Adventures in George Town

Adventures in George Town

Friday 11th - Saturday 12th April, 2025

After a couple of days of focussing almost exclusively on boat jobs it was nice to have a day off. We moved Cotinga form the Crab Key anchorage over to the bay on the west side of Stocking Island below the Monument. Anchoring proved to be tricky. We dropped the hook in a location that we felt certain would leave us equidistant from three other boats once our chain was out and we settled back into a similar orientation to our neighbors. However, the winds were so light that when I backed up I just kept getting skewed towards the boat on our port side. I’m sure this was due to prop wash and the inability to develop any momentum because of the anchor chain. We could see the anchor was well buried, the chain was lying over the seabed in meandering loops! In the end I jumped in the dinghy, put it in reverse and used it to pull our stern over. We did end up in the perfect spot!

I should add that this was not the first dinghy excitement of the day. Prior to leaving the Crab Cay anchorage I launched the dinghy from the davits, so that we could tow it behind us. I passed the towing line through the fairlead, but didn’t secure it adequately, and after climbing back on board Cotinga I saw the line slip out of the fairlead and the dinghy started to drift away. There was nothing else for it , but to jump in the water and swim after it. However, not being fully with it mentality, I didn’t stop to take off my clothes first. So whilst the dinghy recovery was a success, I was left with a soaking wet, salty T-shirt and shorts that had been clean on only an hour previously. That was annoying!

At Stocking Island we hiked up to the monument and over to the ocean side. We had forgotten how beautiful this area is. The weather was also beautiful, whereas I think it has been a bit rough for much of the time we have spent here in previous years. Later in the afternoon we went back to shore at the Chat and Chill, a ramshackle hang out for cruisers, that sells bear, cocktails and decent burgers. We met up with our friends from Arabella (Paul and Jo) and Makarios (Benge and Debbie). The latter have their son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren (9 months and 3 years old) with them. It was a lovely evening and a pleasure to meet Benge and Debbie’s family. We aren’t sure when we will meet up with them all again, as we are now going to be moving more quickly up the Bahamas and over to the USA, but it is possible they might leapfrog us on the coast of the USA as they are both headed for Chesapeake Bay.

This morning, we were up and away before 7 am and motoring up Exuma Sound to Galliot Cut. The winds were light and variable and it was a straight motor all the way. We tried to fish and in fact caught a very small barracuda. The poor little bugger was barely larger than the lure! We did manage to put him back. We also saw some fish-boils and changed direction to try and pass through them … but we didn’t get any bites. I did see a Mahi-Mahi (Dolphin Fish) jump clear out of the water in pursuit of a flying fish.

We are now anchored on the west side of Galliot Cay. Winds are supposed to build overnight from the northwest and then veer to north, and eventually east of north. Hopefully, things don’t get too rough here overnight as we don’t have much protection from the north west.

Mike

23 55.412 N, 76 17.422 W

Elizabeth Harbor from the monument on the top of Stocking Island. The town of George Town is on the far (west) side of the harbor

The path to the ocean side of Stocking Island from the monument

The ocean side of Stocking Island under calm conditions

Ditto

A chitin

Palm fronds (partial B&W and 'inverted')

Colorful siding on the former Peace and Plenty beach bar

Moonset from Elizabeth Harbor

The supply boat passes us at anchor off Monument Beach

Bow Wave - this is a similar shot that I took in Exuma Sound in 2013 when Cotinga had a 'claret' colored hull