New Year 2014

We left Big Majors on boxing day for Blackpoint which is a very short jump but has the advantage of much needed laundry. We were very pleased with the Blackpoint last year and really wanted to see it again. We had heard s/v Folly on the Magellan radio net and decided to go over and introduce ourselves after we got anchored securely. They are an English Couple John and Kerry who have circumnavigated and are still out visiting their favorite places again. We really hit it off with them and enjoyed walking the island and having afternoon tea together. Then we recognized s/v EOS IP485 come into the anchorage the later in the day and we dinghied over for a quick hello. We have not seen Ronnie & Monica since St Petersburg 2012 when they arrived near our dock on there way to the Caribbean. It was great to hear their tails of the trip and places we are about to visit. We had EOS & Folly for sundowners on Moosetracks and had a great evening catching up.

A rare rainbow caught on film

Well we decided the window was good to move from Blackpoint to Georgetown on News years eve and although it was OK we did have to motor sail as it was more on the nose than we would have liked. So we arrived a little later than expected but found lots of space at Monument beach. We saw Steve on s/v Slow Flight and said a quick hello after getting settled. On new years day we took a ride with Steve to watch the Class C sloops race in Georgetown harbor and were entertained immensely when one boat capsized on the first leg.

They are off - C class racing

The races

The view from the Monument

The Atlantic side of Monument

Well Georgetown can kind of suck you in as we see so many friends and generally have a lot of things going on. We caught up with Carina, Prior Ties, Dream Weaver, Slow Flight, Laura D, Folly, and Friheten. We also met a few new friends and particularly Bill on s/v Against the Wind who picked Liz up each morning to go to Yoga on volley ball beach. So we spent the week socializing a lot and taking trips to town for tubs of ice cream at the supermarket as Bikini’s was again out of stock!

Bill, Liz & Steve on Moosetracks

A great evening at the BBQ

Geir, Lillian & Devin on Friheten

Steve, Liz, Lowry, Pam & Bill on Against the Wind

We enjoyed walking the trails on Monument and Sand Dollar with John and Kerry and time just flew past. We managed to get refueled at Exuma Yacht Club which has pumps at their dock so we didn’t have to lug 70 gallons in jugs and it was a great price too at $5.25/gal. We managed to get a good internet connection on Sunday at Eddies Edgewater when the town was completely shut while everyone attends church, a nice change to see this as a priority over commercial interests. We managed to catch Liz’s Mum at Fiona’s and enjoyed a Face time session with them all.

A great beach north of Monument Anchorage

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Flip Flop Shop - a cruisers built hangout

A nice place to relax

The lovely trail decoration

Liz & Kerry on our Sand Dollar walk

Well as always we found an excellent weather window of 5-6 days and being eager to get to Long Island we left on the first day to sail on North winds down to another favorite place. We found very few boats here with us it was only 6 and 3 of these left the next day! We walked the beaches on the Atlantic side as they are only a short distance as the island is so narrow here and enjoyed a few cold beers afterwards in the Long island Breeze resort which is always so welcoming. We even managed to find Matouks Calypso hot sauce at Harding's grocery which had eluded us so far this year in other stores. Liz had a wonderful opportunity to practice her Spanish with a local girl working at Long Island Breeze who was from Cuba. Which was very opportune Liz has stepped up her Spanish audio lessons in preparation for our up coming Spanish speaking Islands like the Dominican Republic. We like the stores and restaurants here as well as good internet so we made a point of stopping before we head back across to the Jumento’s on the Northeast wind before it dies out.

A lovely house sign

and another..

The Atlantic beach.. great memories

The Jumento’s are very sparse so we will be back to snorkeling and looking for things to catch rather than buy.

We hope you New Year is off to a great start too!