George Town, Great Exuma

February 6, 2020 - February 10,2020

After breakfast we moved the boat closer to George Town.  Since our 6 hp engine is out of commission and we are using a small 2 hp Honda engine we thought being closer to George Town would be better.  Let me explain the geography of this harbour.  The Elizabeth Harbour is formed between Stocking Island (the barrier island) and Great Exuma creating a large protected area for anchoring.  All along Stocking Island and Great Exuma there are beautiful beaches and reefs for snorkeling.  George Town its self surrounds Lake Victoria which has a small entrance from Elizabeth Harbour.  The big cruiser gathering places, Chat and Chill Restaurant and Volley Ball Beach, are both on Stocking Island, but provisions and services are all in George Town.  Right now there are close to 300 boats (mostly sailboats) anchored in Elizabeth harbour off the many beaches, but there is so much room to anchor it doesn’t seem crowded.  

We took the dinghy into Town, after getting settled in our new anchorage.  We had lunch again at the Driftwood Cafe and then bought a few provisions, ice, and filled our water jug ( we hadn’t been making much water because of overcast conditions which lowered our power production).  The trip back to the boat was horrible since we were riding straight into 16 knot winds.  We were both soaked and grumpy by the time we reached the boat.  Salt water can be a big problem on a boat and this water is very salty.  When cloth gets wet with salt water it never seems to dry out.  The same thing happens when salt water gets inside the cabin. We have to be vigilant about keeping salt water out of the cabin and only in the cockpit or else everything winds up damp and sticky. UGH!

This is the George Town Primary School.
At lunch time the children come out side to play.

I took this picture because of the colors.
The pink administration building compliments
the turquoise water wonderfully.

This is an open air crafts market featuring
local crafts (straw baskets, etc.) and souvenirs.

The George Town Anglican church sits upon a hill.

Local flowers

After a windy day which kept us boat bound the wind calmed down.  We weren’t really happy with this new anchorage and decided to go back to the Stocking Island side and anchor off one of the beautiful beaches again.  We went into town  to the Farmer’s Market and for ice, water and lunch at the Peace and Plenty Hotel and Beach Club.  Beach Clubs in the Exumas usually have umbrellas, a wide beach, and a pool that cruisers can access for a small use charge for the day.  It was quite hot and I wished I had my bathing suit and could take a dip in the pool.  Instead after we moved the boat I swam into the beach to cool off, explore, and swim back to the boat.  It was actually comfortable on the boat with the nice breeze, but when we were in Town the buildings were blocking the breeze and the sun is very hot.  

Looking north from our deck you can
see the numerous boats anchored off
Monument Beach.  This is just one
of the many anchorage spots in the harbour.

We are now anchored off South Monument Beach.
We call it our beach!

That evening Bob noticed that the refrigerator was running constantly, using too much power, and not staying as cool as it should.  The next couple of days were taken up with solving the problem.  First, we cleaned the refrigeration unit coils and added some freon from some canisters we had on board (probably 5 or 6 years old).  The fridge cooled down to the appropriate temperature by night fall.  After communication with the company that we had purchased the unit from, Bob decided we needed to add more freon.  We took a long dinghy ride to the beach just south of the Napa Auto Store. We walked up to the highway and to the store and purchased fresh freon.  We were just thankful we could find the freon. Next morning we added more freon, but kept getting a fault signal that too much freon was in the system.  Anyway, after bleeding the system a few times and doing more problem solving, we realized that we were not going to be able to fix the refrigeration system ourselves ): which of course led to a very pessimistic night.  Some of Bob’s medication has to be refrigerated so we can’t survive here without a working refrigerator.  Thoughts of heading home (at least to Florida) ASAP came to the surface. We knew we could get the refrigerator fixed there.  

Monday morning brought some better news.  We were able to obtain a small cooler from a fellow cruiser to keep Bob's medication in if we only had a small amount of ice, and Bob was able to contact the refrigeration company in George Town and make an appointment to have the fridge fixed on Friday.  Until then we will purchase ice to keep things cold in the fridge.  Minn's Water Sports was recommended to us to fix our 6 hp outboard, but unfortunately they did not have the parts we needed, however, we were charmed by a 15 hp  outboard they have in stock and may buy that if our fridge gets fixed.  Maybe all of our problems can be solved right here in George Town.  I'll keep you posted!

Thanks for reading my blog.