Mar 23, 2009

Living on a boat in Georgetown, Exumas, Bahamas

It was a bit of a shock when we first arrived in Georgetown. So much of our time in the Bahamas has been in very secluded places where a “really crowded” anchorage might have 10 boats in it, and the crowd at the bar might reach 15 or 20 during on a busy night.

In Georgetown there are easily over 350 boats, and a huge crowd of cruisers to go with them. Most of them are retirement age, but there are also a good number of cruising families. At night a galaxy of anchor lights dot the sky following the shoreline as far as we can see in either direction.

Dinghies and sailboats as far as you can see:

There is a small grocery store in town that has a pretty steady supply of fresh meat, veggies, and even mozzarella cheese! Don’t buy the cheese in the bags though, it’s moldy, buy the blocks. Water is free, which is another great advantage. Internet is available from St. Francis.

When we went to our first gathering we felt awkward and uncomfortable. There were so many people and they all seemed to know each other. If there was a corner I would have stood quietly in it. But we were on a thin peninsula so no matter where we went we stood out awkwardly like the new kids at school. Fortunately, we soon made a lot of really great friends.

It’s very easy to knock this place. A lot of the younger cruisers (ourselves included) make fun of it for being “Winter Camp For Gram And Gramp. But the truth is that after you get used to it, it’s pretty fun!

We’ve meet some really great people, and had some very fun times. We’ve had campfires, guitars sing-alongs, smores, and hotdogs. We went to a dance, competed in a coconut harvest contest, sand sculpting contest, talent show, sailing regatta, and a baking competition.

Some of the things we knew were going on but didn’t participate in include: Volleyball, Softball, Tennis, Beach Golf, Poker, Trivia and Bachi Ball.

All of the Georgetown Regatta events are EXTREMELY organized. Each events is coordinated by an “event chairmen” and presided over by what I call the “camp counselors” who come complete with clipboards and megaphones. Hundreds if not thousands of flags are given out, each printed with a logo and year.

The amount of planning that goes into this is really pretty amazing. It’s also amazing to think of so many foreigners congregating on what is almost an uninhabited island every winter. There are no police. The unofficial camp counselors definitely have an air of authority, but as far I we saw, everyone just seems to get a long.

Some cruising kids playing on a tree swing. LeeAnn is also up in the tree:
One game we saw required all the women to stand on one side of a volleyball court with a plunger between their legs. The men stood on the other side of the court with a roll of toilet paper in between their legs. Then the ladies raced (waddled) across the court and stuck the plunger into the hole of the toilet paper.

Another game was called “coconut harvest”. LeeAnn and I participated in this one. You get together a team of four, each person gets one flipper, and then you get into a dinghy. The goal is to collect as many coconuts in your dinghy as possible. 700 coconuts were released into a small bay. A lot of the younger crowd participated in this event… and they were vicious. Life jackets were required.

LeeAnn almost had her flipper stolen by another lady (who we later became really good friends with) but LeeAn fought back hard. When the other person couldn’t get LeeAnn’s flipper she tried to steal the coconuts right out of our dinghy!

Another team tried to sink our dinghy by pushing the bow under the water, so LeeAnn stole their chicken and jester hats.

After the harvest we performed various relay races such as squeezing a coconut in between two stomachs and rushing to be the first across the volleyball court.

Our Coconut harvest team:
Chad, LeeAnn, Jay, and JainieLeeAnn and I also participated in a sand sculpting competition. My team got second place in the adult division. LeeAnn’s team got first place in the family division. Seriously, there are divisions, that’s how organized this is! Oh there was also a overarching theme to all the events, “Red Hot Nights” which is why our sand sculpture is a “Red Hot Knight”.

My team’s sculpture:


LeeAnn's Team:

All the events are coordinated by an “event chairmen” and presided over by what I call the “camp counselors” who come complete with clipboards and megaphones.

It’s very easy to knock this place, but the truth is that after you get used to it, it’s pretty fun. We’ve meet some really great people, and had some very fun times. We’ve had campfires with guitars sing-alongs, smores, and hotdogs. There is a small grocery store in town that has a pretty steady supply of fresh meat, veggies, and even mozzarella cheese! Don’t buy the cheese in the bags though, it’s moldy, buy the blocks. Water is free, which is another great advantage.

Internet isn’t as easy to come by, which is why I haven’t posted in so long.

LeeAnn petting a stingray

Getting my haircut on the beach:

Rockin the guitar with Jay:

LeeAnn aboard "Pheonix" an Ocean Cat 49 - We were in the Georgetown regatta, but we didn't win:
Myself aboard Pheonix:
Hanging out with the gang from Miakoda:
Fresh speared lobster!

LeeAnn pointing at the Muskegon sign:

We couldn't believe that of all the places a sign in Georgetown could point to... one would point to our home town 1,485 nautical miles away!

LeeAnn signing our boat name on the Cruising board

Underfull sail: