We've made it to George Town

Staniel Cay to George Town

Staniel Cay is a major town in the Exumas, as it is one of the few places where you can get water, fuel and some provisions, depending on when the supply boat carrying produce comes in. We anchored by an island just outside of Staniel Cay called Big Major Spot, also known as Piggy Beach. There is a beautiful long beach where you can “swim with the pigs”. This is a huge tourist attraction; and boatloads of vacationers come to feed and swim with the pigs as well as visit other cays to see iguanas, swim with turtles and see caves. We wondered where all these people were coming from and later learned that the tour boats come from George Town laden with tourists out of both George Town and Nassau. So we had some fun watching the tourists on the beach from our boat. We also went there ourselves for a photo op!

Pig looking for a snack

After lunch we went into town to talk to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club (SCYC) about getting a dock for a night. They were very hard to reach by phone so we thought it would be better to go talk to them in person. The SCYC has only 18 slips and most of them are filled with megayachts. I think they prefer the income from 100 feet rather than 40. However, they did tell us to call the next morning to see if there was room. We then ventured into town for much needed groceries. There are 3 grocery stores in town, and at the first one we came to (the blue one) we were told that the produce boat was coming in tomorrow. Thank goodness as the produce shelves were bare. As we were talking to the shopkeeper, two crew members from a mega yacht came in (you can tell because they have their white shirts with the boat name embroidered on it, and navy shorts). They took all the eggs in the fridge (2 dozen) and asked if there were more. The shopkeeper went to the back of the store and brought out all her eggs, 12 dozen, which they took, along with all the limes and lemons she had. When I asked if there were any eggs left they offered me one of their dozen, but after being told they were $11/dozen, I kindly declined. I think they inflated the price for them as I was able to get a dozen eggs the next day for $5. The crew also told her they would take ALL the oranges expected the next day as their guests onboard demanded fresh squeezed OJ every morning!! Needless to say I was anxious to get to the grocery store the next day before they bought everything up!

We ventured back to the boat via the bar at SCYC to say hello to all our travelling companion boats (we have gathered up quite a few) and believe it or not they had the Olympic curling on the TV! Very exciting! We stayed for a little while (it was not the Canadian team playing) and went back to the boat.

The next morning we called SCYC and were told they had a slip for us for the night. We really needed to fully charge the batteries, fill up the water tanks and get fuel. Groceries were high on the priority list as we had seen the produce boat leave so I knew there was food to be had! We went to the fuel dock first to fill up, and were hoping to go right into our slip from there. But we were told it was not empty yet so we would have to wait. We had to leave the fuel dock so other boats could come in, as diesel still was available but they had run out of gasoline. So we puttered around waiting for our slip, and were then told they didn’t have a slip for us (what?) and they were going to put us on the fuel dock for the night since they didn’t have any fuel left. So, we went back to the fuel dock and tied up, again. After getting all tied up and plugged in the dock master came over to tell us we couldn’t stay on the fuel dock because the fuel barge was coming in to fill their empty tanks, so they were moving us to the other side of the fuel dock, in this very short, and very high slip. So we moved again, and I can tell you we were getting pretty frustrated by then. They told us the fuel barge would only be there for a couple of hours and then be gone. So once settled in (again!) we headed into town for groceries. We were told to try one of the three stores first, which was furthest away, of course, and when we got there it was closed for lunch! So we sat and waited, it was 12:45 and the sign said it would open again at 1pm. But, being Bahama time, it didn’t open until almost 1:30, but we were rewarded for waiting with a good selection of fresh produce! Hurray! So with our wagon full of food we headed back to the boat, stopping at one more store (the pink one) that had a few different items. While we were putting away the groceries, the fuel barge arrived. It was huge, and they quickly started connecting all the hoses to transfer the fuel. When we asked when they were leaving, they told us they were staying on the dock for the night. But once the fuel transfer was done they would shut down the engines and generator. So we went up to the SCYC for dinner, in hopes that it would be done by the time we got back. Dinner at the bar, with fellow cruisers, watching the Olympics, was great fun.

However, when we got back to the boat it was still humming away, and they told us it would take another hour or so to finish. Not impressed. The generator ran all night long and they had bright lights on deck, not to mention the smell. We did not have a good night despite being on a dock! So the next morning Hugh spoke to the marina office and told them we would happy to pay for our water, fuel and power, but not the dock. They gave him no argument, plus they didn’t charge for the power. As soon as we could, we left the dock and went back to Piggy Beach for a quiet night.

One of the other things Staniel Cay is known for is Thunderball Grotto, an underwater cave that is famous for being in the James Bond movie. So of course we had to go snorkeling there too. It was pretty cool, with lots of fish and a very high vaulted ceiling inside the cave with two openings at the top. I’m going to have to watch that movie again when we get home.

We left Staniel Cay the next morning, along with Aquila, and headed towards Black Point, another small community with a few restaurants/bars and store. On the way we stopped at Bitter Iguana Cay for lunch and to see the iguanas that live on the beach. Apparently they are used to people coming and feeding them, because as soon as Bill started feeding one, they all started running out from under the bushes. It was kind of scary, they are not the cutest!

Iguana Beach

After lunch we went into the harbour at Black Point and found it really busy. The forecast for the next few days was a big easterly blow to start that night, and it is a very well protected anchorage for that direction. So everyone had decided to ride it out there. Including us. So after anchoring, we dinghied over to the government dock and walked down the Main Street. As it was Sunday, the grocery store was closed, but we managed to find some fellow sailors at one of the restaurants and had a beer with them. As predicted, the winds started coming in around dinner time, and wow, was it windy! But we felt pretty secure on our anchor, unlike another boat, who dragged out of the anchorage about a half mile, without them on it. They came back to their boat in the dark, and it wasn’t where they had left it. Luckily someone saw an anchor light off in the distance, and they were able to rescue the boat, manned solely by their wonderful dog Athena. No damage done, thankfully.

We spent three nights in Black Point, with the winds howling, but that didn’t

stop us from exploring some of the island, including a blow hole and doing laundry at the laundromat with 10 washers and dryers, a real cruisers social gathering!

There was also a Cruisers Happy Hour at one of the bars that everyone went to, and drank potent rum punches!

Hugh and fellow cruisers at happy hpur

After three noisy and bouncy nights we decided to move around the point to Little Bay which we hoped would be less crowded. So Aquila, Shooting Star and Trekker all moved around the point to find a beautiful quiet bay with only one other boat there, a beautiful beach and great protection. We should have moved sooner. It was lovely.

Little Bay

But stupidly, we moved on the next day, thinking we could find some more nice spots down Great Guana Cay, but spent the next few nights trying to hide from the winds, without much success. We attribute it to lack of local knowledge, and not knowing how well protected we were in Little Bay. Oh well, we are slowly learning!

Another stop was Little Farmer Cay, a small settlement of 80 people that has a “yacht club”, a beach bar and a couple of tiny stores. We anchored two nights, and explored the island including lunch at the yacht club, happy hour at the beach bar and watching people swim with and feed turtles in the main harbour. We also met one of the residents who is known for his woodcarving. Very skillful.

Amazing woodcarving

We then moved down to Rudder Cay. Another lovely anchorage with beaches and caves dotted along the shoreline. There is a sunken statue called The Musician, that the illusionist David Copperfield (whose private island is near by) had commissioned. We went snorkeling over it, it looked very surreal.

The Musician

The winds finally calmed down and yesterday we jump out into Exuma Sound and headed for George Town. We are staying at a marina for a couple of days to get ready for our guest to arrive. I am so excited to see Alyssa , it’s been over four months since we saw her. I hope the weather cooperates!

We’ve made it to George Town!... one day at a time.