2026-01-25 Week in Georgetown

We spent the week doing nothing much.  Anchored down at Sand dollar anchorage.  Water is a bit rough in the southeast winds, and we have a person that plays music too loud next to us.

Sunday was afternoon volleyball for Dean, and Kris worked on the wood refinishing.

Monday was more work on refinishing the wood.  Dean tried morning volleyball, but no one showed up, so he went back in the afternoon, and Kris went for a nice long walk along the beach and trails.

Charm out in Sand dollar anchorage.  Photo taken from "Basil's Classroom" in the Moriah Cay National Park

The ocean looks a bit rough with some of the high winds we have had lately

Beautiful scenery on the walk

Love the color contrasts

Tuesday was a windy rainy day, so stayed on the boat.  Dean relaxed and read books, while Kris did some morning work on the wood, and then started working on making new bean bag chairs for the sling seat.  The old ones are stained moldy and not cleaning up anymore, so time for some new one. 

The old beanbag, spotted with small black dirt/mold spots that won't clean up

Kris just thrilled to be sewing again

Wednesday we went into Chat and Chill in the afternoon, Dean played volleyball, and we both visited with our friends on Namid and Tangent, as well as other cruisers around.  Nice social time.  

Bruce and Sandra off Namid and Alan and Skye off Tangent

Thursday Kris finished up the bean bag project, and Dean went in to play volleyball in the morning. 

At least they look clean.  We will have to get more fill for them at some point

After Dean played volleyball, we upped anchor and motored up to North Goat Cay anchorage, which is only 3.5 miles, but it was too rough to dinghy there and back.   We dropped anchor, and then headed into town to the hardware store, as Kris wanted more polyurethane, and Dean was hoping for a spare diesel jug.  We did buy the overpriced polyurethane, but the diesel jug at $150, was just too much for us.  

Charm at anchor off Goat Cay, such a pretty anchorage

Back from the store, we upped anchor again, and moved to the Monument anchorage, which is much calmer than where we were at Sand Dollar further south, and no more loud music. 

Friday morning Kris went for a walk, and Dean played volleyball. 

View of Charm at anchor from the top of the monument.

When we were last here, this area had a large salty pond, and lots of rocks.  Now all sand and a restaurant and bar.

Pretty shoreline on the ocean side.

In the afternoon we went into the Snappy Turtle for a get-together of all cruisers thinking of heading south to the Caribbean this year.   We were hoping to find someone who had done the north coast of the Dominican Republic, but it was not to be.  Only one other boat besides us had done the trip before, and about 30 people showed up, so Dean and I were busy all afternoon answering questions about the trip.  It was fun, and we got to meet a lot of nice folks.

Saturday, Dean went in to play volleyball, but no one else showed up.  Dean went back in the afternoon for volleyball, and Kris worked on prepping the port hull for refinishing.

One more week and then Derek and his girlfriend Emma will be here for a visit.

2026-01-17 Back to Georgetown. Volleyball and boat work.

Sunday we sailed to the north end of Long Island and anchored for the night, so we would have a better angle to sail to Georgetown on Monday.  Nice short sail, and even got a short visit from a solitary dolphin.

Not a great photo, sorry

The anchorage was calm, which is very unusual for Calabash Bay, but the evening was not great. We were relaxing when a couple of huge moths landed on the screen door.   Kris is not a fan of moths.  She could not relax with them there, so made Dean turn off all the lights and sit in the dark until they left.   She was a bit freaked out all night.

Huge moths.  Would like to never see them again

Monday we had a nice downwind sail all the way to back to Georgetown. We anchored off of town, as the winds were expected to clock from South to West to Northwest to East in the next couple of days.  Several other boats had the same idea, and the anchorage was fairly full.

Anchorage outside of Georgetown

Tuesday, Dean went in to play volleyball, and Kris worked on refinishing wood on the boat.     

Our doors sucked up the varathane, overdue for some maintenance

Wednesday more of the same, but in the afternoon we went to town, to get more foam brushes, and a few groceries, but of course had to stop and get some ice cream as well.  Got back to the boat just in time, as it started to dump rain.   Had a nice rainbow afterward though.

Nice rainbow looking south from Georgetown

Thursday and Friday morning volleyball was cancelled, so Dean played in the afternoon. Friday, we moved from Georgetown anchorage over to Sand dollar anchorage.  Kris still working on the wood.   Dean took the screens off of our relatively new outdoor speakers which had already decided to rust, and cleaned them and painted them white again.

Disappointing, our outdoor speakers rusted so quickly, look better now though.

Saturday saw morning volleyball back on.  Kris has the V berth and guest bath done, and has almost finished the master bath and has started on the guest cabin.  Work is going slow, with removing all hardware, cleaning, sanding, cleaning, then applying a coat each day.    Doing the boat in sections, so only one “room” at a time, is a mess.

We will hang here in Georgetown until our son and girlfriend come for a visit on Feb 1.

 

 

2025-01-11 Week in Long Island

Sunday we slept in a bit from our late night at Junakanoo, then headed to Long Island.  Weather forecast said we could expect 12 to 15 knots to sail, but ended up with little wind.  We tried the spinnaker for a bit, but could not even keep that flying, so ended up mostly motoring.

We had our chute up for about an hour, but then the wind died.

Monday was stronger winds.  Dean started buffing and waxing the deck.  Kris had a sloth day of reading, computer games and not much else.

Monday night it dumped rain.  Feels more like the Caribbean than the Bahamas, with so much rain this season. 

Tuesday also windy.  Dean did more buffing and waxing, and Kris started with the sanding and refinishing the wood in the boat.   It’s a project that will take many days.

Wednesday was town day.  Went out for a nice lunch at and then up to the grocery store for fresh stuff.  Took in the trash.   The dinghy dock was pretty torn up from the last storm, so a bit tricky walking along the edges and not falling in.

Nice lunch out at "Vantage Pointe Restaurant"

Dinghy dock, but tricky but still workable.

The wood Kris started refinishing was in the V-berth, specifically a high cabinet.  The cabinet did not sit flush to the ceiling, and she noticed it had been at one time, but was falling off, the screws no longer holding it.  She worked to get it back in place, and unfortunately decided that her shoulder should be the item to push upward while she wedged some supports to hold I in place.  Wednesday night, her shoulder was sore.

Thursday we went back to the store, as we found out on Wednesday that new fresh fruits and veggies would be out.  The difference was surprising.  Thursday the store was busy, and 5 times the amounts of fruits and veggies, and decent looking ones at that.  We also stopped and got some new foam paintbrushes at the marine store.  Kris’s shoulder was quite sore, so she just relaxed the rest of the day, while Dean did more buffing and waxing.

Friday we defrosted the fridge and freezer.   Dean did more waxing in the morning, and then we upped anchor, and went to the fuel dock and filled the tanks, then back to anchor.  Did some laundry, and relaxed.  Kris’s shoulder still hurting.

Working on putting all the food back in after the defrost.

All the food back in, and organized

Saturday more of generally nothing.  Went for a nice walk to the ocean side beach, then back to the boat.  Kris’s shoulder is getting better, so back to work soon.  Afternoon of reading books, and playing on the computer.

Ocean side beach.  A fair amount of sargassum ashore

Strong east winds have produced some large waves offshore

Seems like every beach has a hard hat and flip-flops washed ashore

Dive tank washed ashore.  First time finding one of those.

Today we sail north in prep to sail back to Georgetown this coming week.

2026-01-04 Happy New Year - time with friends in Georgetown and Junkanoo

Sunday we left Warderick Wells and motored to Bitter Guana Cay, no wind.   We were there by lunch, so after eating we headed ashore to see the Northern Bahamas Rock Iguanas and go for a hike.

There was a tourist boat there feeding the iguanas when we got in, so we went for a hike first.  Quite a steep climb from the beach up the hill, and then wandered a bit.

The trail is just a scramble up the rocks behind Kris to the top

Nice view of the anchorage from the top of the hill

We figured we should be able to make it from where we were, to another trail to the north of us, but alas, no trail to be found.  That didn’t stop us, we forged ahead through the brush and made it.  Sometimes we are idiots. Did get to see a lovely pool on the ocean side when we got there.

Making our own trail through the brush.  

Nice protected pool on ocean side

Back on the beach saw a few iguanas relaxing in the sun.  

Back on the boat, it was getting lumpy with current and wind interaction, so we upped anchor and moved the 3 miles to Black Point for a calmer anchorage for the night.

Monday we motored again, in no wind to Lee Stocking, as west to northwest wind projected, and we figured good protection in that spot.  Happy to see our friends on Indie II were anchored there, so made arrangements to go snorkeling that afternoon with them.   Later the same day, another Manta came in, Tanget.  So 3 Mantas in the anchorage.  Had a good snorkeling trip on the east side – only possible due to very light winds.  The reef was mostly dead, but some live soft corals.  The structures were very impressive on the old dead coral.  Quite a few large parrotfish in the area.

 

Skye off Tanget snorkeling on the reef

Not much color, but some live corals

Old impressive structure on now dead Elkhorn coral

Shane and Andrea form Indie II back on the dink after the snorkel

Tuesday was a boat day, with NW winds, but Tuesday night we went over to Indie II for a nice evening of visiting and a game of cards.

Wednesday we left Lee Stocking, and sailed to Georgetown.   Our friends Jerry and Donna on BlueJacket who were also in Lee Stocking area sailed south as well.

After anchoring, we went to town with BlueJacket to the local grocery store and got supplies and water.

Water spigot at Georgetown dingy dock

Georgetown dinghy dock

That evening we went over to BlueJacket for New Year's Eve, and enjoyed snacks, good visit and games.   We did not last until midnight.  Home by 11:00, but then the music in town got quite loud, so mostly laid in bed, until fireworks, got up and watched them.  Asleep by 12:30 a.m. New Year's Day.  

Thursday was boat project day.  Kris did some miscellaneous sewing projects, and a bit of boat cleaning.  Relaxed and very slothlike for the rest of the day.

Friday, Kris went for a kayak around the area in the morning.   Not much to see, but she did find a dinghy paddle floating near shore, and went into an old cut of a failed development which was interesting to see, especially how the rain had created interesting limestone formations. 

Lots of money and time making this cut, and never used

Interesting limestone formations due to rain and wind.

 

Friday afternoon we headed into town for lunch with BlueJacket, followed by a short walk to get homemade ice cream at a new place in Georgetown.  Ice cream was great, and as usual enjoyed spending time with Jerry and Donna.   

After lunch and ice cream.  Good day

Over to BlueJacket again after dinner for a few more games and social time.

Saturday, Kris worked on an engine issue with a relay not working correctly.  After lunch, we did a bit of a run about, checking out Chat and Chill beach, and then stopped to visit with our friends Bruce and Sandra on Namid.

Saturday night was Junkanoo in Georgetown.  So we packed a picnic dinner and with BlueJacket, we went in and found a place to watch Junkanoo, and had our picnic dinner and watched the festivities.

The floats were impressive, and the costumes even more so.  Had a great time.  Enjoy the photos below.

 

Dancers were good

Incredible costume, attention to detail

Wonder how much it all weighs

Incredible

Liked the floats with the theme "Wonder of the Seas"

The seahorses were spectacular

The bands featured a lot of percussion.  The drummers hands bled from hitting the drums so hard.  

How many people must have to help get them into the costumes

 We head out today for Long Island.