Georgetown - fully staffed
Justus took the early morning shift at the helm and announced our arrival at the Georgetown waypoint a little after sunrise. We circled for a few hours until the sun was higher in the sky, then made our way in through what is known to be a tricky cut and channel.
The Bahamas charts mark areas with “visual piloting required” and the guide books talk about the frequent necessity of “eyeball navigation” in the Bahamas. You have to learn to read the colors of the water and be prepared to take action quickly. We’ve found that the roof of the helm provides a perfect look-out spot, it’s high up enough to serve as our crow’s nest, and you can talk to the person at the helm through the hatch in the roof.
We made it in and docked at the Exuma Yacht Club (don’t be fooled by the haughty name - a very rustic operation). We needed to fill up water since the water maker is acting up. Chris is working on a fix, but to conserve water, none of us had had a shower since we left Nassau; crusty for sure and a fresh water shower felt wonderful.
Justus, Eva and Lucy took the dinghy to the Chat n’ Chill beach (yes, that’s the name) across the bay while Chris and I stayed behind to do some clean-up and prep. They came back with reports of an excellent beach where they had been swimming with sting-rays and also got Lucy to do some real swimming of her own.
Sixten arrived mid-afternoon. While we waited for Axel’s arrival in the early evening, we enjoyed a spectacular moon rise over the bay. A big fat red moon rose among the field of moored boats with anchor lights glowing.
We also saw quite a spectacle in the water under our boat when we were checking out the underwater lights mounted at the bottom of the hulls. A barracuda was hovering in the water under us and then with true lightning speed, too fast to really see, it had transported itself 15 feet away and atomized some poor fish; we could tell by the cloud of blood left in the water. Apparently, barracudas are known to be some of the fastest fish in the ocean and we’ve seen clear evidence of it.
Axel got to the boat in the evening. Very happy to have the full crew assembled. The Heekins are all set to have a fun-filled and very different Christmas holiday onboard Halley.
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