George Town, Farewell

We finally bid adieu to George Town, Great Exuma, and set off for Rum Cay bright and early on Tuesday, March 4.

On Sunday, we had spent a quiet day waiting for the weather to change. The day was a series of windy, blustery squalls, pouring down buckets of rain. One of the people we had met the night before, Lee, came by to invite us to dinner with his wife Sherry and two other catamaran couples. He and Sherry are also catamaran people…it was to be a two-hull meal all the way.

We had a great time and learned a lot. The meal was terrific, with each boat contributing a dish. Our hosts made us lovely rum punches. Alan and Patricia brought crackers and a hot spread featuring lots of cheese and mushrooms. Doris and Tom brought a delicious cornbread which we ate with what Lee had described as chicken soup/stew (also exceedingly yummy). Desert was peanut butter brownies. All downed with plenty of wine and lots of sailing yarns.

Monday was sunny and we went for a walk on Volleyball Beach. We have been somewhat constrained in our walks since dense, low growth is a feature of these islands. Palmetto seem to keep the ground clear around them, but the sea grapes and seven-year apples are impenetrable. I managed to make my way a little way inland and watched a Bahama mockingbird sing his heart out. Their song is a long series of repeated and very melodic phrases. WW then invited me to have a rum punch at Chat ‘n’ Chill. It was a very peculiar pinky-orange colour, quite neon. It tasted good, though, and there had definitely been no stinting in the rum section.

We returned to Django to discover that WW had lost his glasses. He does this periodically because he uses them only for reading. He spots land easily ten minutes before I can see it, but can’t read the page in front of him without his glasses. Well, one pair down, two to go.

The weather forecast was promising, so we raised Boffo up on her davits, made a few mild preparations and headed to our berth hoping and praying we’d be off in the morning.

A bit of bad news: no more pictures for now. The camera was mysteriously drenched and, despite my ministrations (and preventing WW from plunging it in a bucket of fresh water), it has failed to come around. I continue my efforts, but am not sanguine.