February 16-20, 2010... George Town, Great Exuma Island

Over the past few days we've gotten comfortable in George Town as the weather finally subsided a bit. We had a few hairy crossings to and from town as the winds whipped up the harbor and we surfed through the waves in the dinghy. Now though, as we are between fronts, we have a few settled days to enjoy. Provisioning here is a breeze with two supermarkets to satisfy our needs. We found terrific internet and phone service with Julius and Kristal, and spent a few hours as on-line shoppers getting charts and cruising guides for the next phase of our adventure -- the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and the Virgins (Spanish, US and British.) We caught up with Patti's Mom by phone and decided that Patti would return to Delray for a week, leaving John alone, but in a good situation. We've had guests on the boat several times, including a fellow cruiser we met in New York last summer, who found us and anchored next to us here.
Touring George Town on foot between chores has been fun as well; the 200-year old Anglican church is in a beautiful setting with luxurious purple bougainvillea setting off the blue and white building, and the colorful straw market downtown is a nice stop. We've kayaked and dinghyed several times into Lake Victoria and were pleasantly surprised by the clarity of the water - on our first trip in we even saw a tricolor heron - kind of a surprise for a relative urban setting (traffic, noise). We've kayaked up and down Stocking Island, taking some time on the beaches, and we climbed the ridge on the island, from which we could look out to the Exuma Sound and back across the harbor. Again, it is startling to see how many boats are here - last report was over 250. Today we snorkeled with a couple of friends -- early morning wave action churned things up a bit, but we made do and saw some coral, sponges, and fish. To be sure, we aren't getting tired of the colors of the water, and just sitting and staring is an acceptable pass time.
Last night we participated in one of the many 'cruiser' activities here in Camp George Town. It was the Valentine's Dance (postponed from last weekend due to weather) and we joined the crowd at the Chat 'n' Chill deck. We started the evening with conch burgers (ok - another experiment we don't have to repeat) and danced all night long as Rockin' Ron from Sea Dancer spun records from the 50s, 60s, and 70s -- with a more contemporary song thrown in once in a while. You can tell by the music that the average age of the cruiser here is above 50. It was a great party and we were happy to have the chance to dance.
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