Bahamas Journey - Update 3/2/24

We really enjoyed spending a week in Colorado and attending the family reunion for the Konieczka family. There were 30+ people at a beautiful house in Winter Park, and all the grand and great-grand kids made it (flying from FL, CA, OK, TX, etc.), so Eddy & JIm were in heaven. 

Even though we had a great time, we were anxious to get back to the boat. We flew back on February 21. We were super grateful for the dock-master at Exuma Yacht Club, Jamaal, who kept an eye on Second Half for us while we were gone. Jen had caught a flu/cold at the reunion, and we ended up staying on the dock a night or two, but once we were feeling better and had fueled up, we moved out on anchor.

We enjoyed getting to spend some time exploring George Town and also got to see some of the Cruiser’s Regatta events. The Cruisers Regatta is an annual event held each winter that I called “a sprit week for old people.” It includes everything from parties/dances to craft time to sailing races to a variety show to events for kids/families. The harbor at George Town is the busiest it is all year, and the boat count of boats in the harbor is often >400 boats

While we were in George Town, we were able to connect with Tom & Jess (our CruisersU friends we traveled with early on). We ended up spending a day exploring the island of Great Exuma with a taxi driver (we drove around the island and spent time on the Tropic of Cancer beach and also at Hoopers Bay beach). 

Tom & Jess were ready to head back north into the Exumas, so we decided to head out for a few days and sailed up to Black Cay with them. It was a gorgeous day of sailing (we hit 9.7 knots and were consistently averaging over 8 knots). We anchored at Black Cay for two nights and explored Coco Plum Beach, where we were able to walk super far on the sandbars in low tide. We also visited the pigs at White Bay Cay and ate lunch at Exuma Point Beach Club.

Tom & Jess continued north, and we headed back to George Town to get ready for our guests, who are scheduled to arrive on Sunday, March 3. When we arrived  back in George Town, we anchored off Stocking Island near the North end across from Da Sand Bar and Starfish Beach. Between boat projects and cleaning, we explored the area, did a nice hike on Stocking Island, and had some great meals.

Today (Saturday, March 2), we finished cleaning the boat, provisioned up with fresh vegetables, and got everything ready for Kami, Tim, Kerry, and Jim, who arrive tomorrow for a week. We’ll spend the first night with everyone here in George Town, and then our plan is to make our way up the Southern Exumas for the next week before our guests fly home from Staniel Cay next Saturday. 

We have been putting pictures of the last few weeks in the Bahamas Week 4 & 5 Google album, and we’ll put photos for the next week in the Bahamas Week 6 - Kami/Tim & Kerry/Jim Google album, so feel free to check those out when you get a chance.