Leaving means preparations and that we did Mon – Wed. Our 3^rd,4^th and 5^th jugs of diesel, laundry, wifi, lunch at LI Breeze for Ten Dollar Tuesday (the shrimp fried rice was delicious and was enough for the next day), propane tank refill (the truck stops at Long Island Breeze) and a revised decision to jib sail the 6 miles to up to Morris to shorten Thursday’s travel distance. SSE winds at 15-21kts made for a roll-y anchorage; how much worse could things be if we even got just a bit more southerly protection?

Met free dive champ Ashley Chapman who with her husband Ren, was anchored off Long Island Breeze. She is the Women’s U.S. and Continental record holder in the no-fins free diving at 190’.  We had heard from others that the men’s record holder (not in that same category) William Trubridge, a New Zealander living on Long Island, was practicing at Dean’s the day we stopped there. Bummer that we missed him by a couple of hours.

We bid farewell to Mike and Jackie as well as cruiser friends who’d be heading south. The mailboat, Island Link arrived mid-day which made for some happy peeps.  On Long Island the boat comes weekly, a welcome change from the “who knows when” schedule in much of the Exumas, except for  GT of course.

Here’s a few parting shots from our last few days in Thompson Bay.

A bagpipe sunset serenade

Cistern near the beach- we’re told it is still used by cruisers

I’m going to step out on the proverbial limb and state that boats that spend time in Elizabeth Harbor (aka George Town, GT) fall into two categories: winter residents who are involved in one or more activity and short stay visitors who like GT but also need/want to move on. To say that the latter are “users” might incur the wrath of many, but hey I’m putting us smack in that group, and it’s my term and my blog so there!

Don’t misunderstand, we like George Town… in small doses. So far, Exuma Market outshines even the big boys in Nassau or Marsh Harbor. Less sq feet for sure, but an excellent selection is packed into it. Any market that carries the yogurt I like (Fage with honey), Haas avocados, Russ’ fave Junkanoo Juice and Italian sausage, gets high marks from us.  Sausage is not commonly found anywhere (we’ve been) in the Bahamas.

The library is the best. George Town also has a clinic, shops, banks, fuel and other services that cruisers need or want. A huge benefit is the R/O water available free at the dinghy dock. The various beach areas let you choose your activity: volleyball, basket making, hangin’ out, walking, hiking, kayaking or beachcombing. You can do as much or as little as the mood strikes you or the weather permits.

Since many cruisers end up in GT at some point you will likely meet up with friends you haven’t seen since who knows when. The morning Net is an excellent source of weather, harbor activities and for keeping tabs on the new arrivals and departures.

Many who leave GT temporarily return when family and guests fly in. The taxis are kept busy and boats often re-anchor at Kidd’s Cove to be closer to town for visitor pick-up.

GT is a good jumping off place if you want to head further south to Long Island and beyond, or east toward Cat Island. We spent less than four days in GT before our 13 day visit to Long Island. A break in the wind Thurs Jan 31 gave us a one day window to head back and prep for our visitor’s arrival on Feb 7. The forecast still showed a bunch of windy days with a front arriving Tues. Really hoped that the weather pattern would get back to normal after the front.  A stalled, quasi stationary front has been hangin’ around; winds up then down, then up. No clocking around as with the approach of a front, so that’s been good. E 10-15 would be greatly preferred.