Packing up to Leave

This is our last week in the Bahamas before we head back to Toronto on Saturday. We are currently very busy cleaning and closing up the boat, and finishing up final repairs, before we take her to the hurricane hole for the season.

The last week has been a bit trying, as the wind has been blowing around 30 knots for most of the week, and we've been hiding out at our beloved Red Shanks. It's so windy, we haven't even been able to get off the boat to go to a beach or a restaurant. So we're both feeling a bit of cabin fever. However, it has allowed us to get the work done that we needed to do, so that's an upside! Tomorrow, we'll leave early to head to Georgetown for our final water and fuel fill up, laundry and a bit of food provisioning, in the middle of the in-harbour Regatta race.

We've had to miss a couple of the Regatta events that I was hoping to participate in, because we couldn't get there in this wind, but tomorrow we'll both go to the closing ceremonies before we take the boat into the hurricane hole. The pics below are from the round-the-island race that was happening as we headed for Red Shanks last week.

So that's it for now - this will be my last post for the season. Thanks for following, and hope you enjoyed reading them. We're getting ready to say "goodbye" to this place once again. Even though it's been somewhat of a challenging Winter, we both still love being here, and are looking forward to coming back next year. Meanwhile, we're really happy to be seeing many of you very soon,  and spending time with our family at our annual ski trip in the Laurentians.

Hope you're all healthy and looking forward to the arrival of Spring!

And the Fun Continues ...

Our softball team won – 7-4!! This, despite the fact that the local team are much better players. It must have been the cheering crowd, of which I was a noisy part (cowbell and all)😊.

Since then, Jeff and I hiked to our favourite beach on the Atlantic side, spent a day doing errands in Georgetown, and last night attended the 40^th anniversary gala of the Regatta on the beach – in gala costume, of course (pics below). The free rum punch flowed, and prizes were awarded for the best costumes.

Today, I had a private ukulele lesson, and then Jeff and I spent the afternoon on another gorgeous ocean-side beach, with a picnic lunch. We got there following a path called “the art walk” to which boaters have added pieces of hand-made artwork – really neat!

One more night on Stocking Island, and then we’re hunkering down in Red Shanks for the big blow expected this weekend (up to 30 knots of wind!). We’re now starting to clean and close up the boat for our departure in a little over a week – lots to do. But meanwhile we continue to enjoy Regatta activities with a bocce ball tournament on Monday, and then the closing ceremonies on Tuesday. All in all, a great way to end our Winter in the Bahamas!

Never Say "Never"

Well – that was a rude awakening! At 7:00 am today we were woken up by a loud pounding on the hull of our boat – we were dragging our anchor and were not very far from the boat whose owner woke us up.

We’re anchored now in a very crowded harbour, because of Regatta, but our anchor is a Rocna – the best on the market. It has never dragged before, and we were confident it never would. Right. But in today’s howling wind, drag we did, and floated quite a long way, like a ball in a bowling alley. It was only with sheer good luck that we managed not to hit another boat – close call. Now we’ve re-anchored, with a lot more chain out – hopefully that will do the trick.

Other than that incident, it’s been fun and games so far. Two days ago was the opening variety show – so much talent among the boaters! Yesterday, I participated in the Coconut Challenge – where dinghies filled with teams of four, wearing life jackets on various body parts (mine like a diaper, so as not to restrict upper body movement), compete to fill the boat with as many floating coconuts as possible, before they are all picked up. The boat with the most coconuts wins. With 28 coconuts in total we didn’t win, but we also took part in the coconut throw, where we performed more respectably.

In this challenge, one member of the team throws coconuts backwards over their head to two other  team members who are trying to catch them with a garbage bag, while the 4^th member feeds the thrower the coconuts. In this one, we managed to catch all but two in the 30 seconds allotted – not bad! Our team didn’t win any prizes, but we had lots of fun, and Jeff photographed the whole thing – results below.

In the evening we had invited a friend from Mimico, who is here on his own boat, to join us for a birthday dinner for Jeff. I made grilled lobster tails and scallops, yams, asparagus, corn, a salad and chocolate cheesecake for dessert – no mean feat in a tiny kitchen with a two-burner stove! We had a great evening, and Jeff felt very celebrated, I think. Today is a softball game between the boaters and the locals – more fun.

Red Shanks and George Town Cruising Regatta

Sorry about the long silence – it’s been a busy time here in George Town! We just arrived two days ago, after spending three wonderful days resting up in Red Shanks after our long cruise. The pics below are mostly from our time spent there – walking the beach, eating at the Rusty Anchor Restaurant (a twenty-minute dinghy ride from our anchorage), and enjoying the lovely, peaceful harbour with about 25 other boats, all sheltering from the howling wind.

Now we’re anchored off Volleyball Beach with its Chat ‘n Chill beach bar, along with 333 other boats, preparing to participate in all of the regatta activities. Yesterday I signed up for beach golf, a bocce ball tournament, a coconut challenge (more about that in a later post), and tomorrow Jeff and I will attend the opening variety show, where I plan to enter the conch-blowing contest 😊.

I’ve just finished making costumes for both of us for the 40^th anniversary  “formal” gala on the beach – a decorated straw hat for me, and a sparkly bow-tie and top hat for Jeff – should be fun.

So it’s Summer camp for adults time – quite a contrast to the serious cruising we’ve been doing for the last two months. In between activities, we’re working on the boat in preparation for our departure in a little over two weeks. Tomorrow is my Captain’s 73^rd birthday, so we’ll be celebrating that with a lobster-tail dinner aboard Sea Change, with a friend from Toronto who is here on his own boat.

The pics from the Regatta should be fun – more anon.