Bahamas Day 3

Every morning we listened to "cruisers net" at 8am on Marine Radio channel 68. This was run by volunteers and provided information to cruisers and helped connect them. It gave an interesting sense of community. It was divided into: Urgent Traffic (if anyone had a medical emergency or was concerned that a cruiser was missing. One day someone was asking about how to find a vet for their dog.), Weather (a weather summary was given from 3 different weather sources. It was interesting how often they differed), Local Business (Local businesses would make announcements about their specials for the day, hours of operation, special events etc), Activities (different boaters offered things like yoga on the beach, softball and there was volleyball every day at Chat n Chill, the beach restaurant/bar.), and Boaters General (this was for general questions - how do we call the pump out boat? where did the garbage dumpster go? etc and for helping each other out - we heard requests for help with a computer and lots of things offered for sale as no longer needed). Afterwards there would be a lot of radio communication as people connected either around something from "cruisers net" or just to plan their days together. On "cruisers net" there was an announcement that a shuttle would be offered to a butcher who was 3 miles out of town so Andy and Debra decided to check that out while George and I did some grocery and liquor shopping and explored Georgetown.

Georgetown as we dinghied in

Andy and Debra were squished into the back of a pickup truck (the shuttle) with 12 other people and George and I walked around Georgetown. It has a population of about 1000 permanent residents, there are a number of housing developments with winter owners, Sandals resort and of course the cruisers. The economy is totally reliant on tourism. George and I walked the "business section" that is around Victoria Pond. Georgetown has a grocery store, a few cafes, a few restaurants/bars, a straw market (where you can watch the baskets and hats being woven), a hair salon and a couple of souvineer/dress shops. There are at least 3 churches.

The Anglican Church from across Victoria Pond

We had been discussing sailing to Stanial Cay and then George and I taking a "puddle jumper" flight back to Georgetown but the Tourist Office was unable to get a hold of the only pilot who could do this so we had to revise plans and stay around Georgetown.
Debra and Andy's excursion had been very successful with good meat purchases at reasonable prices. Meat and produce were about twice the price of at home in the grocery store and most other groceries about a third more.
We returned to the boat for lunch

Between the Sheets becomes "Bet the" with the transom down

The afternoon was spent snorkelling on the nearby beaches. It took George and I a while to get the hang of our gear again as it had been a few years since we had used it. The water was crystal clear and the few coral heads along the beaches were live (so many we had seen at resorts were dead) and full of the colourful little fish you see on television. We saw a young ray (it was almost white, not dark brown like the adults) and Andy saw a squid.

Back to the boat, a few drinks, BBQ of steak and chicken and to bed before "cruisers midnight". We couldn't believe how tired we got, outside all day and active, and how well we slept.