Exumas Round 1
Like the inevitable end of a perfect summer, and the dream you never want to wake up from, our time in George Town was coming to a close. Regatta was over, the awards were passed out, and the talk of leaving was heard all over the beach. Crazy cold fronts from the north diminished with the coming of spring, and the favorable east trade winds started settling into the perfect cruising pattern. Every day, the departures section of the cruisers net was filled with friends saying their farewells and see you laters. As much as we wanted to live in paradise forever, Emily and I knew it was time to start moving.
We gathered on Samadhi with Mike, now our traveling companion of three months, and made a plan (as we now know, generally just a terrible idea). His kids Fisher and Isabelle were visiting and had 10 days to make it to an airport, and we laid out a nice cruise of the best of the Exumas. As much as I didn’t want to rush, we weren’t ready to split off onto our own yet and opted to continue traveling with Mike.
Provisions gathered, good byes said, the morning of departure arrived. The harbor was dead calm, both creating a mirror of the sky and a window to the bottom where star fish and sea slugs made flash appearances. To say it was an emotional departure is an understatement. My mind was flooded with memories of everything we were leaving behind. The “kids table” parties on Migration. Learning to whip lines with Don and Mary of Lady M. Playing poker with the regular crowd. Splicing lessons followed by mornings of blueberry coffee with Steve and Lori of Cactus. Chilling with the cruising family at Chat and Chill. Emily and I could probably write a novel about how much we love George Town, and though it broke our hearts to leave, we couldn’t be happier we had found this magical place.
The burgee that now hangs in the bar at Chat n' Chill, representing all the "kids" in George Town this winter
Some St. Patrick's day provisioning- it was a slow ride across the harbor
Our first stop north was Leaf Cay, home of pink iguanas and where I speared my first fish! I finally hit a lion fish, and though not the most impressive catch, I was super proud. Woo!
They're coming!!
Looking for food
Kinda freaky, I got licked by one
Our next stop was Black Point and then up to Staniel Cay. Along the way, we had the most exciting fish event yet! I saw splashing up ahead and decided to aim right at the spot, in hopes of some fish activity. As we drew close, I looked down and 20 feet below I could see the sinuous shape of a huge shark. Immediately I started panicking, questioning the wisdom of chasing fish and wondering what the protocol is for catching a shark. Three seconds later, both of our rods bent and the reels whizzed crazily. Totally freaked out, I started hollering “fish!” and Emily (woken up from a nap) and I managed to bring in both yellowfin tuna. Luckily neither was bitten off, and we had a great lunch and dinner and another dinner of fresh tuna.
Thank you fish
Trying to learn more about a proper filet
Staniel Cay is home of the famous swimming pigs- pigs swim up to the dinghy expecting food, and live on the beach the rest of the time. Apparently a must-see attraction of the Exumas, it’s actually pretty gross and not all that exciting. You’ve been warned.
No one got bit, but we watched angry pigs chase each other around
It was at Staniel Cay that a new plan was created, and we had to say good bye to Mike. He ran out of time and was headed straight to Nassau and then the states, and this time we weren’t going with him. It was also decided that Emily needed to get home to take care of grad school preparations, so through a miracle of logistics we figured she would fly from George Town to Samadhi to help deliver the boat to Florida, then hitch a ride with a friend back to Michigan. Basically, planning is hard and we definitely lost sleep trying to figure this all out, but it worked. It didn’t help that we were miserable from a second heartbreaking good bye in a week, and that the cruising-perfect winds had done a 180. The wind was now from the west, and we were nowhere near an anchorage with any kind of protection. Chop built up over hundreds of miles of unbroken water almost drove us to insanity. The only thing that saved us from ceaseless bouncing and rolling and swaying was heading back to Black Point for the most incredible laundry experience of our lives. There is a laundromat perched on the shore of the anchorage, with wifi, a shaded porch, fresh carrot cake, and—wait for it—SHOWERS. Real showers. With real running water. Our first real showers in 5 weeks. Miracles do happen.
Trying to recover from getting seasick at anchor
Laundry views, featuring a very bouncy anchorage
Girls night out with our friend Sophie (notice how clean we are!) (AND how stable solid ground is!)
Exploring the beach around the corner
A disturbing amount of plastic covered every ocean-side beach
In the end, we sailed back to George Town so Emily could fly out. It was very strange to return to a place we had tried to say good bye to, and our remaining friends were both surprised and excited. We also got to anchor under sail, as our engine’s cooling system decided not to work. Apparently a thermostat is a thing, and good thing Rich Marsh sent us with a spare.
Our brief return to George Town also drove home how much people matter instead of the place. With Mike gone, Emily and I had felt lost and confused. We could travel on our own just fine, but what was the point? Without someone to share our experiences with, the places didn’t really matter. We understand this now, and we’ve learned to focus our energy on connecting with people and building relationships. Lessons learned, and we are so thankful for the cruising community for being our ocean family!
Quote of the day- "There are no strangers here; only friends you haven't yet met" -William Butler Yeats
Fair winds and following seas to Samadhi!
