Bahamas: Part Two - Georgetown

The thing I love about cruising is the unknown. You never know who you'll meet, where you'll go, and the wonders you'll find when you get there. In general, I like this go-with-the-flow kind of thing. I like the adventure of the new. The flip side of course, is that the unknowns bring problems, unexpected challenges, and well, things that break. Those days are not so fun.

The delightful thing about sailing in the Bahamas is that much of the time, you can sail in protected waters. Many of our passages found us sheltered from ocean waves and swells by the expansive reefs and numerous cays. 

Smooth sailing

However, there are times when you have to leave the idyllic waters and sail between island groups. To do this, you must enter the open water of the sounds and channels. To get out into these large bodies of water, you have to pass through a "cut," which is usually a narrow opening between boat-eating rocks. You must time your entrance/exit with the tidal currents and wave action. Even with good planning, there are nail-biting moments. Every sailor in the Bahamas seems to have a cut story.

On March 29th, the passage to Georgetown wasn't the most pleasant. We had not paid attention to the period of the waves in the forecast and once we were through the cut, we realized the waves were short and choppy with 15-20 knots of wind. For the entire day, we motored and sailed with the rough seas abeam, while we tried to keep our breakfast down. We sustained our energy by dipping a spoon into a communal jar of peanut butter when we required nourishment. Mostly, we just hung on and waited for the salty trip to be over.

Sustenance at sea

It turned out to be a costly passage. We lost the cover for the chimney of the diesel heater when a gust of wind blew it off. Our jib ripped when we tried to hoist it up. A brand new cowl vent also went missing (but we found it later in the day tucked under something on deck.)

Blown out sail

It was an hour before dusk, when we arrived to the Conch Cay Cut: the way into Elizabeth Harbour and Georgetown. My mouth went dry as I looked at the easterly running swell breaking on the rocks on either side of our passageway. It was going to be a roller coaster ride in, complicated by the fact we had to make a quick turn to the left to avoid hitting a reef. I tried not to think what would happen if the engine failed here.  

I've learned that just by smiling, you can fool your body into feeling better. So there I sat, grinning widely, while exclaiming to the kids, "Look guys, we're almost there!!" I might have felt a tad better, but the kids weren't fooled for a minute. They sat rigidly on deck, eyes wide, staring into the waves. John stood firm at the wheel, gave a nervous smile, and turned toward shore.

In no time at all, we passed the nasty rocks. I stopped holding my breath after we made the turn avoiding the reef below. I was so pleased to be in the channel that I didn't even freak out when the hulking mail ship passed us closer than I would have liked. A wave of relief passed over me as the anchored boats between Stocking Island and Georgetown came into view. All I could think of was dropping the hook, having a hot meal, and sipping a glass of wine.

Happy thoughts still lingered in my mind, when we heard a soft "clunk." The engine was still running, but we had lost power.  Looking over the stern, the prop shaft looked a bit strange. The boat slowed, and drifted out of the channel, so we quickly dropped anchor in the shallow depths of the bay. Upon further investigation, it became evident that the prop shaft had broken in half. Fortunately, we had not lost the prop. I only had a second to consider what might have happened if this failure had occurred just a few minutes before.

With no time to dwell on the catastrophe that could have been, we shifted into rescue mode. The kids donned their snorkelling gear and jumped overboard, assisting John to secure the part of the prop shaft that had snapped off. We had 30 minutes until dusk and although we were outside of the channel, we were not in a great place to be anchored for the night. 

Kids diving to retrieve the broken prop shaft

I called on the VHF radio and asked for assistance. Within five minutes, a flotilla of dinghies came to our rescue. Six tenders tied themselves to each side of the boat and towed us towards the beach on Stocking Island until we could drop our anchor. They even helped us back down on the anchor to dig us in. It was a good place to be until we could figure out what to do. It was an incredible welcome to this cruising community, where someone is always ready to assist.

Little did we know, we would stay in this spot for six weeks. Anchored about two miles from the town, we were about 45 minutes by dinghy with our little 2 HP engine (when it worked!) 

My sister Liz arrived two days after our clumsy arrival to Georgetown. By the time her plane was touching down, we had cleaned up, provisioned and scrubbed the last bit of salt off. Liz was aware that Wakataitea was disabled for her ten-day visit and was thankfully, cool to hang out and live life the Waka way.

The best part of being at the edge of the anchorage, was being right next to a sweet little little beach. "Flip Flop Beach," as it is called by the locals, served as a meeting place for anyone wanting to host a party or hang out. It seemed cruisers had made benches, tables and a bar out of reclaimed wood, and there was a large fire pit for cookouts. An old sail served as an awning and a gentle breeze kept the bugs away on most days.  It became our daily stop to swim, socialize, cookout, learn, and party. Many days, we had it all to ourselves.

Flip Flop Beach

One Christmas when Simon was about eight years old, he got a science kit from his Opa. It included a volcano-building kit that we never built. When we moved aboard Nahanni V, I packed it thinking it would be a cool addition to school when visiting the volcanic islands of the Eastern Caribbean. When Nahanni wrecked, I salvaged the darned thing and brought it back to Canada where it got dumped in a pile of school equipment. When we moved to Wakataitea, I packed it again. After its long journey, I could not simply let it go. On our first visit to Flip Flop Beach, I resolved to assign the volcano project. 

Volcano Day on Flip Flop Beach

Building the volcano

Perfect school day!

Ta da!

                                                                                          
I admit that Simon and Wavey would've been much more impressed had we done this five years ago!

Liz quickly adapted to Wakataitea and participated in all the things that fill our days: projects, swimming, school and hikes. She shared her sewing expertise with Simon, gave some science lessons, and played lots of games with me into the wee hours. We made the lumpy trip across the harbour into Georgetown only when we needed fresh food.

Helping Simon sew sails for his model boat

Learning new sewing stitches

Ready to set sail

Beach day

Cookout on Flip Flop Beach

Chillin'

Hiking to the monument on Stocking Island

Family visits are always too short and we were sad to say goodbye to our first visitor who braved to join us on Wakataitea!

Sundowners with Auntie Liz

Georgetown is the place to meet other family cruising boats. The hub of kid activity is Chat 'n Chill, an expansive, outdoor beach restaurant where locals, tourists, and cruisers meet for games of volleyball, lectures, parties and on Sundays, Beach Church. There is always something happening there during the day. With our cantankerous dinghy engine, we didn't make it here very often, but when we did, we had a great time.

John feeding a stingray at Conch Bar

Volleyball Beach at Chat 'n Chill

Typical day at Chat 'n Chill

New friends (notice the squall just coming in behind us)

It turns out that the kids were not the only ones looking to make new friends. After a couple of weeks in Georgetown, a call went out on the radio to any cruising Moms wanting to meet for lunch. Eight of us from four different countries met at noon for a leisurely lunch. It was a pleasant, polite affair for the first hour as many of us had not met before. As the sailing stories emerged and a few cocktails flowed, the patio livened up with our raucous laughter and animated descriptions. The sun was making its descent when the calls came from worried crews wondering if their mothers were ever coming home. Obviously, most of us don't get out much.

Mom's Drunch

Sisterhood of the Cruising Moms

As much as it seems that life in Georgetown was one big party, there were plenty of working days aboard. We excavated the sewing machine from Simon's cabin and went into project mode. We made some screens to use when the wind died and the noseeums came to ravage us. We also sewed a new cover for the heater chimney that now lies somewhere in the bottom of Exuma Sound. John researched ways to get our prop shaft repaired, lost to us for hours getting advice and ordering parts. The kids kept plugging away at school work, finding creative places and ways to do experiments and get projects done.

Port screens

Chimney cover

Science class

Physical Education

Marine Biology

We knew that the ripped sail from our trip to Georgeown was really doomed, but we decided to take it into town and see what Geezner, the local sailmaker had to say. For $70, he made a nice patch job that we hoped would get us a few more miles.

On April 21st, we awoke to a glorious day--Wavey's 11th birthday. We feasted on her favourite breakfast meal and she opened her presents. In our family, we don't just have a birthday, but a Birthday Palooza Week.  The celebrations just go on and on.

Can you believe 11?

Eggs Benedict

Mojo -  A present from Simon

It was an extra special day as my sister Susanne arrived in the evening from Halifax for a two week visit. We met her onshore and returned to Wakataitea for another party of food and treats. It's a good thing she is a tough cookie, as her first dinghy ride to the boat left her completely drenched from the big waves in the harbour.

Wavey has always dreamed for a beach birthday party, and this year we were in the perfect location. Several days before her party, she got on the VHF radio net and announced she would be having a birthday party at Flip Flop beach, and invited any kids who wanted to attend. Coincidentally, there was another girl in the anchorage who was also having a birthday. Without having met Heather and her family from Mariposa, we welcomed the chance to have a joint party.

Icing on the cake

On the afternoon of the party, dinghies arrived at the beach filled with kids and party fun. We met Heather from Mariposa, who had turned 12 the day before.

Birthday girls

Fire!

Keeping the fire going

The party was just getting going, when a power boat arrived towing a large, inflatable, pink flamingo.

It turns out that Captain Steve, a colourful character from Free Prayer, had an excess of these huge inflatable toys. He heard about Wavey's party on the radio and arrived with his buddies to deliver her a gift. As you can imagine, it was a huge hit with the kids (and the Moms.)

Flamingo magnet

(taken by Paul on Mariposa)

(taken by Susanne)

Blowing out the candles (it was too bright and I missed the cake!)

The party was a huge success, but ended abruptly at dusk when the noseeums and mosquitoes threatened to carry the birthday girls and guests away!

Susanne's visit was fun and relaxing including more beach trips, a hike to the Monument, and a bit of school. We found a water aerobics class on the beach that kept us all moving. Susanne gave an excellent lesson on formal letter writing and long division, while I had the morning off to bake. And of course, she and I stayed up late playing games.

Overlooking Monument Beach (Taken by Susanne)

All good things, well, pop at some point (taken by Susanne)

Letter writing

An unexpected treat was seeing the crew of Vladroda again. They arrived to Georgetown and anchored beside us. As we had done before, we got together for time on the beach and meals together.

Vladroda

Susanne and Vlady looking at shells together

Movie night on Vladroda

We were fortunate to have Susanne bring the parts that John needed to repair the prop.  He reconnected the prop shaft in a temporary fix that we hoped would get us out of Georgetown and to a bigger center to make a permanent repair.

Thankfully, the winds were calm the morning of Susanne's departure. She had a much drier ride back to land to catch her flight home. As always, it's hard to say goodbye!

Once the prop shaft looked like it would carry us somewhere, we debated about where to go next. Should we head south for hurricane season? To Guatemala? Panama? San Blas?Grenada? Or, should we head north? North Carolina? Chesapeake? Nova Scotia?  Michael and Catherine gave us their blessing to keep cruising Wakataitea, so our options were wide open.

(taken by Susanne)

In the end, we decided to head north to the US, where we could get the prop shaft repaired and work on a few other projects. We concluded our six weeks in Georgetown with many new friends, precious memories, and a new To-Do list. 

Looking ahead, we caught the southerlies to take us north.