Captain Bill and I, Let's Dance, the Love Me Tender, and even our sometimes recalcitrant generator, have settled into a rather monotonous daily routine as we proceed down our southerly path. Daily, we rise, check in with Morning Joe and Imus, sip black coffee, check the weather and the local "Cruiser's Net" chat, rev up the hearty 175 hp Lugger engine, raise the anchor and, charted route activated, set off to another beachy destination.
Afternoons, we anchor, record the day's stats for posterity, launch the tender, read or watch a little TV, and settle in to admire the 360 degree water views. Later, the generator gets exercised for a few hours, producing enough power to see us through another night. We catch the evening news, maybe a Jeopardy episode to keep our brains from complete atrophy. Very peaceful and hypnotic, these little daily rituals.
But then, we begin to experience a gradual erosion of the structure we've created. First, the satellite TV signal weakens and the lower numbered channels disappear. Somehow, all that we can access is the Golf Channel. Hmmmm. Only golf? Bill is thrilled to have this continued diversion, but soon our decreasing latitude makes even this powerful channel fade to nothing. We are without media! No national news, no national weather, no Jeopardy!
For entertainment, we shall have to look to ourselves! Can we do it? Yes, we are up to the task! I find a single deck of cards, slightly sticky from the salt air, and we consider our options. We decide on a Bahamian-style Gin Tournament -- thusly named because neither of us remembers the actual rules, so there will be regional interpretations.
Let the games begin! I am the first victor, although my gloating is short lived as the Captain quickly catches the fever and trounces me repeatedly. Sigh. We have created a monster and its name is "Gin". Luckily for us, friends Denise and Bernie soon arrive in George Town to divert us from our 52 card mania.
George Town, Great Exuma Island, is THE boater's mecca in the Bahamas. There are conservatively 250 boats anchored here in a huge, quiet bay. George Town proper sits on the western side of the bay and, to the east lie Monument Bay, Volleyball Beach and Sand Dollar Beach. A local "Cruiser's Net" is broadcast daily over the VHF radio system, alerting all to the scope of available activities. You just would not believe it! Volleyball Beach is home to (in no particular order) yoga classes, Bible study, bocce, garden club, beach golf, dominos, regatta committee meetings, horseshoes and of course, volleyball. These boaters are serious about their fun. Rockin' Ronnie and Cool Karen provide music for the weekly dances and the Kalik consumption is world class.
Announcements from cruisers are encouraged on the daily "net", and we have been offered online a bubbly, active sourdough starter, shared taxi rides to the airport, information on cruising to Cuba, a found single sandal, a spare hand held radio and "drive-by carry out." What is that? There is also the need for someone to repair a rip in a dodger, the loan of a circular saw and algae-free jerry cans for water. The list goes on and on. New arrivals are encouraged to announce themselves and departing vessels are bid adieu. George Town is small town America, alive and well, afloat in the Bahamas.
Our first full day with Denise and Bernie was spent at anchor a few miles south of Volleyball Beach. The winds were fierce, so we decided to rough it by spending an entire day reading, eating and, guess what? Playing cards! With four aboard, the game changed from Bahamian-style Gin to Exuma Hearts. None of us could recall the rules to this game either, so we improvised. Apparently my improvisational skills are not as highly developed as the others' because I am soon way ahead, or behind, depending on how you score. We had fun, though, and it was a relaxing way to drift through an afternoon.
The next morning, with Bernie at my usual post and wearing my crew com headset, we prepare to raise the anchor. The links of the rode are not responding well to being drawn in and they choose to twist and turn instead of meekly going back through the stripper arm and into the anchor locker. Something is amiss here. The screeching noise is but one clue. So, we do what we always do. We stop, ponder the situation, choose a course of action and solve the problem. In this case, the solution involves a vise, assorted wrenches, channel pliers and creativity. Once the errant arm is removed from the windlass, Bill and Bernie take turns beating it with a hammer until it regains its former, straight metal shape. A scant two hours later and we're back in business!
The winds are much calmer today, so Captain Bill, with Bernie as crew, and the newly straightened stripper arm, bring us back to the heart of George Town. We climbed aboard the Love Me Tender and motored in to explore Monument Bay. The monument in question was erected to celebrate the landing of Christopher Columbus (this guy, like George Washington, was everywhere!) and the short walk up the scrubby hill provided a 360 degree view of the Atlantic, Stocking Island, the bay chock full of sailboats, and Great Exuma Island. Wow! We scooted down the sandy path on the other side of the hill to the ocean and had a wonderful walk on the deserted, oceanside beach. This perfect day ended with another round of Exuma Hearts, some great music and, yes, even a little dancing!
But the piece de resistance of this tiny island community is undoubtedly the "Chat and Chill". This cottage on stilts is decorated with used, autographed T'shirts from all over the world, business cards stapled to the walls, graffiti on every flat surface and a very accommodating bar tender named Kendall. We tried our hands at dominoes, but again, rules eluded us so we ended up building tiny castles of tiles as high as possible until they tumbled down onto the scarred table top.
Our wonderful visit with the Mansheims came to an end and the 'last chance' scores in Exuma Hearts were 56, 105, 98 and 87. I'm not going to tell who was the victor at sea! What happens on Let's Dance, etc., etc. We are all winners aboard this fine ship.......
Let's Dance.....Carol and Bill
