Georgetown on Great Exum Is. and back to Nassau

Before we tell about this leg of our adventure I want to let you know we left our boat in a pretty marina at Marsh Harbour in the AbacosIslands,Bahamas and flew home last week to spend time with family and Church family for a few weeks.Also awaiting the arrival of a new grandchild.
 Let's get back to the sunny Bahamas and tell about Georgetown and the Great Exum Island.This is certainly a busy spot. Many boats make this a destination coming from the Carribean Islands-Cuba, Turks and Cacos eg. before going north to explore the Bahamas and for boaters like us it was our most southly destination before heading back. There was also a regatta starting shortly after we arrived bringing more boaters to the anchorage area. We decided to go to a marina so we could stock up on provisions and explore the Island.. Just behind the grocery store was the dingy dock. The boaters out on the anchorages made good use of it, making the town a busy place. The highlight of our stay was the tour of the Island..Our taxi driver, Kendall Nixon,[also known as 'Doc'] entertained us and Andy and Jerry[fellow boaters] for the afternoon. He gave us  the history of the Island.as we toured through a lot of small communities. His forebearers made a lot of the 'story'. His uncle used to be jail keeper.The ruins were still there.We explored graveyard crypts [mostly english names]. When the loyalist came to the Bahamas the slaves  took the name of their owners.A very popular name especially in the Exum Cays is  Rolle.  The land is not very fertile so most foods come from the states.But the inlets and the water views were amazing.. 'Doc' Nixon also drove us thru the beautiful grounds of a  5 star resort called ' Sandals'. You felt like you were in another world.--The plants . the flowers, the manicured grounds, the buildings were all first class. He also showed us an upscale housing area[condomiumized] and golf course.At the end of our tour , Jerry talked us into stopping for an ice coffee.She was right that it was great. You just didn't want to drink it too fast!
 Besides a great grocery store, a lovely arts and crafts shop it had a straw market.Beautiful craftsmanship!
 Wed. a.m. it was time to head north again. I forgot to say that we met our French Canadian friends again.
We waited for the tide waters to come up and made our way out of the channel and sailed up to 'Rat Cay.' It felt like we were retracing our course - from Rat Cay back to Galliot cut and anchoring at Big Farmers Cay where I had 'the current' experience. From there to Black Pt. Settlement anchorage and visit.Ida's laundry and store proved to be a great place to meet boaters and do laundry. This is where we heard that next week was going to bring a storm-- big winds and waves and some rain.So Saturday we made it to Highbourne Cay.

Denora,George Town school girl

Local basket weaver

This vessel is used by Missionaries in the Bahamas

Many boats anchored in Elizabeth Harbour

Family time in Nassau

Commemorating Queen Elizabeth's diamond jubilee in Nassau

Tim and Elissa waving farwell as we leave the docks in Nassau

With the storm pending we decided to move on to Nassau earlier than planned and we were thankful we did since only 2 hours after settling into  a very safe haven the winds and rain started. The rest of the week was windy but mostly sunny. The channel that was typically busy with tour boats was very quiet for a few days. By Friday winds were settled.and we were ready to meet  our kids-Tim and Elissa.So neat to have family  near by. We could see their hotel from our boat.  Friday eve. it was supper on board. Sat.eve. we went out together. To top it off was having Andrew and Janet  and children join us along with Tim and Elissa early Sunday a.m.. We were able to share special time together and listen to a sermon on CD.It was short and sweet since they had to be back on their cruise ship mid afternoon. Monday Tim and Elissa and Bill and I took the taxi to Nassau from our marina. After spending time at the Straw market and downtown we had lunch at a lovely restaurant owned be a dutchman ,VanBeukel- great food, lots of flags. Tuesday a.m. Tim and Elissa waved us on as we sailed away to the Eleuthra Islands. from there to Marsh Harbour in the Abacos Is. This is where we left our boat.On April 10th we plan to go back to continue our trip. We'll tell about the Eleuthra Is. and Abacos on our next blog."til then. Now for a few photos---