Blue Pearl Sailing

We’ve been in Georgetown for 9 nights. Life is different here compared to where we’ve been up to now. We’ve treated ourselves to multiple meals ashore. All very tasty! Provisioning here feels luxurious. You can get most things (for example, I snagged fresh cilantro, chives & jalapeños all for a specific recipe).

The night sky in the harbor is lit up with anchor lights as far as the eyes can see. Cruisers tend to gather here for many reasons. A good stop over in either direction from the outer islands. Provisioning, fuel & propane refills. Some people sail here and stay the whole season, and then there’s those who came here years ago and never left!

There’s no marina fuel dock here. You dinghy to a dock off the fuel station in town and walk up with jerry cans. It’s the same station for vehicles, very different from how we usually fill up! We’ve used very little diesel so far. Maybe half of our 44 gallon tank? We’ve been lucky to sail pretty much everywhere. We do go through a good bit of gas between dinghy trips & running the water maker. Trash disposal is also nice & easy. You drop it in the back of this truck and put a few bucks in the front window!

After a few nights in front of Chat n Chill, we moved the boat and dropped anchor over at Hoopers Bay. We were back to that solitary anchoring we love so much! We shared the bay with one catamaran. It was a wonderful day of doing things aboard. I baked cookies. Rocky did a couple small boat projects. That night we quickly realized why no other boats were with us. It’s wide open to the Exuma Sound so you get a constant swell rolling in. All night long the boat rocked side to side. We’re used to a good bit of movement/noise & pretty adjusted to sleeping through it, but the swell roll is not a pleasant night! After very little sleep we picked up anchor and moved again. This time in front of Monument Beach. And right near our s/v Full Circle crew who had just arrived!

The hike up to the monument is a short but good one. Nice views of the anchorages in Elizabeth Harbor as well as the hurricane holes where boats tuck in.

Looking out into the harbor you’ll also see a dry area on land where cruisers write their boat name out with rocks. We decided to partake in the tradition (though after another hike back up realized our placement was poor and you can barely make it out!). Here’s a close-up photo for you.

We had one incredibly calm day that makes joy rides in the dinghy even more joyful. We took advantage by going across the harbor for dinner. The food at Shirley’s was delicious! Then we hopped around the bars in the fish fry and after one too many rum & cokes headed back across to Blue Pearl.

We still go swimming everyday, but we’re definitely missing all the underwater exploration. Once s/v Full Circle came to down we teamed up and took a 3 nautical mile dinghy ride south toward the Moriah Harbour Cay National Park and found two large reefs. The area is protected so there’s no chance of bringing home dinner, but it was beautiful to snorkel! Probably the healthiest reef systems we’ve seen since our arrival.

The family arrives today so we’ll spend the next week at a wonderful house on the beach, taking trips out to check on the boat. Thankfully the cruiser community is a close-knit one, so we have some boat neighbors helping keep an eye on our girl as well!

-LS