgetown has a nice grocery store, and that nice grocery store has a nice dinghy dock! The store opened at eight, and the supply boat had come in the day before, and there were some nice veggies! I bought a couple of items, and then went across the channel, still inside Lake Victoria, to Minn's Watersports to get gas.







I returned to MERCY and was underway by 1000, headed for Thompson Bay, Long Island. The crossing was nice, and I made a broccoli/cauliflower/black olive salad while on the way over. I looked at beautiful sandy beaches in the distance on deserted islands. I'll have to check that out another day...







We came into the bay, and anchored just out from Salt Pond, where there are a lot of Bahamian boats anchored. I took the Whaler around and took some photos of some of the sailboats. I'm looking forward to seeing the Long Island Sailing Regatta on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Waters around Georgetown

Monday June 3





The weather was gorgeous on Monday, with almost no wind. I left the MERCY anchored off Black Rock, at Stocking Island, and Mercy and I took the Whaler in to Sand Dollar Beach. We anchored towards the western end of the beach, and after walking west to the rocks, we began walking along the beach to the east. About midway down the beach is a 4 x 4 post with a float on top of it, marking a trail inland. We followed that trail right across the middle of the island.







I read in the paper, later, that Georgetown had been flooded with last week's torrential rains, and that there were 6' of water in some places. I put this qualifier in my trail notes, since I came to two areas where the trail went underwater, about shin deep. The water was fresh, from the previous rains. The trail itself was interesting, seeing the tropical vegetation, a bunch of lizards, and some land crabs that are big enough they sound like rabbits when they move in the brush. The trail came out atop a cliff overlooking Exuma Sound. Following the trail further to the right, there are a lot of good views, and a couple of nice benches to sit and enjoy them. Though I could see where someone had climbed down, it certainly wasn't something I would do.





We walked back to the beach on the lee side, and down to the eastern curve before returning to the Whaler.





I grabbed my snorkel gear, and went over to Crab Cay, and snorkeled an underwater cave where the water was springing out. The water was so clear, it was wonderful.





We meandered through the bay, and out the cut east of Fowl Cay, on to Dog Rock, and then Puppy Rocks. Although I had a tank with me, I didn't find any exciting bottom. I even looked to see if I could see the Exumas dive boat, to figure out where they go, without success. I always enjoy putzing and looking!







That evening I went in to the Chat n' Chill to relax along the beach and watch the stingrays swim by while Heather painted numbers on John and Barbara's inflatable. I enjoyed a burger and fries there before calling it a night.

Georgetown, Exumas

We spent a few days anchored in the Georgetown area. We went into town, bought a few groceries, namely fresh produce and homemade coconut bread. Let me tell you that homemade coconut bread makes about the worlds BEST french toast!

The town's largest grocery store has a dinghy dock that you can tie up to for anything you want to do in town, so we had a great place to put the boat while we wandered around.

On Sunday we attended Clear Water A/G church, which is located about 3.5 miles to the north of town. I contacted the pastor through facebook, and he made arrangements for someone to pick us up, saving us a rather long walk! Oh, the wonders of technology! Since we had the offer of a ride, it was easy to talk another boater into going to church with us. ("You have to go to a Bahamian church to see what the Bahamians are really like...")

The service was GREAT! This church had the friendliest folks I've met in the Bahamas, some of which we saw in town the next day. The music was great, and it was interesting singing many of the songs I know with a Caribbean beat! The pastor, Duerre Thomas is an anointed young man and a great preacher. They only had a morning service, none in the evening.

I explored much of the area with the Whaler, and found a few great anchorages, far better than the place we'd dropped the hook. South of Crab Cay there are some anchorages in sand bottom that have protection from every wind angle; and whose depths are not marked well on most charts. I suspect this would be a great area in the winter when many anchorages are crowded.

I found several blue holes, some good areas to snorkel, and enjoyed puttering around a bit.

I imagine this area is much different during "season" when hundreds of sailors and cruisers spend the winter here. There were more boats here than we'd seen since the Abacos, but still not very many. We've been off the beaten path pretty much since Abacos to here.

Georgetown hosts the Bahamas Family Islands Regatta the last week of April, and that sounds like it would be a lot of fun. The boats must be designed, built, owned, and for the most part crewed by Bahamians. The race begins from an anchored position at a gun shot start. The sailors must pick up anchor, hoist sails, and navigate the course. Must be exciting to see!

On Monday night, we had a thunderstorm that passed through with winds 40-50 kts switching to the west, and we our anchor wrapped and drug, necessitating re-anchoring. I had mentioned to Allen the anchorage we were in was not good holding, but we had stayed anyhow to access wi-fi. In the morning, the storm was the talk of town. A couple of unattended boats had broken loose and were high and dry on various sandbars. We managed to top off our fresh water tank to within 5-10 gallons. Nothing like a good rain when you need the water!

Tuesday morning we departed to the north, continuing our exploration in the Exumas.