The river is wide. I cannot cross over.
Neither have I wings to fly.
Give me a boat that can carry two,
And both shall row, my love and I.

Pete Seeger, 1919-2014, from a concert at the Sanders Theater, Cambridge, MA, 1980.

Reaching the end of the line.

From the Captain

1/28/14 Big Farmer's Cay to Georgetown, Bahamas. 42.8 nm.

The VHF radio is surprisingly quiet. The surrounding seas are noticeably emptier. Luna is alone. The Royal Canadian Navy is a day ahead of us.

And we're fine. The day is sunny and warm. There is a mild southeast breeze. It is right on our nose, as we are heading south and east to Georgetown. But the seas are fairly calm with gentle swells.The color is a deep ultramarine blue. Luna is motoring. And, after a few false starts, the autopilot is working. While we're still within radio range, I call Steve on our hand held VHF. "Look, Ma, no hands!" I tell him. "Have a safe trip," he responds. Electronically, we steer a straight course all the way to Georgetown.

We are the pilgrims, heading east into the rising sun, on our way to Mecca. Which is what Georgetown has been called by the Bahamas cruising community. We want to see what the buzz is about. We want to be able to answer in the affirmative when people hear about our trip and ask, "Did you go to Georgetown?"

Elizabeth Harbor at Georgetown is large and holds many boats. It is bounded on the west side by the town and Great Exuma Island and on the other by Stocking Island. The harbor in between is nearly a mile wide. There is a forest of masts in the harbor. Up to 500 boats may anchor here at any one time. I don't think it is quite so crowded now, but I'm sure there are little coves full of boats we haven't seen at first. We recognize many of the boats from our stops along the way.

We anchor on the east side of the harbor, off Stocking Island. More exactly, we anchor off the Chat and Chill, a beach bar where people gather and play volleyball on the beach. Our anchorage is also called, "Volleyball Beach." Events are organized on this beach. Last night was a chicken barbecue. On Friday, there will be a pig roast. Tonight, there will be a happy hour gathering of our Canadian friends, who are happy to see us. So happy, they delayed their cocktail hour until we were safely anchored and organized. We were touched and happy to see them again, too.

We are on the west side of Stocking Island. On the east side, on Exuma Sound, is a beautiful beach extending several miles. We are looking forward to exploring that. We will also make the long dinghy ride into Georgetown. There is a market there that sells fresh vegetables. After the one-room stores on the small islands, we are looking forward to more variety. There is a propane truck that comes, and we will fill up our propane tank here. I called the hardware store while we were underway, and they have VHF antennas in stock. There are a laundromat and some restaurants. We'll be here for awhile.

At night, there is a galaxy of masthead lights around us. We've reached the southern terminus of our voyage. We sit up for a bit and add up the miles we've travelled to get here: 2,042 nm, or 2,369 statute miles. We've had 65 travel days, for an average distance of 31.2 nautical miles per day of travel.

We relish that accomplishment for a short time. Then, the commander opens our music on the computer and scrolls to Pete Seeger, who we heard died yesterday at 94. We listen to his music and  feel most humble in the face of his long and productive life. He lived in pursuit of his dream that, through his music and through his example, we can all work together to promote harmony, peace, and social justice. The amazing thing is that he never lost the faith that this could actually happen. Indeed, his music demands we sing along with him.

It was after midnight when we finally turned out Luna's cabin lights.

1/29/14  Georgetown, Bahamas

The day in Georgetown starts with the cruisers' net on VHF channel 72. The organizer comes on with the latest weather report. He asks for announcements from local businesses. Peace and Plenty, a restaurant in Georgetown, announces a  cookout.  The moderator asks for announcements from

Yoga in paradise

cruisers. Someone is organizing a gathering for children, another a yoga class on the beach. One of the cruisers anchored at Hamburger Beach is organizing a happy hour. Bring your own drinks and an appetizer to share. A man is offering a seminar on solar chargers and batteries in three days hence. Following these announcements, the moderator asks for general comments from the boaters. He points out it is illegal to buy or sell anything on which the Bahamian duty has not been paid. People call in with needs, or extra things they wish to pass on. Ron, from Mandala, calls with a problem with his refrigeration. He is looking for a part. The net goes on for 20 minutes or so.

The commander and I take the long dinghy ride across the harbor into town. We motor under a small bridge into a lagoon called, with a degree of misplaced grandiosity, Lake Victoria. There is a road circling the lake, and local businesses line the road. I have the propane tank refilled at one spot. We move to the dinghy dock for the Exuma Market. I walk to the hardware store, Top II Bottom for the VHF antenna.

The market is well stocked. The mailboat has just arrived bringing this week's shipment of goods. We buy a head of fresh broccoli. What a treat! We buy a quart of yogurt, a half gallon of milk, some snacks, other fresh vegetables. We buy some home-grown tomatoes from a street vendor. Packing it all back on the dinghy, we make the ride back across the harbor.

Bruce from Amarone II has a friend here. Christina lives on a houseboat in an anchorage behind Volleyball Beach. She invites us to a happy hour party on the beach.

At 4:30, we dinghy over through the anchorage to a small hidden beach and a cruisers' world we hadn't seen yet. Here, in this small hurricane hole, people are living on their boats. Many of the boats never come out of the water. For that matter, some boats don't move at all. Their inhabitants may return to their mainland homes in the U.S. and Canada for a time. The boats are floating beach cottages.

And the occupants form a small community. They have built tables on the beach and a fire pit. We are first to arrive, but in short order, a flotilla of dinghies approaches the beach. A fire appears. Appetizers cover the table. We meet new people, including an American couple who live in Oregon and have a son in Vermont.

Many of the residents in the cove are former sailboaters. The story is a common one. "We had a such and such 40, but we sold it and bought a trawler." If you're not intending to sail and have found your spot to stay put, there is no doubt that a large motor yacht has more space than a sailboat.

Before darkness falls, we're back in the dinghy to get back to Luna while we can still see her. We motor slowly to avoid the splashing waves We will rinse off with fresh water before settling in for the night. We are doing what we can to avoid getting salt water into the cabin. The salt makes everything feel clammy.

1/30/14 Georgetown, Bahamas

Like a winch handle accidentally dropped overboard, the romance of bobbing at anchor falls away quickly after several nights of strong wind and choppy water. Since our arrival at Georgetown, the wind has been from the east southeast in the 15-20 knot range. It blows right up the harbor creating large waves. Under such conditions, dinghy travel is a wet affair. We elected not to go to the cookout  and beach party at Peace and Plenty to avoid the wet ride to and from.

Sailing off into the sunset. The romantic notion of this has not matched the reality of the trip. This is educational in itself. We left with the notion of warm, sunny days, gentle winds blowing us on our course, lovely days spent sailing from one destination to the next. Palm trees, beaches, snorkeling, rum drinks with umbrellas. This has not been what it's like, at least not completely. Compared with life at home on the mainland, it is as has been written: "The work and the struggles aren't lighter. They're just of a different kind."  But it's an adventure, which is what we signed on for.

This is not said to complain. I only point this out as a point of information to others who may be contemplating a winter cruise down here. Everyone, it seems, has been challenged by the intense weather in the U.S. this winter, and this has been unusual in the Bahamas as well.


On the other hand, you just have to look at the shades of blue in the clear water to remind yourself what a wonder we inhabit.Today was warm and sunny despite the wind. We donned bathing suits for the rough dinghy ride and met our friends at the access to the Atlantic beach on the east side of the island. We walked along the sand, soft and nearly fine as baby powder, from one end of the beach to the next. There are well maintained paths that connect to the other anchorages: Hamburger Beach to the northwest of us and Sand Dollar Beach to the southeast. We left those for another day. We cooled off in the ocean.

Lunch at the St. Francis Resort

Afterward we took the dinghies around the corner to the St. Francis Resort and had lunch in the restaurant there overlooking the harbor. Unlike the places in the more primitive cays we've visited, service was prompt here and ambience attractive. We met Steve and Bonnie and their dog, Tabasco, from the beach party the night before. I said I was wondering how they spend their days. They look at me as if I were crazy. "Like this," they said. They are on a friendly first name basis with the waitress.


On the way back. we passed friends we met in Bimini: Ron and Nancy from Mandala and Frank and Mary-Marie from Eleanor Q are anchored at Sand Dollar. We stopped the dinghies and chatted for a while.

We've been gone for four-and-a-half months, and I can't recall the last time I heard the words, "Afghanistan," "terrorist," or "Tea Party."  The Bahamians just voted in a value added tax, but without all the tax whining we hear back home. The Bahamians need the tax. Schools, government buildings, and other infrastructure, once built, seem little maintained.

On the other hand, people are talking about the Superbowl, which is this weekend. On the morning net, several establishments called in to announce Super Bowl parties. At least two places will have projection TV's set up.  Even back at Black Point, Scorpio's was making plans for their Super Bowl party.

1/31/14
The morning cruisers' net weather report calls for persistence of the  strong wind for the next several days. The good news, according to weather guru, Chris Parker, is there is no rain in sight for the foreseeable future. Weather forecasts down here are different. The main topic of interest is the wind speed and direction. Sunshine and temperatures are a given. Rain showers are intermittent and brief. Everyone wants to know about the wind and waves.

We dinghy over to the beach for the seminar on solar panels, batteries, and chargers. We walk past the group doing yoga in the sand, stretching their hamstrings with straps around an extended foot. A young woman leads the group, offering direction and encouragement to the stretching shapes lying supine in the sand.

At the seminar on battery charging

There are about 50 people gathered beneath the casuarina trees at the picnic tables outside the Chat and Chill to hear the speaker. He is a fellow yachtsman who was a boat dealer and has been working with solar systems for over 20 years and is volunteering to educate the rest of us. He asks for  questions which he hopes to cover during his talk. I am still concerned that when we wake up in the morning, Luna's battery voltage reads 12.0 or 12.1. A fully charged battery will read 12.7 volts. Even though our electricity usage is minimal--a few LED lights, the refrigerator (the main user of power), and chargers for the phones and iPad, I have the feeling we are not replacing the amps we are draining off.


I was able to ask that question. Others had the same question. His advice is to put the bulk of the charge in during the morning hours--run the engine or the generator. Then use the solar panels to condition the batteries by charging at a higher voltage, but lower current. He also noted that, after all, it is February, and the sun is not in optimal position for solar charging, even down here at the Tropic of Cancer.

I take his advice. We have borrowed the portable generator from Mar-a-Lago, and I run that in the morning. We aim the solar panel through the afternoon. The battery reads 12.7 volts at dinner. It reads 12.0 volts the next morning. Looking back in the log book, this has been the pattern from the beginning, so I suppose it will remain so. Most cruising sailboats carry way more battery capacity than does Luna.

Standing at the center of the world

Meanwhile, Chris Parker notwithstanding, as the seminar is finishing, a dark cloud appears in the northwest. The wind comes up. It starts to rain a little at first, then by the bucketful. Luna's forward hatch, the one over our bed, is open, of course. We weigh the time it will take to dinghy back to the boat, getting soaked by the rain and spray, with the time it will take the squall to blow over. We elect to stay ashore. The rain ends shortly.

Amazingly, when we got back to Luna, the bed was mostly dry. The wind was so strong, it blew what rain entered the hatch back into the cabin, missing the bed.

We met Brian and Jane for happy hour on Amarone II. Bruce and Claude were in town and came across a man on the dock selling fresh fish. They bought a bag of little red snappers and split them up among us. We discussed plans for the near future. We will remain together and head back through the Exumas, perhaps catching the 5F festival in Farmer's Cay. We can visit some of the interesting places we missed on the way down.

We will head out into the Exuma Sound at Highbourne Cay and over to Eleuthera, cruise northward along that island, then jump over to the Abacos on the way back north and west. Amarone II and Mar-a-Lago will stay in the Bahamas until late in March, so we will leave them somewhere in the Abacos.

2/1/14, 2/2/14  Georgetown

The anchorage remains very choppy, and it's a good time to stay on the boat, do some maintenance, and read. Having run the engine for two hours in the morning, I can change the oil and filter while the oil is warm. It's been a little more than a hundred (engine) hours since I did this. That was in Ft. Lauderdale. This is the fourth time on this trip. I'm getting better at it. I remember to move the rug this time, before the oil drips.

We brave the chop to walk on the beach again, exploring the trails to the south west. One branch leads down to Sand Dollar Beach, where boats are anchored. The other branch climbs a hill to a spectacular overlook of the rocks and sand of ocean side beach, as well as the water. There is every shade of blue you could name.

It's Groundhog Day. The morning cruisers' net reminds us there will be six more weeks of winter. Thinking of leaving Georgetown soon, I set out across the harbor to Georgetown to fill the fuel and water jugs. There are two 5-gallon  jugs for diesel fuel, three 7-gallon jugs for water, and a two-gallon gas can for the outboard. It is Sunday, and most of the stores in Georgetown are closed. Bahamians are fairly religious people. The Shell station is open, and there is water available from a hose on the dinghy dock at the Exuma Market. I can also take trash bags over to the Georgetown Yacht Club and put them in the dumpster for $2.00 apiece.

Lighter by two trash bags, but heavier by 33 gallons of fuel and water, I headed back into the wind and the waves. This time, the heavier bows splashed down into each approaching wave, as the small outboard gamely powered the dinghy across the chop. The oncoming wind sent spray all over me and into the dinghy.

We had shipped a fair amount of water by the time we reached Luna. Then, I had a hard time climbing over the jerry cans and onto her. I neglected to fasten the painter securely. The dinghy broke loose and started downwind. As I reached for the radio to call our neighbor, Bruce called to say he saw the dinghy getting away, and Claude is on his way. Nice to have friends looking out for us. Claude returned shortly with the dinghy.

Later, the wind had calmed somewhat, and we motored over to the Chat and Chill beach for happy hour. Pulling the dinghy up onto the beach, I removed the plug from the transom and drained a fountain of water from the afternoon's ride.


2/2/13 Georgetown

The weather forecast describes moderating winds, and it looks like we may depart Georgetown tomorrow. The morning net announces an increasing number of activities. The cruisers' regatta will start in late February. They are selling T shirts as a fund raiser. The regatta funds the volleyball equipment, a sound system, and other amenities. The softball team is looking for players. They will play a Bahamian team during race week. There is a rock and roll dance on Volleyball Beach in 2 days. Cruisers have organized a bake sale to raise money for a new stove for the high school. Someone calls in looking for partner boats for a week or two cruise down to the Jumentos and back.

Looks like we'll miss most of that. I'd like to see how Luna does in the sailboat races during the regatta, but we don't want to spend the whole month here. As it is, we'll take the water taxi into town today. It's Jane's birthday, and we're having lunch at Peace and Plenty. We'll do some shopping, dump our used motor oil at the government dock, and meet for happy hour at Eddie's in town. There's some Bahamian music there.

Beach on the Exuma Sound side of Stocking Island