Slowin’ Down in George Town

As luck would have it, George Town is exactly what we’ve been looking for! We decided to anchor closer to “town,” give our dinghy motor isn’t exceptionally fast. We dropped anchor and headed ashore. The dinghy ride in is very cute, passing under a stone bridge into Lake Victoria. I call it a bridge because there’s a road above it, but it’s really a purposeful hole in the limestone foundation of the island. Lake Victoria is probably smaller than half the lakes in Central Park, but it makes for much better docking. As we bumped up to the dingy dock, a young man pulled alongside with his dinghy. We exchanged greetings and he (Daniel) asked how we like our electric motor. We offered our standard elevator speech of the pros and cons: she’s slow, but takes little power to recharge and means we don’t have to carry gasoline or oil aboard. Once he discovered we’d never been to the area (excepting Nate’s visit 35 years ago) he was more than happy to show us the ropes. He explained everything from where to take our trash, to how to have parts imported, to the best place to hitch hike a ride somewhere. We joined him to the odds and ends store and then for a beer at the old yacht club. Daniel is very friendly German and he and Nate spent much of the beer visit verbally troubleshooting broken parts on each others’ boats (a common occurrence in the cruising community). We thanked him for his information and headed to the traffic circle to hitch hike to Napa Auto Parts. Although the hitchhiking part was quite easy on both ends (a father and son in a van on the outgoing trip, an ice cream truck on the return trip), Napa didn’t have the part we thought we needed. We went to the market for provisions then back to the boat. On our ride to the boat, we were pleasantly surprised to see Ward anchored next to us. Yay, he survived the last few nights of bad anchorages. Another couple was aboard, so we dropped off our groceries and headed over to join the Sundowners party. Ward shared that he ended up sleeping on the beach the second night in Cape Santa Maria (the night we went into Joe’s Sound) because the rollers were so brutal. Woof! We chatted away with the new friends, Dan and Jess, and then Ward, Nate, and I dinghyed across the bay (in Ward’s dink, thank goodness, we’d have never made it in ours!) for the Wednesday night dance party at Chat and Chill – the favored local beach bar. We were a bit late to the party, but the music was still going and folks still dancing. We met Eric and Lisa from Music and Lyrics (their vessel) – if you say their names and boat name aloud, it kind of rhymes. They were great to chat with and we all enjoyed a few dances together. We eventually called it a night and headed back across the bay with Ward for some rest.

The next morning was cool and beautiful, with the wind increasing for the incoming weather. We introduced ourselves on the local 08:00 Cruiser’s Net on the VHF and I took copious notes about all the upcoming community activities and events, giveaways and needs. We saw that the mail ship finally arrived, so the grocery should have produce and fruits by the afternoon. Anxious to get fresh produce, we headed to town with Ward for a few errands and provisions. Unfortunately, by 13:00, the produce still hadn’t hit the shelves and our time was dwindling as the weather was building. We both wanted to shift across the bay to a more protected anchorage. Back to the boats we went to weigh anchor. All three of us were drenched by the rough dinghy ride, but laughed the entire way. We shifted over to Monument Anchorage, just in front of Honeymoon beach and settled in, happy with the calmer conditions. Beach volleyball started at 14:00 at Chat and Chill, so we headed over once we were confident our anchors were set around 15:00. The ride was set to be calm, until we rounded a corner and waves drenched us all, again. We really ought to start packing dry clothes. Upon arrival, the volleyball games were in full swing – one match was 9 on 9 – wayyy too many people on a court for my liking. One match was 5 on 5 and quite competitive. One court were kids peppering. I opted for mingling instead of playing. Ward jumped in to a game, but Nate joined me. We met all sorts of new cruisers, socializing for hours and even playing cornhole before heading home around 17:30. We decided not to brave the waves for another trip ashore, so we settled in for a nice, relaxing evening and decent nights’ sleep.

Friday morning was a bit gloomy, with intermittent rain. We enjoyed the Cruisers’ Net, again, and I worked out and made bread while Nate worked on the generator (again… ugh). Ward came over to play board games, but we ended up just chatting for a few hours, instead.  He left to give a tattoo consultation (he’s a tattoo artist) and I had the game-bug still in me, so Nate and I played Yahtzee and drank my NOAA Corps Centennial Celebration bottle of wine I’d saved since May 2017 to celebrate my first day as a civilian. We took a long dinghy ride over to Music and Lyrics to enjoy “sundowners” with Eric and Lisa. Sundowners turned into twilight as we relished the luxurious space of their catamaran and talked for hours of all topics from boat parts and sail plans to politics and wine.

I insisted on being present for the first Saturday of the newly opened Farmer’s Market in town, so we weighed anchor and shifted the boat back across the bay, given our dinghy ride would have been unbearably long and wet. Luckily, the sun and breeze were lovely, as the Farmer’s Market left much to be desired. It’s difficult to farm any crops on these reef-built islands, so I’m not sure what we were expecting. However, the grocery stores still had produce in stock! Elated to have “fresh” carrots, cucumbers, eggs, zucchini, and even a loaf of Dave’s Killer Bread in hand, we headed back to the boat to shift anchorages, again. Take the word “fresh” with a grain of salt… all the produce is shipped in from Fort Lauderdale, and given then obvious that Fort Lauderdale isn’t exactly known for their farms, one can only guess how long the veggies had been out of the ground. Still tasty, though! We re-anchored on the outskirts of the large anchorage near Music and Lyrics, only to weigh anchor for the third time that day when a sailboat departed the area and left a beautifully spacious spot for us, three rows of boats closer to the beach. Jackpot! Extremely pleased with our primo parking spot, we hopped in the dink for an incredibly short ride ashore. We attempted several times to find a hiking path, only to end at private property or run out of beach. After taking a dinghy tour around the two tucked away hurricane harbors, a large rain cloud convinced us to stop at the local resort’s bar. We enjoyed a round of beer and a little reconnaissance for the upcoming Super Bowl party at the bar and then headed back to the dink. We saw a few dinghies on a sliver of beach and deduced it just HAD to be the walking path. Lo and behold, it was! We ditched the concept of shoes and headed over the large dune path to the beautiful Atlantic Ocean beach. Three miles of picturesque beach awaited our anxious legs. We walked and talked for a while through the soft, thick sand and the cool ocean water, rushing up to greet us. As another storm front approached, we made our way back across the dune path and into the dink to putter around the corner to Chat and Chill. We chatted and chilled until sunset, when the sand flea and mosquito feast began. We all quickly scattered back to the safety of our vessels, away from shore, and Eric and Lisa came over for a little bit. They brought Tostitos and queso dip – what a treat! It never occurred to us that a bag of chips could make our night, but such is island life. We hit the hay early, attempting to catch up on missed sleep from the night before. (I say “missed sleep,” but most of you will scoff that I consider that only 7 hours of rest! – we typically sleep for 9 hours).

We were busy bees on Sunday morning: laundering through a large basket of clothes, baking cookies, working out, and continued troubleshooting on the generator. Our morning vanished rapidly and we loaded into the dink to head to Sand Dollar Beach for a potluck lunch. A quick hour of potluck (we were later than intended) passed and as the wind died, the insects thrived. A few couples were left and we started a bonfire to attempt to ward off the bugs. Unfortunately, the fire didn’t work as planned, so we hastily extinguished the flames and headed into the water. We joined new friends Diane and Ted on their vessel, Boatel 1 for a tour and drinks. They run a Bed and Breakfast on the boat in Toronto each summer and had some wonderful insight to share with us regarding chartering boats and other ideas we have thrown around. We then headed to the local resort bar for the Super Bowl and had a nice time watching the first half and halftime show. We returned to the boat and watched the rest of the game from the comfort of our boat.

I faced the tough decision of choosing between stretch class or water aerobics on Monday morning (life is hard!). I decided for stretch class because I could swim there! I packed my waterproof bag and hopped in the water. Approximately 200 yards later, I arrived at the beach and prepped to join the lovely stretch class. All loosey-goosey later, I swam back to the boat to find Nate upside-down under the oven, surrounded by spices, boat parts, and the contents of the broken fridge. Just as I started to assist, Eric and Lisa knocked on the hull and convinced (not difficultly) to join them to the nearby beach bar for lunch. Nate was happy for a break from the fridge, so we hopped in and puttered to the beach. Another few hours of good conversation and drinks later, each couple shared a cheeseburger, as the bar only had two left, but it was at least delicious! They dropped us back off on our boat and Lisa started her remote work for the day. We spent the rest of the day replacing the refrigerator coil and cleaning up the aftermath with a short break to try out a used 2-stroke dinghy motor (that we didn’t end up buying). We had a quick dinner while enjoying one of our favorite times of day: sunset. Each day as the sun leaves the horizon countless conch horns are blown throughout the harbor, presenting a beautiful chorus of natural trumpets that we always enjoy.

This morning (Tuesday) greeted us with a beautiful sunrise and we washed and hung up another round of laundry before heading north in the dink. We puttered a mile or so towards Monument Beach, stopped at a friendly boat that gave us a replacement fan for our fridge, and then docked the dink for a walk. We flip-flopped our way through the sand and up a small hill (more like a mound) to the Monument to discover there’s no indication of its significance. Pleased with the view, we continued along the ridge then down to the Atlantic side beach, again. We pushed through the sand until we ran out of beach and then ascended the rocks to the ridge line, again. Our up and down adventure continued for an hour and we ended up back at the dink for another long, relaxing putter home. We are doing a few projects this afternoon, including preparing some mini cheese biscuits for this evening’s dinghy drift party!