Thursday, April 8, 2010

Enjoying George Town

Last season, George Town was our first destination.  After finally getting a good weather window to cross the Gulf Stream, we left Fort Lauderdale for an overnight passage to Nassau, where we checked in and spent the night, and then another overnight passage to George Town. We slowed our speed so that we had daylight to read the water and follow the waypoints through the cut and into the harbor. The varying depth of the water requires several direction changes. We arrived Sunday morning and our daughter Kenya and friends Pam and Shari arrived in Georgetown late Sunday afternoon.  We spent the next week exploring and discovering this beautiful area.  With its many crescent shaped white sand beaches surrounded by magical waters, gin clear to turquoise on the Harbor side to cobalt on the Sound side, this is an extraordinary place.  

While the beauty of the area is without question, George Town dominates as a Bahamas cruising favorite for many reasons.  Most cruisers anchor off Stocking Island, a small island several miles long that helps define the mile-wide Elizabeth Harbor, with Great Exuma Island and the town George Town on the other side of the Harbor.  The Kid Cove is another anchorage option located just outside George Town.  In all, the large, spacious Harbor can, and often does, accommodate 300+ boats at one time. Cruisers come for the winter or just visit a while.  
We like the beaches, the hikes up to the Monument, and socializing with other cruisers.  Of course, we’re always involved in boat projects, maintenance, restocking, planning.  And then there’s reading and DVD time.                               We are currently anchored just off Volleyball Beach, near Chat and Chill and the Conch Salad Stand.
Our new Spectra water maker makes living aboard much easier.  We began to notice that our tank level was going down faster that we thought we were using water.  When you have to fill water jugs to have water, you have a pretty good idea about your water consumption.  We had no extra water in the bilge and we checked and rechecked every hose and connection.  Larry discovered the water was going out a thru hull because of a bad solinoid on the water maker.  We just received a new one yesterday and should have it on by tomorrow.

Our wind generator also quit, even though it had been upgraded with a new kit last summer. After completing several troubleshooting tests, Larry was able to order replacement parts at no costs, but installing the new kit and parts will be time consuming and not easy while at anchor.

Daily, on the Cruisers's Net, boaters request information, advice, help, tools, etc.  And, usually immediately, someone comes back with a reply.  We all benefit from this great network. 
A hike up the trail to the Monument offers a grand view as well as a close up view of the osprey next.