George Town to Turks and Caicos

It was a windy five days in George Town.  How windy was it?  So windy we didn’t leave the boat for three of the days and wished we hadn’t one day.  There were 332 other boats in Elizabeth Harbor poised to participate in the Cruisers Regatta which began the day after we left.  Darn!  We loved finding fellow Krogens Arion, Lemonade, and Red Tail and enjoyed a luncheon get together.  A big thank you to Lemonade for giving us their Turks and Caicos flag which we forgot to bring.

We were excited about bringing much needed goods to the Exuma Humane Society as we did last year.   It is a wonderful organization that aides the potcakes and pot-cats of the Exumas.  A library is being set up in the nearby small town of Rolleville and we were thrilled to contribute boxes of books.  We hope to support these two fine organizations in a bigger way next year.  If any of you boaters are heading that way let me know and I will put you in contact with the right folks.

The picture doesn’t capture the full rainbow that appeared during the storm in George Town.

I guess the pot of gold is in that sailboat.

Due to the high winds we weren’t able to do the fun things that we had planned and spent most of our time studying weather forecasts and routes and more weather forecasts.  We were a bit tense as we were heading into new territory, as least new to us.  Weather guru, Chris Parker, warned that if we didn’t take advantage of that particular weather window we might have to wait for another 10 days or more.  Although our reservation didn’t begin until March 11 we felt we couldn’t risk postponing and then possibly deal with a less desirable weather situation.  As it was, we had to leave at 5 p.m. to go south before a storm then go super slow for 2 nights to arrive early the second morning at slack tide.  Our top full-out speed is already slow, so traveling 5 knots at times was excruciating.  I had prepared by pre-cooking oatmeal, pre-cut fruit, pre-made sandwiches, and had plenty of leftovers to microwave so very little time would have to be spent in the galley.  All in all, it was a smooth ride except when we rounded the top of Long Island.  This rough ride occurred for a few hours during the night while we were taking turns sleeping and were getting bounced up out of the bed.  It is also very loud with the sounds of the waves banging the hull and things inside the boat slamming down as the waves were on the bow.  Needless to say, neither of us slept well or very long.

Just after sunrise the final morning we were joined by 6 Spotted Dolphins for about an hour.  What a delightful surprise that put smiles on our weary faces.  They darted back and forth from side to side of the bow, sometimes darting ahead of us and sometimes hanging out right beside where I stood.  I was happily entertained and hated to leave them long enough to get my camera.  Spotted dolphins are only about 6-7′, have longer beaks than bottlenose dolphins, and are known for bow-riding.  This was the third kind of dolphins we have seen in our oceanic travels.

Since we arrived almost 2 weeks before our reservation we had to dock on “B” dock which is not attached to land.  The good news:  it’s a great way to save money as it is half the price of “C” dock.  The bad news:  we have to get the dinghy down every time we want to go to shore.   Since Hurricane Irma the marina has not been repaired and entire sections of dock are missing, boards on the sides of docks are sticking out, missing cleats, broken pump out, etc.  More good news:  the marina is part of a resort which has 3 sister resorts of which we have full use.

The top of the cactus is thought to resemble the Turkish fez hat.

Turks Island is named after the the Turks head cactus which appears on both the flag and the coat of arms.

This one is a mere $168,000 per week to charter!

Lulu is larger than she appears and her windows are beauties.

Again, it’s been quite windy here.  The 35 kn gusts brought the super megayachts to the docks so we are surrounded by 3 big beauties making us feel rather petite!

The only bargain in the bounteous grocery stores: 10 oz. spinach for only $3.80!

Too bad I didn’t measure the exact size of these small, yet pricey, watermelons.

The two grocery stores here are fabulous!  I have only been in the produce sections but the selection is quite nice, prices are not so nice; with one exception, the price of spinach is less than in the US.  We will be chowing down on spinach and passing on the small watermelons.

In the two weeks that we’ve been here it has been calm for about 1/2 day and not too bad for 3 days.  We made the most of the 1/2 day and took the dink to the reef for Scott to snorkel.  As we were loading the dinghy I dropped part of my full-face mask in the water and the current was so fast we couldn’t catch it.  Scott tried diving for it but it was long gone.

We have 3 sets of guests scheduled to visit us here in T & C.  Our first set arrive tomorrow despite the coronovirus.  Hopefully the others will also be able to travel.  It will be interesting to see how the pandemic plays out.  We feel lucky to have the ability to be self-sufficient for sometime.  This would allow us to avoid contact if necessary.

Stay tuned as we explore Providenciales, North and South Caicos, pools, beaches and beach bars!