Stay Over Days in George Town

—Blogpost written by Bob

Feb 4 thru Feb 7

This is our second multi-day blogpost from beautiful George Town, Exuma.  Our long term plan (actually just a notion at this point) was to take a slip at the marina at Emerald Bay (about 6 or 7 miles away) for a few days around Valentine's Day and, then, return to Elizabeth Harbor up through Regatta (ending March 11).  Sometime in April we expect to begin our trek homeward.

Tuesday, February 4

Another absolutely beautiful morning greeted us as we awoke!  The nighttime temperature was 70 degrees F with a light breeze (8 knots out of the east southeast)—better than air conditioning!  Wind prediction for the next ten days was between 12 to 18 knots, mostly out of the eastern quadrant. There were no strong fronts in the 10-day forecast!

Two boats left our immediate anchorage area in the morning, heading north out of the harbor. There were more than a dozen new arrivals that reported to the morning Cruiser’s Net.  A couple Canadian boats reported that they were beginning their long trek home.

Yesterday, we planned to move to a different anchorage this morning—but we changed our minds for now. We still had a lot to explore around this anchorage.

We took our dinghy into Monument
Beach at mid-morning for
some beach combing.

A casuarina tree along
Monument Beach.

Two little plants trying to get a foothold in
the limestone rock along the beach.

Maggie shaking the sand off her shoes after
her attempted climb to a monument
atop a 120-foot high hill.

We went out for lunch at St. Francis Resort on Stocking Island.  After lunch we walked to the ocean-side beach--it was simply stunning.  There were only eight other people on the couple mile long beach!

Looking southeast where there was a
crowd of six people.

Looking northwest--two people were
sunbathing below the frame.

Our waitress told us that there were two days in January where the wind was 40+ knots and no one could come to work.  She also told us that it is very hot in the summer, sometimes reaching 103 degrees with high humidity.  Almost all businesses close up during the beginning two months of hurricane season.

----------

I’m falling in love with our “new to us” little (2 HP) Honda outboard dinghy motor—specifically for its simplicity and reliability. So far, it has started every time on the first pull. When you want to go in reverse, the engine can simply be spun around 180 degrees—no shift levers! It’s spare parts kit with basic tools fits inside a sandwich-sized plastic bag. It weighs only 27 pounds and is air-cooled—so no water pump impellers to fail and no salt water corrosion problems to be worried about.  Now, if only Honda could make it produce between 10 and 15 horsepower!

----------

Before we knew it, it was time for Happy Hour!

Wednesday, February 5

Yes, today was another absolutely beautiful day until the heavy cloud cover rolled in--then it was mostly cloudy and we didn't get much solar power after the clouds rolled in.  I had to run the engine for electrical power generation today.

This morning our battery voltage was down to 12.25 volts which is lower than I would like.  I was running the water maker most of the day yesterday and late in the afternoon (when I usually get most of my battery charging done) there were some big clouds that blocked our solar panels.  I planned to avoid making water today and pay more attention to the battery state.

When we arrived in Elizabeth Harbour six days ago, we anchored near Monument Beach because it was convenient.  After being here several days and having a reduced size engine on our dinghy we recognized the desirability of anchoring a little closer to town.  So, this morning after breakfast onboard we re-anchored in the harbor on the east side of the three little Moss Cays.

A chart image of our morning's move
to another anchorage spot.

We went on to George Town just before noon and got some cash from an ATM and had lunch before we did s little provisioning at Exuma Markets.  I picked up 5 gallons of RO water from the Exuma Market dinghy dock since I didn't run the water maker today.  We had a very wet ride back to the boat while bucking 16 knot winds in the dinghy.  (If someone were buying a dinghy specifically for the Exumas, I would recommend a 12-foot or larger RIB with a 15 HP or larger outboard.)

Sorry for no pics today...

Thursday, February 6

The wind calmed down last night—so, we got a good night’s rest. We expected moderately high winds and in this anchorage there is less protection from the expected southeast wind. It’s always nice to get a pleasant surprise.

From this anchorage we can see some of the buildings in town with which we have become familiar over the past week. There are about two dozen boats anchored on this side of the harbor but hundreds on the other side. Sailboats far outnumber power boats here in George Town.

Looking toward George Town from
our Moss Cays anchorage.

I find myself constantly worrying about electrical power and fresh water. The electrical needs of the fridge and the water maker seem too much for our 340-watt solar panel array—or maybe it’s not enough battery capacity. Or, maybe it's just me.

We didn't even get off the boat today because the high wind would have made it difficult to use our dinghy.  However, I did some cooking (hamburger-cabbage soup) and we entertained ourselves onboard mostly by reading.

Our view most of the day.

Boats anchored across the harbor
near Volleyball Beach.

Tomorrow we hope to go to the farmer's market, get some ice cubes and relocate to an anchorage near volleyball beach.

Friday, February 7

Last evening I noticed that our fridge’s compressor was set on the lowest of three settings. I don’t know how long it’s been set there or even if it was normal. In any event, I changed the speed setting to medium—I hope that helps reduce the electrical demand from the fridge. (When we retired for the day our battery voltage was down to 12.28 volts, which was lower than I ever experienced. Consequently, we ran the engine to charge the battery bank.) In the middle of the night I noticed that the box temperature was 46 degrees and the compressor seemed to be running continuously—so, I shut it off, vowing to address the problem in the morning.

After breakfast we removed everything from the forward section of the quarter berth where the refrigeration compressor is located. First, I cleaned the small amount of cat hair and dander that collected on the outside of the evaporator coil—it was not deemed to be a substantial part of the problem. Then we cleaned the fan blades and the internals of the compressor cabinet. After addressing the easy areas, I added a small amount of Freon 134A via a previously opened can of refrigerant. (This is the first time I’ve added refrigerant in five years!)  While we had everything apart I primed the supplemental cooling pump (which had not been working lately)—it started up fine. The refrigerator seemed to be cooling down nicely but that is not the measure of our success. True success will take at least a couple hours of runtime to see if it achieves about 40 degrees F without the compressor running almost continuously. (I restored the compressor speed setting.)

The dinghy dock on Lake Victoria
in back of Exuma Markets.

At 10 AM we drove the dinghy into town to go to the Farmer’s Market and to get ice cubes (a 10-pound bag usually lasts 2 days.)  We went to the farmer's market and bought some cucumbers, green peppers and some home made coconut wheat bread.  We also had a very nice lunch at Peace and Plenty, an old boutique hotel (with only 38 rooms) on the island.  We felt classy for a change.

A slow day at the only gas
station in George Town.

Believe it or not this is waterfront property
but, obviously, is not very highly valued,

When we returned to the boat I added another 2 ounces of Freon 134A to the refrigeration system, allowing the compressor to draw refrigerant from the can.  we give it one full day to measure the impact before making any more additions.

In the early afternoon we moved the boat from the Moss Cays anchorage back to Monument Beach but a slightly different spot than we had previously.

This beach was about 100 yards
from our new anchorage.

It turned out to be quite warm today, near 80 degrees F.  We're hoping for another cool night tonight.  Stay tuned for more of our adventure...


Thanks for following our blog!