Georgetown, Exumas

Overlooking the anchorages at Georgetown from the top of the monument

George Town is the cruising capital of the Bahamas, and is also known as chicken harbor. Why it became such a popular spot I really cannot understand. There really is no protected anchorage accessible by anything other than very shallow draft boats, the water is generally murky and choppy. However the grocery store is excellent, and fresh water is free. We had planned to spend a few days here catching up on email and doing some boat chores as well as restocking the fridge. However our stay got extended when I went to change the engine oil and discovered some salt deposits running down the engine block. I traced the salt deposits back to the raw water oil cooler which appeared to be leaking around its end cap. Well that didn’t look too bad, I figured Id just pull the cap off and repair or replace the seal. When the cap came off it was a different scenario. 

Not Good.

The sealing surface had corroded very badly and was pitted nearly 1/8” from what I could see with it still installed. In attempt to repair I picked at the pits a bit and scraped loose debris away, and then used JB Water Weld to try and seal the end cap back on. A 10Pm test run indicated that I had made the problem worse, now it wasn’t just salt water leaking, but also oil. I knew this would suck. First thing Monday morning we went ashore to look up where I could buy another oil cooler, and how I would have to ship it to George Town. Fortunately the Volvo dealer in the US had one in stock and was able to overnight it to an air freight company that leaves FL for George Town every Wednesday. So by noon Thursday I had my part in hand, and had it back on the engine by 3pm. Not too bad for being out in the Bahamas, although the cost of $1500 really sucked and will cut out any fun shore excursions we may have wanted in the future.

                Fortunately while waiting on parts in George Town we made some friends on other boats and shared some dinners and drinks and had 2 great fires on the beach. On Saturday the 28 of January we finally got out of George Town and buddy boated on over to Long Island with Jaime and Channing of Bokeelia, FL.

Great to meet such nice people!

 The trip was an awesome calm water sail with just enough wind to keep our fat boat on the move. Unfortunately we didn’t catch any fish. But once we dropped the anchor off of Hog Cay we set out to some surrounding rock patches in hunt of lobster. About 2 hours later Jaime and Channing had scored 2 nice sized lobster and 1 slipper lobster, and I got us 1 larger lobster that fed Laura and I for 2 meals.

                We took a morning dinghy ride in hunt of blue holes and bone fish up Joe’s Sound. We located 2 blue holes, and saw a few bones in passing. Later on we moved a few miles and anchored off of Cape Santa Maria. Here we took a little hike up to the monument for Columbus. Reportedly the Santa Maria ran aground on this cape while Columbus was exploring the new world. I spent a few hours snorkeling the awesome rock and reef formations off of the cape, but only came back with some pictures of 6 spotted eagle rays which fallowed me for quite a while. Back in the anchorage a tiny sail boat had anchored next to us, and I felt compelled to go see what was up. On board this boat which was no longer than 22’ was a German fellow. I began chatting with him, and soon learned that he had departed Germany several years ago, crossed the Atlantic, sailed up the east coast, through the Hudson and back down the Mississippi and Ten Tomb rivers to the Gulf Coast. He was stopping for the night before setting off to Great Inagua and the on to Panama. This tiny boat, the man and his stories easily qualify as the wackiest and most adventurous sailor/ human I have come across.

The Columbus Monument off Cape Santa Maria, named after the ship which ran around on the shallow reef just below.

A school of Spotted Eagle Rays off Cape Santa Maria.

Very graceful creatures.

                Long Island seems like a wonderful place, and like Andros Island we hope to return here one day to enjoy the peaceful and bountiful waters. There are tons of reefs, bays, and estuaries that need further exploring, but for now our plan is to get south, and we have a weather window to make use of. Tonights big decision while eating Lobster Alfredo will be whether or not to shoot straight for Great Inagua and then on to the Dominican Rep, or if we should enjoy some more of Long/ Crooked/ Acklins Islands.