GeorgeTown or Bust

Well, here we are in GeorgeTown, Exumas, Bahamas, the southernmost point of our foray into the Bahamas. We are here late; most of the 300-400 boats that are in the harbor during the season have already left and headed back up north for the summer. The area is great for anchoring and has a large harbor with a string of adjacent islands, as well as three 'hurricane holes' which tuck back into the islands for further protection from the weather. During the winter and into the early spring, the cruisers from North America and Europe gather here and we understand have quite the party. There are beaches where they have bonfires, play volleyball, hike the hills, and generally hang out. It must be quite the place if you are an extreme extrovert, which we are not. We are happy to be here now, without the crowds, and to have most of the place to ourselves. There are a few others who got a late start, also, and we even had dinner the other evening with a family from Manhattan whom we first met in Beaufort, North Carolina. Ran into them at lunch and talked for the rest of the day and then went to their boat for dinner.

George Town has a couple of grocery stores, ice, a few restaurants, and a straw market. Of all the things they do/make here in the Bahamas, probably the straw work that the women do with the palm leaves is the most well-known. They make hats, mats, baskets, carryalls, purses, etc. from the leaves of the palm trees, weaving them delicately into different shapes, adding texture and color.

We had planned by now to be on the other side of the 'hurricane belt', but have had such good a time in the Bahamas we decided not to rush. We did get a late start, due to John and Brad's Appalachian Trail hike, then took a couple of trips back home, and now find ourselves having to decide what to do with the boat, now that hurricane season is almost upon us. We thought we would be in Trinidad or Tobago, south of the hurricane belt, and now should be laughing at our exuberance! But, we are anything but sorry that we have spent the last three and a half months in the Bahamas.

We have decided to come back to the States and leave the boat somewhere probably in Georgia or North Carolina. We are over 1100 miles from home, but have traveled much more than that, with the inevitable zigging and zagging. She is tired right now, (She~~the boat, not Pat) and needs some extreme TLC. The generator went out about two weeks ago, so we have no refrigeration. After that, we developed an air leak in the fuel line to the engine; then we discovered a leak in the transmission. So, John has been playing 'diesel mechanic' for the past week, while I putz around cleaning and polishing and trying to look busy. John talks things through using me as a soundingboard and I just 'Um hum" and try to look not too dense, and he figures things out. It is astounding how much he has learned (with a lot of help online from old friend Rob in Rhode Island) and it gives me an extra sense of security to be out here with someone who is smart enough to figure out those things he doesn't know (or knows when and whom to ask), although he will occasionally say in frustration that he didn't retire in order to learn to be a mechanic. But, if you own a boat, that's what you have to become.

We plan to have the boat thoroughly gone over this summer in the States, and start out again after hurricane season. We will bypass the Bahamas, and head for the Dominican Republic and continue our journey south through the Virgin Islands, the Windward and Leeward Islands to Trinidad, Tobago, the ABC islands just off the coast of South America then probably on to Jamaica, the Caymans, and perhaps Belize and Mexico. The plan after that is to follow the Gulf Stream up to Bermuda and head to the Azores and to the Mediterranean. Such is the stuff dreams are made of.

In the meantime, we will spend some time with family in Ohio, see the kids, and try to get Live Now into shape for the next leg of the journey. We will be taking the family to Alaska in August, and will keep you posted on that trip on this website also.

Wish us luck with the repairs and the trip home!