Georgetown

We spent Saturday afternoon and evening at Lee Stocking Island.  (I have no idea who or what a lee stocking is.)  There is a small marine research center there - two people!  Also Perry's Peak, which is the highest point in the Exuma Cays.  After a grueling climb to the summit we had a marvelous view from 123 feet above the ocean.  There is also a spectacular white sand beach with coconut palms.  It reminded me of the South Pacific islands you see in the movies.

Sunday we sailed to Georgetown on a beam to broad reach in 15 to 20 knot winds and 5 foot waves.  Just as we were arriving our French-Canadian friends Louis and Nadine sailed up behind us.  We had both had a great sail, coming from different starting points.  We are both anchored together now.  Georgetown Harbor is about a mile wide and 3 or 4 miles long with a good sand bottom.  It also offers fairly good protection from all wind directions and has lots of stores and services as well as a decent size airport.  As a result, it is not unheard of to have 500 boats anchored here.  Many boats will spend the entire winter here.

We spent the morning doing (what else?) a couple of boat projects.  After lunch we decided to go ashore to get water and a few groceries.  It was/is still windy, so by the time we motored a mile and a half or so in the dinghy we were a bit damp around the edges.  After we hiked around a bit we bought some bread and eggs and got 15 gallons of water to take back to the boat.  Either the wind had picked up while we had been ashore or our angle back to the boat was wrong, so by the time we got back we were both pretty much soaked.  And we still have to go back at least two more times to finish fillimg our water and diesel tanks.