Georgetown Week 3

It was an easy sail back to Georgetown with fair winds and following seas and we were able to set our hook in calm waters off the shore of Sand Dollar Beach shortly before noon. We waved to “I-need-a-wind2” as we passed him still anchored at Monument Beach, and dropped by to say hello to Jim and Bonnie on “Dana,” who are located a stones throw from our boat. As soon as we were settled in, I headed off to the wonderful shallow beach that is here in search for sand dollars and returned home a few hours later with 12 of them!

The next day we dinghied in to Georgetown for a special buffet luncheon at the local Anglican Church which was raising money for their youth program. We met up with Bunky and Jeff aboard “Party of Two” there, and spent a great afternoon with them. They have a house in Mississauga and a B&B in Tobermory and we knew them previously as members of the OBBC (Ontario Boat Builders Coop). That night was another evening of Trivial Pursuit at St. Francis Resort and they asked us to meet them there as partners. And so we did. “Dana” and “My Whim” were also there and after the games we were invited over to their table to celebrate Bonnies 61st birthday--complete with cake, candles, and lots of humour. What a great evening! The following morning was the ham radio operators luncheon meeting on Hamburger Beach with about 60 cruisers in attendance. I stayed for lunch and socializing but, since SSB radio details are really not my “thing,” headed off for some serious beach combing when the actual meeting began, finding some great shells on a deserted “virgin” shoreline. The next morning Vince dinghied off to “Brydil Anchar” where he spent several hours helping their son Carl with some Algebra and in the afternoon I headed off with Bonnie and Sheri to show them where to find sand dollars. It was fun trolling in the shallows with the girls and we managed to return with about 10 specimens and half a dozen star fish between us.

On Friday morning, just before we headed off to the “Peace and Plenty” resort for breakfast, we heard some disturbing news over our SSB radio. One of the boats from Georgetown--”Second Wind”--skippered by a Quebecois who we all call super Mario, had run aground on rocks at Rum Cay--not far from here. Within minutes he found himself with knee-deep water in the cockpit of his boat and barely had time to grab his personal papers and escape before it sunk! Luckily this all happened not far from the Rum Cay Marina and he was able to summon help quickly before the boat went down. But it was still a total loss. And then unbelievably, barely an hour later, we received word that the captain of yet another Georgetown boat--”Hocus-Pocus”--suffered a horrendous fall on the rocks ashore at the “Ragged Islands”--the boon docks of the Bahamas, north-east of Cuba. The coast guard at Guantanamo was called but wouldn’t respond because his injuries were not life-threatening. Luckily other boats were with Hocus-Pocus. One took him aboard and is presently rushing back to Georgetown where the cruisers here have arranged for him to be air-lifted to Nassau for surgery. Meanwhile, other boats in the Ragged Islands are looking after “Hocus-Pocus” until it can be safely returned to port here. There is NOTHING in the Ragged Islands except rocks and fish. Thank goodness for the help, and expertise of fellow cruisers. Without them, it would be game over for many. It is SO important to stick together out here!!

We have been having a lot of problems with both our wind generator and head. Vince incredibly managed to fix both this week--he is just amazing! Luckily the wind generator was still under warrantee and, after some calls stateside, a box of replacement parts were fedexed to Georgetown and after a day spent taking the WHOLE unit apart and reassembling it with new components, Vince had it up and actually working again. (Basil, if you’re reading this, we’ve kept the old unit for you to play with when we return.) Several other cruisers here were having the same problems with their “AirX” so we had an audience while Vince worked repairing ours. The next day we were asked to meet with about a dozen skippers on the beach where Vince chaired a meeting explaining what he had done to solve his generator problems and helping them with theirs. It’s good to have reliable “off-grid” power again!

On Friday evening, the event I love most was held at “Chat and Chill”--the annual Valentines Dance hosted by Philadelphian disc-jockey “Rockin’ Ron” and his wife “Kool Karen.” The dance had been originally scheduled for Feb.14th, but had to be post-poned to this weekend due to weather. It was an unbelievable evening with well over 100 cruisers dancing the night away under the stars to all the great tunes from the 60’s. This year we took lots of pictures which Vince has posted below. They include: me dancing with Corbet (“Cookie Monster”), Rockin Ron and Kool Karen spinning the discs and wearing the strange glasses, Phil and Satya in the red sequined dress (“Brydil Anchar”), Jim and Bonnie in the mauve top (“Dana”), John and Gina seated at the bar (“Two not Available), Bill & JoAnne with the Bahamian owner of the bar (“Ultra”), Don and Majlis standing in the doorway (“Blue Blazer”) and a shot of part of the dancing deck at Chat and Chill. These are some of the cruisers we’re currently hanging out with at Georgetown--unbelievably grandparents all (except Brdil Anchar who are here with 4 kids aboard!!) Now you can put faces to some of the people we talk about.