George Town

Well, it's been a while. We are at the Hope Town Inn and Marina with Rob and Eric on board and it's raining today, so I thought while I have a good Internet connection and we are boat bound, I would catch you up.
On the way to George Town we had calm seas so I put the lines in. Fishing this year has been great, but that trip was exceptional. We had several dolphin on and got two in. The big catch was a sailfish. What a fight and what a beautiful fish. We were in the same area we caught the blue marlin last time we were in the George Town area. What a thrill!
We cruised down to George Town for the National Family Islands Regatta, a four day event with sail boat races, great Bahamian food, one huge Bahamian party, and what a party it was. The sail boats that they race are from all the Islands and aren't the type you normally see, and they race for the pride of their individual Islands. They are hand built and are modeled after the old fishing boats. They're hard to describe, but you will see them in some of the pictures.
***I'm doing these blogs in segments, so you will need to click on older posts to see them all***

September Song (time to catch up!) out
Bob


My sailfish doing its dance.

Notice how sharp the point in its bill is. When releasing one of these, you need to be really careful. A number of people have been speared when they erupt from the water.

What a beautiful fish. It's dorsal fin was huge!

The freezers are getting full.

We always love to see the cruising kids. Most of them live on sail boats.

 

 

In the late afternoon, a group of cruisers would head to Chat and Chill for happy hour and music.

Jon, (S/V JonNe') a cruising friend of ours, would bring his guitar to most of our gatherings in the evening at the beach while they were cruising with us.

 

One of the boats practicing in the anchorage.

When the boat heels, they crawl out on boards to stay upright.

What a beautiful sight when they come across the water.

Making the turn. Sometimes they run into each other. And they did! The rule is that if anyone falls off, they need to turn around and pick them up before they could continue the race. And they did!

The two boats from Staniel Cay, TidaWave and Lady Muriel, who we were rooting for, were in first and second place and first and second in point standing going into the last race. On turn #1 where we were anchored in the tender, they ran into each other, lost guys in the water and missed the turn. By the time the gathered up their crew and made the turn, they ended up last. I'm sure there will be some words between them over that!

These races were so much fun to watch.

 

The boats gathered at turn #1 to watch the race.

Now, on to the party and some great Bahamian food.

They throw together these bar/food buildings just for the four day races.

 

Jon and Renne' (S/V JonNe') and Ed and Claudia, (S/V Door Into Summer) cruising friends were there the four days to play with us.

Cheers from George Town!

I didn't do it. HONEST! 

The George Town Straw Market.

The Bahamians are big Obama fans.

Sunset over our anchorage at Sand Dollar Beach.

Full moon rising over our anchorage.

All the family cars (tenders) parked at Chat and Chill Beach for happy hour.

Now that's a family car! You never know what people are going to show up in.

The parade after the last race was great. The George Town Police Band put on a fun show and what a great time we had the last night. The Bahamians know how to party and have a good time.

 

Back to Staniel Cay

After a fun four days in George Town, we all cruised back to Staniel Cay and Big Majors anchorage. After a long cruise back we all stayed on our boats and recuperated.
After a night of recuperation, it was time to play again. We spent the day at the beach with a bunch of cruising friends in the anchorage and that night after a beautiful sunset, we had a beach bonfire complete with music. Thanks Jon!
The next day we headed up beautiful Pipe Creek to play at Rachel's Bubble Bath, then a stop at Sampson's Cay for a late lunch.
The next morning three of the boats (September Song, Pixie Dust, and Serena) headed to one of the out Islands, Cat Island, sixty miles to the East. More about that in my next blog.

September Song (great cruising friends!) out
Bob


Hanging out on the beach with cruising friends.

Pixie Dust (Joe and Dawn) and Door Into Summer. (Ed and Claudia) A marine's reunion of sorts. Ed and Joe were both in the Marines.

More fun music with Jon. (S/V JonNe') He knows some of the Nippers songs!

Sunset from the beach party.

Taking pictures and enjoying another sunset in the Islands.

Time to cook.

More music around the fire by Jon.

Enjoying a beautiful night with my gorgeous admiral.