
Our first few days in Georgetown were spent getting prepared for a very exciting event. We spent one day washing all our sheets at the local Laundromat which cost more money than the drop off we used to use in Washington Heights – and back then we had much more to wash! But this is the Bahamas, mon. The next day, Chad got to the long, overdue task of fixing the bathroom door so that it would shut properly, while I cleaned the interior of the boat. I vacuumed up sand that was probably still with us from Waderwick Wells and scrubbed off mildew that may have been as old as our days in Maryland. After clearing off the pilot berth and stuffing everything into the shower we rinsed down the cockpit. A few bottles of coconut rum and many gallons of water to top off the tanks later and we were ready! Sabbatical was ready to host its first set of overnight guests.
Sarah, a good friend of mine whom we met while we were teaching in Washington Heights arrived first. After receiving the following text message at 6 am from her we were very relieved to see her. “They won’t let me on the plane with the package. They think I want to blow up the plane because the box smells like gasoline.” After months without a working wind generator, Southwest Wind Power sent our repaired one to Sarah’s house since we knew it could take even more months and much more money to send it directly to the Bahamas. And who knows which island we would be on when in arrived in the Bahamas. We thought sending it with Sarah would be the cheapest and quickest way to get it to us. Unfortunately, the plot foiled when a couple of annoying ticket agents decided that Sarah was either a drug smuggler or a terrorist. Needless to say, her first night on the boat was spent drinking many cocktails with me while Chad ordered a courier in New York to drive the package to Kelly’s house since she was due to arrive the next day.
Realizing our mistake of not concealing the box in a duffle bag, we hoped Kelly would have better luck since the ticket agents would have no reason to question or sniff a duffle bag. It had clothes in it! Thank goodness for good friends! It worked!!!! For the first time in many months Chad and I are not fighting over how much time we are allowed to spend on the computer before draining the batteries.
Eddie’s hosted its weekly Rake and Scrape night on Monday and we all went there to celebrate! The girls got to see a great mix of locals and cruisers (some who stay in Georgetown long enough to be called locals). We also got to catch up with our friends on
Anastasia, Jen and Maxwell and Margarita on
Moon Shadow.

The next day, Hillary, our former roommate, coworker, and classmate from graduate school arrived and we were ready to set sail. We took a long day sail to
Thompson Bay, Long Island. Yes, they came all the way to the Bahamas from New York just to sail to Long Island. But there were no guys with greasy blow outs, traffic jams on highways, or fake tans anywhere in sight. Pristine, pink sand beaches, crystal clear water, and one long paved road which extends basically the entire length of the 80 mile long island was what we saw instead.
We rented a minivan (perfect size for 5) from Fox’s Auto and kept it for 2 days to explore the entire island. Just driving down the island was a blast and exploring all the side dirt roads that led to the sites made it even better. We saw the funny Columbus Monument set atop the cliffs at the North Point. I don’t think it was actually from Columbus but it does have a lovely apology for decimating the entire population of natives on the island in 1492.

The next day we went to
Dean’s Blue Hole, the deepest blue hole in the world. At more than 700 feet deep and only a few hundred feet wide it is truly a fascinating site. A beautiful crescent beach and limestone cliffs shelter the blue hole and make it one of the most beautiful natural scenes I have ever photographed. Our two day tour of Long Island ended in
Clarencetown when Kelly and Chad climbed to the top towers of Father Jerome’s church. The only thing that could make this day better would be--- an inexpensive, tasty all you can eat buffet located next to the dinghy dock. What do you know, that’s exactly what we found! Every Thursday night The Thompson Bay Club hosts a buffet for 15 bucks with grouper, fried chicken, ribs, conch, mac and cheese, and anything else you could consider Bahamian. Yum!

On our sail back to Georgetown, we caught two southern puffer fish and our sixth sharp toothed, annoying barracuda. We have been hoping for some Mahi-Mahi since the trip began but still, the closest we have come to it is from a generous handout from our friends Holly and Rob aboard
Hampshire Rose, another Pearson 365 who caught too much for them for a day. It felt bitter sweet to know that. Hopefully, we will catch one someday soon.
Saturday night we went to
Porgy’s Place at the Fish Fry to introduce our friends to Buzzy, the captain of the boat Chad sailed on during the
Farmer’s Cay Regatta. Sarah challenged a friendly local to a Snapper head eating contest and lost but witnessing it all was hilarious. After, Buzzy’s wife, Kayla, drove us to Regatta Park where the 70’s party was in full swing. We sung karaoke in the park with a Bahamian police officer in an afro wig and a helicopter pilot until 1 or 2 am. I don’t think any of us could have asked for a better way to close out the week. Well maybe Hillary could have since she had to wake up for a flight at 6 am.
But it was truly a wonderful week. We felt so lucky to have been able spend that time with our friends aboard our boat in the Bahamas. It is not easy to fly to Georgetown- especially with a wind generator and we have friends willing to do both. It’s also not always easy to live on a boat with just one other person. All humans need social contacts and Chad and I are both pretty outgoing by nature so we may need them more than some other sailors we meet. We may miss refrigeration, ac, and hot water but I think we both miss our relationships back home most. Having friends around definitely reminded us of all the great people we have back at home when we return to the states. In the meanwhile, we are hopeful that more friends will take the opportunity to sail with us in the Caribbean this year!