Georgetown Bahamas

   After a day of rest and recovery we slowly began exploring our new destination.   We didn't go far on our first venture, deciding to just dinghy ashore, and hang out at Chat and Chill beach, playing volley ball and trading war stories about the journey down with like-minded cruisers from around the world.

   Over the course of the day we managed to get the low-down on various points of interest, like where to get rid of garbage, where to get water, grocery shopping, cliff jumping, and snorkelling,  We learned about the morning NET, and other various activities happening in and around Georgetown. The morning NET, on channel 72, was an open broadcast every morning at 8:00am to the fleet of over 450 boats in Elizabeth Harbour.  The broadcast always began with the weather of the day, then boats coming and going, events, buy and sell, and concluded with help wanted.and other various activities happening in and around Georgetown.

  It was a day of fun in the sun, but once it started to set, the beach emptied as quick as a cold beer on a hot day.  Caught a little off guard by the sudden exodus, we were left with the beach to ourselves....... and the swarms of mosquitoes that soon filled the air.  Well that was it for us, we quickly jumped into the dinghy and headed home, before the mosquitoes carried us off.

   Eager to catch the morning NET at 8am the next day, I called it an early night shortly after dinner, Henry had no such ambitions for the next day, so I left him in the cockpit, to watch a show and put himself to bed.

  I awoke the following morning to the cheerful voice of the Georgetown NET moderator as he announced the days weather over the VHF. It was the Help Wanted portion I was most interested in.  We'd been hemorrhaging money on the way down, so I was relieved to finally have an opportunity to make a little extra cash.

  My first gig was to replace the broken prop on a bow thruster for an American couple, it was an easy job, taking more time to set up the dive gear, than the repair itself.  I guess they were happy with my work because they sent one of their friends my way.  The next boat was owned by an English/French couple who crossed the pond a number of seasons ago.  Their boat had a  leaky valve cover gasket, which I promptly repaired,  After that, I was off to the races, scoring one or two jobs daily through either word of mouth or the morning NET.

  With none of the jobs being mission critical,  I was able to schedule my work on the days Henry was hanging out with other kids in the anchorage.  It was nice to see him making friends and having fun.  Between working on boats and chilling with my son we did find time to complete our usual tasks.  No more filling the water tank with Jerry cans for us, even though Georgetown had free water available at the dinghy dock, it was time to get the watermaker up and running.  After a couple of long conversations with the manufacturer we came to the conclusion that the communication cable  connecting the computer to the main unit was damaged.  Not great news, but..... we were able to bypass the computer and run it on manual.  After 3 months of hauling water, Island Eclipse was finally able to fill her own tanks.  Every afternoon, once the house bank was fully charged we would run the water maker off the solar panels, clean free water.  

  I must have been a little too efficient with my work because things started to dry up after a couple of weeks,  that wouldn't last long though, as a fairly large weather front pushed through the out islands, bringing with it a substantial electrical storm that saw 11 boats get hit by lightning.

  Yep, 11 boats were struck, fortunately no one was injured, but I couldn't say the same for the boats.  Alternators got fried, VHS radios, AIS systems, engine ECM's were all subject to damage through the strike.  In total I worked on 6 of the 11 boats that took a hit.  One of the Catamarans I looked at had lost: VHF, AIS, radar, depth, wind, GPS, starboard alternator and Windlass.  After 2 or 3 hours of trouble shooting, I was able to trace the problem back to the Raymarine Hub, it had shorted to ground causing the main helm station breaker to trip.  Once I disconnected the Hub they were only down their depth sounder and starboard alternator.  Another older vessel took a direct hit to the VHF antenna, and that's all they lost, the antenna and the radio.  Fortunately the VHF antenna was mounted on a plastic stand-off, and although the antenna and mount got blown apart, the mast head wasn't subject to the same conditions and came out unscathed.

   Henry and I continued our adventures, we went cliff jumping with a bunch of kids at an old abandoned resort. SCUBA diving with a group of guys from the US,  and on occasion we'd venture off by ourselves, hiking to the top of Monument Hill, snorkeling and exploring.   

  Henry was spending evenings on various boats around the anchorage, watching movies, playing games or just hanging out with other kids his age from around the world.  One night, I dropped him off at a massive Nordhavn Trawling Yacht belonging to one of his new friends Ruby, her mom had wrote the book The Devil Wears Prada and this was how they spent their winters.   Wow, right!  First thing I'm doing when I get home, write a best-selling novel, then sell the rights to a broadway play and a movie...If only!!

   Now, being so far from home, you don't expect to run into someone you know, but crazier things have happened.  About three weeks into our stay we met a long time club racer who'd sailed down with a friend of ours from RCYC, Armando.    Unfortunately Armando had already headed home, but we became pretty tight with our new friend Mark and his girlfriend June li.   

  Henry, Mark and I decided late one Friday afternoon to have dinner and drinks at the Exuma Yacht Club,  We'd heard lots of good things about it, so we were eager to throw on our collared shirts and give it a whirl.  The stories we'd heard were right, the place was already hopping when we arrived, so we grabbed some food and some drinks, before hitting the dance floor for some fun.  We didn't close the place, but it did get pretty late before we decided to head home, dropping Mark off on the way.

  The hot, humid weather persisted throughout our stay in Georgetown, and although the morning dew was often heavy, it didn't really rain much.  Some weeks the humidity would build and build, but the torrential rains never came.  Even on those days when dark ominous clouds would build on the horizon it remained dry in Georgetown.

   Fortunately for us, on the night of March 30, 2024, the skies above Georgetown were clear, and with very little light pollution, we managed to see the deployment faze of a Space X rocket as it headed east over the Caribbean.  We hope to catch the beginning of at least one launch on the way home, but only time and weather will tell.

  With the clock slowly ticking towards the date for my US B1/B2 Visa interview, our departure time was soon growing near.  I began getting Island Eclipse squared away for the long journey home about a week before our departure date, diving on the boat to clean the bottom, changing the oil and filter on the engine, along with other regular maintenance items we'd put off during our stay.

  Although we were all set and ready to go by our departure date, we pushed it a day in order to buddie sail back to Nassau with Mark and June Li on their Catalina, and Jonathan on his GS-50.  The sea state of the sound on the day we left was less than ideal, but the wind was blowing the right way.  We were the first boat underway, and our 6 week layover caught up with us pretty quick.  Somehow the coupling on the engine had worked its way loose, so when we put her in gear to motor forward the shaft slipped forward opening a gap between the dripless shaft seal and the bellows.  By the time we realized what was going on, we were in 6'-8' seas, with a full bilge and a bilge pump that wasn't pumping.  We quickly launched the Jib giving Henry enough control to shut down the engine so I could adjust the shaft seal.   Once I got the leak under control, I looked to the bilge pump for my next repair.  I swapped out the bilge pump impeller for a new one, but it still wouldn't create any suction, and with hundreds of gallons of saltwater in the bilge I'd need another solution.  Fortunately for me the shower bilge pump is located right above the main bilge pump, so all I had to do was switch the hoses..... which would have to wait, as I ran up the stairs with sudden onset sea sickness.  Not usually prone to sea sickness, the combination of engine room heat and boat motion soon had me barfing over the rail.  Luckily, for me the conditions on deck were much better, so the sea sickness didn't take it's usual hold, so I managed to shake it off after about twenty minutes or so.  Once I'd gotten my sea legs back, I returned to work, this time however, I limited my time below decks, completing one small task at a time until the hoses were swapped, and the bilge was empty.

  We made good time, crossing back into the Bank late afternoon.  Jonathan had fallen behind, so he ducked into the Bank, south of us, while Mark and June Li took a cut North of us.  We'd all connect again tomorrow, but for tonight, we'd be on our own....