Regatta Time in Georgetown

Monday, Feb. 20

Peter arose before me and got everything ready for our departure from West Bay. Just before 7 a.m., we raised the anchor and headed southeast for the Exuma Islands. We would have liked to sail, but the wind was light and coming from the direction of our heading, so we were forced to motor. Shortly after 5 p.m., we picked up a mooring ball in 3 meters of water on the west side of Shroud Cay, surrounded by a couple dozen other boats. Despite the fact that we could not sail, we enjoyed the beautiful blues and turquoises of the water, the 80 degree temperature and the clear skies. Most of the time the water stretched to the horizon for 360 degrees, no land in sight.

Motoring from West Bay, New Providence Island

Peter spent the hours on the water working on various small tasks, of which there seem to be an infinite number. I read a few chapters of The House of the Seven Gables, colored with pencils in my mandala coloring book, did some word search puzzles in theNational Parks Puzzles Word Search book my dear sister-in-law April included in my many Christmas gifts from her, and did a few crossword puzzles. I made fried eggs and toast for breakfast, heated up a left-over rice and beans dish topped with freshly cut tomatoes for lunch, and made grilled cheese sandwiches and boiled carrots for dinner. Peter assisted with the sandwiches since I often burn them.

Before dinner, with less than an hour until sunset, I put on my swimsuit, mask, snorkel and cleaning gloves and then spent about an hour rubbing marine life off the hull on the starboard side, creating great plumes of filth that dispersed in the light current. Peter swam around and scraped off barnacles; fortunately, there are not many. The sunset was fading as we finished. The minuscule krill that I detached from the hull along with algae were clinging to our swimsuits and skin when we emerged from the water and we had to vigorously wash them away. (They were even inside my swimsuit—disgusting!)

Tuesday, Feb. 21

We had a treat for breakfast this morning, French toast topped with the lemon curd which Ula made and sent with us. As with any food Ula prepares, it was perfection.

We dropped off the mooring ball around 9 a.m. and headed down the chain of islands in the Exumas. We are still waiting for a good sailing day; motoring is so boring. Peter absolutely hates it. However, the turquoise of the water and the cerulean of the cloudless sky and the warmth of the air brightened the day. Once again, I did some reading and some crossword puzzles. In addition, I ran two loads of laundry in the washing machine while the engine was running. Our washing machine on board can take less than half the amount of clothes as the one we have at home. Two loads is the most I can do in one day, limited by the lifelines available to serve as clotheslines and the number of clothespins I have. (The amount is always diminishing as occasionally one falls overboard and cannot be retrieved.) Meanwhile, Peter worked on small tasks such as making soft shackles.

Anchored in the lee of Shroud Cay

Morning as we leave Shroud Cay

We anchored in Jack’s Bay to the west of Great Guana Cay around 3 p.m. As soon as everything was tidy, I was in my swimsuit and mask, snorkel and fins and in the water. Peter joined me as soon as he enjoyed his afternoon cup of tea. Nearby were two reef patches with an abundance of fish. Today’s sightings included one brilliant blue and yellow queen angelfish; some four-eye butterflyfish and spotfin butterflyfish; a few stoplight parrotfish in both the initial and terminal phases as well as bluehead and creole wrasse and queen conch; and dozens to hundreds of disc-shaped blue tang, bar jacks, long-spine squirrelfish with red coloration and large bulging black eyes, and French grunts striped with blue and yellow. A large snapper was swimming over the sandy bottom but I could not get close enough to identify what kind.

View from the swim platform at Jack's Bay, Great Guana Cay

We returned to Mantra and began to clean the hull. The port side was not as encrusted and filthy as the starboard side because it did not receive as much direct sunlight when the boat was moored at Jensen Beach. I was two-thirds along the hull, approaching the bow, when Peter insisted that I come aboard so that we could re-anchor. There was only a thin layer of sand over limestone where we were, so we moved a bit north while there was still daylight to a spot with deeper sand for the anchor to dig into.

The sunset was absolutely gorgeous, and as the red and orange and midnight blue hues faded, Jupiter and Venus could be seen in a vertical line above the new moon. As the sky turned to black, the stars of the constellations and the Milky Way grew more luminous.

Sunset at Jack's Bay

Wednesday, February 22

It was a boring day of motoring, but we made it to Elizabeth Harbour by 4 p.m., having passed from the turquoise, calm waters of the Exuma Banks through Galliot Cut to the deep blue, choppy waters of Exuma Sound. A dolphin swam by on the port side to greet us.

Approaching Galliot Cut

We anchored in almost the same place as 2019, right in front of the Chat ‘n Chill on Stocking Island. We had no sooner dropped than a dinghy came by from a boat we had partied with in Casco Bay, Maine, last year, inviting us to a bonfire party. After we tidied up, we launched the orange kayak and paddled to the boat on on port side, Sol Purpose, which was also flying an OCC burgee. Then we went the short distance to the beach and got fries and a Sands beer to share as we watched the sunset.

Chat 'n Chill Beach from Mantra

Sunset from Chat 'n Chill

From memory, I made (and actually improved on) creamed spinach served over toast. Delicious, I must say! After dinner, Peter set off for the bonfire party while I commenced to make two different kinds of bean soups. He returned having not located it. (It was probably on the windward side of the island, but he didn’t know where the path was.)

The Georgetown Regatta officially commenced today. There are about 350 boats anchored in the harbor. As night settled in, anchor lights formed an array of constellations against the black sky.

I finished cooking and Peter completed (perfectly) his soft shackle before an early bedtime for both of us. Tomorrow, he will work on the engine, which has been misbehaving, and I will do a few loads of laundry and general cleaning in preparation for my sister Beth Ann and her husband Rich’s arrival Friday afternoon.