Five weeks have been spent mostly in Georgetown, Exuma. This
is one of the larger towns although still quite small by US standards.
The oldest church in Exuma is here, an 1803 Anglican Church.
The stained glass window, appropriately designed with boatmen, was reflected
nicely on the floor. Much smaller churches in town, mostly Baptist, rock on
Sunday mornings with Caribbean style gospel music.
The cemetery included several old stones including this
unique one with drawings of a horse, a cabin with pines and what might be a
prairie sod house. I’d like to know more about James Maxwell Mitchell Nairn
Bowe (1890 – 1970) who must have begun life in the US. What brought him to the
Bahamas?
Last winter Georgetown was only a place for us to resupply,
do laundry, regroup and then leave for a week to another island. This year
though wind and very choppy water in the Atlantic kept us inside Elizabeth Sound
most the time. There are plenty of things to do though since this is “home” for
many cruisers who set up activities.
The Office of Tourism in Georgetown had a welcome dinner for
cruisers.
We enjoyed a typical Bahamian dinner of conch
fritters, macaroni and cheese, beans and rice and cole slaw. This got washed
down with a coconut milk rum drink, all provided by the locals. Then we were
entertained by some of their Junkanoo band. Junkanoo is celebrated after
Christmas and is (possibly) named after John Canu. The mayor said that the
named changed with too much rum. Some of the costumes and instruments are also
“junk anew” as they are made of recycled materials.
Stocking Island across from town, our typical anchorage, has
several trails that we took advantage of. This is a long and narrow island so
it takes very little time to go over a sandy hill to see the ocean.
Long beach walks were followed by trekking over some sharp
limestone, rock cairns marking the way..
...and then on to vegetated paths that were created back in the
1990s by cruisers.
Many of these trails are now very overgrown, so we reverted
to summer hiker mode, took tools and did some trail maintenance.
Most beaches on the Sound side have been given names such as
Chat and Chill beach is where you go to do just that. Afternoons there
are full of cruising kids and volleyball games or you can have a Kalik (the
local beer) at the outdoor bar/restaurant. Monument beach is the
trailhead to walk up to the monument which was built in the 1940s and once had
a light on the top. Flip Flop beach is a great place to gather for pot
lucks.
We are always on the lookout for coconuts to eat. Tom also
found several sprouting coconuts planted a dozen or more on beaches that have
none so that five years from now someone may enjoy their shade and in maybe ten
years, a coconut.
Double Life also
enjoys plant life! We’ll leave the coconut palm on some needy island.
Near Rat Cay you could dinghy to the beach and walk right up
to the place where a blow hole was active.
Lee Stocking, one of our favorites, is the site
of a previous marine biology research station that ran out of grant funding
several years ago. It is now a ghost town, but has been bought by a German who
is possibly planning to make it a resort community. We can see a little work
going on, but not much so far. Meanwhile, it is a great place for gathering
coconuts and taking walks on the old roads.
We also found a great snorkeling area. The beaches nearby
also produced some sea beans washed up from as far as South America. Here too
were two of the biggest sting rays I’ve ever seen!
Back in Georgetown, Flagstaff friend Judy and her friend
John joined us for five days. We got to do a day sail, hiking on the island, a
little snorkeling, and had a couple nights of steel drum music with their good
percussion help.
A last sunset in Georgetown and it’s time to head back
north.
