In the Bahamas

We are in the Bahamas and enjoying being back.

We left Fort Pierce at first light and motored south against mild headwinds working our way down to West Palm Beach.  The winds had started to build so we made the left turn to cross the gulf stream overnight under sail.  Once across we again turned south and motor/sailed to the Great Bahamas Bank.  We were again able to sail as we crossed the Bank.  During night #2 we moved into The Tongue of the Ocean, a deep area between the different island groups.  We continued on until we reached a channel that is shown on our charts and crossed the banks to Big Majors Spot and anchored just after sunset.  Big Majors Spot is famous for the pigs that will swim out to your dinghy as you attempt to come ashore to feed them.  Any Google search will bring up many photos and videos.  We anchored for the night and in the morning we moved to the fuel dock at Staniel Cay to top off the fuel tank.  Leaving the fuel dock we worked our way around Harvey's Cay sailed down to Little Farmers Cay to stage for the trip through the cut between islands the next morning.  In the morning we caught an outgoing current going out the cut into Exuma Sound.  Turning south we then sailed down to Great Exuma Island and motored into Elizabeth Harbor and set anchor near several of our cruising friends.  We had arrived at Georgetown.  397 nautical miles, or 456 land miles in five days.   The harbor is large and last time when we were here there were over three hundred boats. It's still early in the season and there are only thirty boats with more arriving every day.  We dinghied into town the next morning to check in with Customs and Immigration.  Once cleared in we visited the phone company store to get a sim card for our Bahamian hotspot.  We suspend our US phone service and rely on the hotspot for data and phone service while we are in the islands.  The next stop was at a restaurant to celebrate arrival with a Kalik, a local Bahamian beer.

The winds are blowing in the 15-20 knot range so we will stay here for a few days.  We have checked out several of the hiking trails, relaxed on the beach, collected shells on the ocean side and visited with friends.  When the winds let up we will continue on.

Our Spot position locator has died and I am experimenting with other means to show our travels.