Staniel Cay to George Town

From Staniel Cay to George Town our goal was to find some greens: spinach, lettuce, arugula, anything to create a salad. Unfortunately, our timing never aligned with the mail boat’s timing. The tiny Pink and Blue stores in Staniel Cay had very little produce but we did find 2 extra large bags of frozen mixed vegetables, you know, the lime bean, corn, green bean, carrot squares kind? Not my favorite but at least they are vegetables. In Black Point we waited for the boat to arrive on Saturday, took the dinghy into town at 2 p.m. to learn that it was late and the stores would close at 6 p.m. The store is closed on Sundays also so anything fresh would not be sold until Monday. We saw it arrive around 9 p.m. on Saturday but chose not to wait around until Monday. Instead, we cruised on toward George Town which has a very nice store with freezers upstairs so produce isles are somewhat replenished throughout the week. We hit the jackpot at the Exuma Market in GT where Scott did the shopping; he’s worried about me getting Covid. He came out with 5 more bags of frozen mixed vegetables! We’re low on frozen fruit so I’m wondering how veggies would go with our oatmeal in the morning!

Due to Covid, there have been far fewer boats overall in the Bahamas, but more mega-yachts, both power and sail. At our anchorage in Staniel Cay, a haven for the mega-yachts because of the airport, we were dwarfed by our neighbors.

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I enjoyed our time in Black Point and was delighted to meet Alanna Lindsay, the principal of Black Point Primary School. She was thrilled with the donations and shared with us the goal of the Bahamian school district of raising the graduation rate from 50% to 85% by 2030 as well as the requirements necessary for graduation. I was impressed to learn that each student is required to perform service hours to graduate. If any boaters are headed to Black Point, basic school supplies, such as notebooks, pencils and pens are difficult for them to obtain and they need colored expo markers, the board cleaning solution, hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies.

Blake Point is home to Lorraine’s mom, the woman that makes the best coconut bread in all the Bahamas. It is melt-in-your-mouth-deliciousness as toast with the twist of cinnamon in the center. Scott is searching for the best of the Bahamian fish sandwiches so he sampled the fare at Emerald Sunset. I am thankful that every place has outdoor seating, in this case on the water, and it has it’s own dinghy dock. Just south of town is one of the prettiest beaches at Little Bay. The white, soft sand at low tide never fails to delight me. Scott struck some yoga poses at low tide in the beautiful, white, soft sand.

Cave Cay cut was our staging anchorage where we lowered the dinghy and tooled around David Copperfield’s lovely island called Musha Cay. We then explored the marina, airfield and private beach at Cave Cay. The following morning we fished on our way to George Town. I should say we put our lines in the water and the fish laughed at us. We didn’t even get one single bite. As we got closer to GT someone on the radio asked if anyone was catching any fish. Several boaters and I responded with a resounding, “NO!” The seas typically are rougher than forecast so I was prepared with my new anti-nausea glasses. I didn’t feel sick but it was more calm than expected.

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We had a very pleasant visit to GT which included lots of fabulous hikes and beach walks. Thanks goes to Margaret on Loca Lola for her fearless leadership through the trails and scenic photo ops. There was a 3 day blow while we were there that was supposed to begin around 2 p.m. on a Friday. We planned a 10:30 a.m. hike with Margaret knowing that we would return to the boats well before 2:00. Wouldn’t you know that it would started at 11:00 when we were down the beach on the opposite side of the island? We should have heeded the warning of the nasty skies. I felt like Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel broadcasting during a hurricane except we lacked proper clothing. Although it wasn’t a huge blow, the highest winds we saw were 39 knots, it might have been the longest blow. We didn’t get off the boat from Friday morning until Tuesday morning.

Stromatolites line the shore on the east side of Stocking Island. The only open marine environment where modern stromatolites are known to prosper is the Exuma Cays. Stromatolites, Greek for “layered rock,” are formed by the microorganism, cyanobacteria. The photosynthetic activity in these macrofossils began generating oxygen over 3 billion years ago.

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Lisa and Greg on Privateer joined us in collecting donations for Black Point Primary School, George Town Primary School, George Town Public Library and Humane Society Exuma Animal Clinic. I thank everyone that donated from the bottom of my heart. Friends, family and fellow boaters were so very generous and all the donations were greatly appreciated. A small act of kindness from those more fortunate goes a long way in helping others. We received great pleasure in delivering the gifts and we want to thank Ellen for her help with transportation and delivery.

On our previous two visits to the area the water was always rough and we were sopping wet upon arrival to shores. After the big blow it was calm which made dinghy trips to town much more pleasant. Scott sampled a few more fish sandwiches. So far, Hammerheads in Great Harbour is in first place. We rented a car and drove the length of the island including a stop at Mom’s Bakery for her chocolate rum cake which gets two ladles of rum sauce . We visited some of the gorgeous beaches and sandbars of Stocking Island, Great and Little Exuma. We also made new friends at the library…volunteers, Rose and Howard, with whom we enjoyed dinner at Choppy’s.

Two more times we were lucky enough to experience green flash sightings. I attempted to take a video and pictures but the green wasn’t visible. Apparently, my Galaxy s10 isn’t really set up for something so far away. That brings us up to seven times seeing this optical phenomenon.

Long Island here we come. We are excited to explore new places. In fact, we get itchy if we stay in one place too long. Someone has a birthday next week…I wonder where we will celebrate!