Exuma Yacht Club, George Town, Great Exuma Island, Bahamas
Latitude:23.50372 Longitude:-75.76709
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Bahamas Day 504 (BD504 – Friday, May 24, 2013) – We said goodbye to Jimmy and Tillie on the radio as we left Safe Harbour Marina around 8:30 a.m. then went out through Cave Cay Cut going through waves about of 6 feet in height. Once we were out of the cut, the waves settled down as we headed southeast. We ran into a rain shower when we were just west of Farmers Hill Settlement on Great Exuma around 11:30 a.m. It stopped raining just before we pulled into the Exuma Yacht Club in George Town about 1:00 p.m. We travelled 39.4 nautical miles today. It rained again mid-afternoon and then we had a chance to walk across the street to the Exuma Market to buy some groceries. We ended our first day on Great Exuma enjoying the beautiful full moon as viewed from the back of the boat.
BD505 – Saturday, May 25, 2013 –
We received an e-mail from Joy today. She said that they “loved Georgetown and the locals. Be sure to go under the big tree and buy your fresh bread….yummy. Be sure to do lunch or dinner at Peace and Plenty…….the patio is great.” She also reported that, “Steve has improved dramatically over the last day or two! He had an appointment with the surgeon yesterday morning and once the sutures were removed he said it was instant relief. He is able to move much more comfortably now and has been doing little stuff around the boat.”
The first thing on our agenda today was to buy some canned goods. We are fortunate that the grocery store is right across the street from the marina, so we took our two rolling carts over there and filled them up. We will probably do that a couple of more times before we leave here. After we put the groceries away and had a late lunch, we took a walk around Lake Victoria. (You can click on the map to make it larger.)
We stopped at a couple of liquor stores to check prices; the Scotia Bank to make sure our ATM card would work there, and the Top to Bottom Hardware Store that Jimmy recommended and the straw market. Then we went into the Club Peace and Plenty. We were there in mid-afternoon, so did not get to eat a meal, as Joy suggested, but we did sit on the back patio and have two pina coladas in her honor.
There is a plaque at the front entrance that tells some of the history of the place. It says:
“Thought to have once been the location of a small slave market, this site boasts a rich heritage dating back to the American Revolution. In 1783, Lord Denys Rolle set sail for Exuma on board an English trading ship, the Peace and Plenty. Upon arrival, he established a cotton plantation of the same name here on the island. Almost 200 years later, on January 14, 1958, Lawrence Lewis, grandnephew of railroad tycoon Henry Flagler, opened the Peace and Plenty Hotel on the site. The old plantation cookhouse became the club’s bar. The hotel’s main lobby has its own history as a sponge warehouse and later the home of a prominent island family, the Minns.”
We passed the St. Andrews Anglican Church and the health department before turning left to continue around the lake.
And we walked by Eddie’s Edgewater Restaurant, which Jimmy and Tillie had mentioned to us, before getting back to the marina.
BD506 – Sunday, May 26, 2013 – How many times can I say, “It’s a small world!” While we were shopping at the Exuma Market this morning we ran into Brian and Mary Jo Smith whom we know through the Bradenton Yacht Club. They told us that they flew over with Jack Jawitz and his wife, Evelyn Treyorg (also members of the BYC). On Friday, they were at Staniel Cay and had lunch with Joe and Casey McClash. Joe is a past-commodore of the club. On Saturday they went to the Club Med on San Salvador, where Jack and Stacy Flannigan have invited us to visit them next week. They got into George Town and checked into the Club Peace and Plenty about 7:00 last night. Jack and Evelyn wanted to fly over to Long Island’s blue hole today, so we decided to spend the afternoon with Brian and Mary Jo exploring Great Exuma in their rental car. We left the Exuma Yacht Club and headed north with our goal being Barraterre, the northern most point on the island accessible by car, and described on the map as a place of “traditional boat building and fishing”. There was not much to see along the way, but we had the opportunity to stop at the Marina at Emerald Bay (MEB).
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Even though it is somewhat isolated, it is the lap of luxury compared to where we are now. And, they are running a summer special, if we stay there 30 nights, the dockage is only $.75/foot with $.85/kwh; if we wanted to stay for 90 days, they would only charge $.50/foot. After seeing the facility and talking with the new manager, Dale Westin, we are definitely going to move up there as soon as the wind allows. They have floating docks with free laundry, showers and wifi. There is complimentary coffee, tea and cookies in the marina office all day every day and a “Blue Monday” party every Monday evening with rum punch and finger food. Also, the boaters lounge has a pool table and a big screen TV.
They do not have a pool yet, so I asked the manager about getting a day pass to the Sandals Emerald Bay Resort. He said that our best bet would be to get a day pass from a resort just as close to the marina called Grand Isle. A day pass there costs $35 and he said it would cost much more at the Sandals. So, we went to Grand Isle for lunch at the Palapa Grill for a sandwich and a tropical drink. It has a beautiful infinity pool and a great looking beach.
After our quick exploration of the north end of the island, we said goodbye to Brian and Mary Jo and returned to the boat around 4:30 p.m. We received a SPOT notification and an e-mail from Tillie and Jimmy. It was good to hear that they are at Nassau Yacht Haven already. They decided to go earlier than planned (to meet various family members flying in this week) due to the predicted high winds.
BD507 – Monday, May 27, 2013 – Rick cranked up the boat just after 8:00 this morning so we could move down the dock several feet to make room for a large boat that needed to get in for fuel. It is rough and windy today, but the three dock hands were able to hold on to the lines as we moved back along the dock and re-tied temporarily while boats were fueling up. They have limited hours on Sunday, so Monday morning seems to be a very busy time for the fuel dock. While we were sitting in our temporary position, we noticed that the mail/freight boat was tied up to the government dock. Tillie had told me that they come in on Monday, making Tuesday the best day to buy fresh food at the market. The Lazzara yacht, named “Magnificent Dolls”, fueling this morning was leaving to go to Nassau. They have a number of “children” on board, including a set of triplet girls who will be spending their 14th birthday at Atlantis. The father told Rick that they will take the boat back to Florida from there and then return to their home in British Columbia to be pretty much land-bound for the next four years while the girls attend high school. Too bad we didn’t have Vanessa with us now. I’m sure she would have enjoyed the girls’ company. By 11:00, they were gone and we turned our boat around and re-tied to the end of the dock. Turning the boat around was not the easiest thing we’ve ever done as it required moving 5 lines and 4 fenders from one side of the boat to the other while the wind was blowing 21 mph out of the east. We are now facing southeast with our nose into the wind and waves, and we are not bouncing around quite as much as we did during the night. In an e-mail, Joy said, “We docked at the YC for a couple of days during the Family Island Regatta for me to be able to get on and off the boat easier and got pinned to the dock in a northeast blow which was not fun.” At least the rain held off until after we were once again securely tied up. It rained off and on for the rest of the day, so we stayed on board and got some work done, read, played some games and watched a little network TV.
BD508 – Tuesday, May 28, 2013 – It was another “boat” day; windy with rain off and on – more on than off! We heard from Mary Jo Smith. She said, “We both enjoyed ourselves immensely. Seeing you and Rick in that store will be one of my favorite moments for years to come.” While we were touring the northern end of the island with them on Sunday, we passed through a settlement called Roker’s Point. Mary Jo remarked that she thought she might have seen a show about celebrities tracing their family roots where Al Roker traced his roots to the Bahamas. She wondered if his family was from one of the settlement’s we drove through called Roker’s Point. Since our conversation, I researched it on the internet and found the following in a newspaper article.
“Al Roker, well-known television weatherman, was able to use interviews and historical documents to learn the origin of his name. It is most probable that his ancestors adopted the name of Exuma landowner, Thomas Roker – a slave owner for whom the settlement of Roker’s Point, Exuma is named.
Records of St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in George Town gave him specifics on his lineage. St. Andrew’s records took Mr. Roker back to information on his great-great grandfather, Robert Roker, and his great grandfather, David Roker.
“David and Francis had Albert Hubert, my father’s father,” Mr. Roker said while looking through official parish records. “And then Remelda, that’s my grandmother, Albert and Remelda got married and then had my dad.””
In the afternoon, Rick made plane reservations for me to return to Florida on Friday, June 21st. He will stay on the boat and my granddaughter, Vanessa, and I will return to George Town on Saturday, June 29th. Rick and I are excited that “V” will be able to share about a month of her summer vacation with us.
BD509 – Wednesday, May 29, 2013 – In an e-mail earlier this week, Tillie said, “I didn’t get a chance to check the gift shop across the street from Peace and Plenty. Let me know what I missed.” So, this was our destination today. Along the way we stopped at the Top to Bottom Hardware Store again. On their front window, they advertise “EveryTING for Everytim”. Our next stop was the Driftwood Café for lunch, and what a terrific lunch it was. We each ordered the cup of curry pumpkin soup and ½ sandwich. In addition to the good food, the outdoor garden was a sight to see. The Driftwood Café is next door to the shop where we were going and it is across the street from Club Peace and Plenty.
After lunch, we walked across the alley to enter the Sandpiper Arts and Crafts Shop. Boy, did Aunt Tillie miss a treat. This little shop was packed with unusual, unique object d’art, including a variety of hand-painted pottery pieces made by local artist, Jessica Minns whose company is called Wave Ware. There was a small room with baby things and another part of the store was devoted to books about the Bahamas. There was also clothing and jewelry, sculptures and much more. When we left, I told the proprietress that I had a birthday coming soon and I thought she might see my husband again.
As we walked back to the boat, we passed the library which was housed in what looked like a very old building. See below.
We got back to the boat just before the rain came again.
BD510 – Thursday, May 30, 2013 – It has rained every day since we came into this port. But, it has not rained all day every day until now. Well, I guess we’re not alone. We are able to pick up off-the-air TV channels from Miami and apparently the keys are getting flooded as well. We decided to have lobster for dinner to “brighten up our day”.
BD511 – Friday, May 31, 2013 – Today, I celebrated my last day of being 60. 61 is a strange age. You are no longer one of the big “0” ages nor are you the magic age of 62 when you may begin to collect Social Security. So, as has been my tradition for many years, I celebrate the last day of being whatever age I am. I received a nice e-mail from my “birthday buddy”, Ruth. They are at ‘Tween Waters where we have spent many birthdays together. In the afternoon, I baked cupcakes. I love having an oven on the boat, but it is only big enough to put one six-muffin pan in at a time, so baking cupcakes takes a couple of hours. About 5:15 set off walking to the Club Peace and Plenty to catch their happy hour and then have supper. As we approached, we decided to go back in the Sandpiper Arts and Crafts shop across the street. Rick bought me a cute sundress for my birthday and then we went to the outdoor bar at Peace and Plenty and ordered their red wine “special”. After “Doc” the bartender poured my second glass, I asked him what kind of wine we were drinking – was it Merlot? He held up the bottle and the label actually said it was “red” wine. I enjoyed it anyway – all night long. While we were sitting at the bar, we saw a couple come in on a dinghy. We introduced ourselves and were very happy to meet Craig and Vicki Steinkraus from the S/V Wings. They used to live in Minnesota, but now live on their boat. Rick recognized the gentleman right away as being the “voice” of the local cruisers net. It didn’t take long for the conversation to turn to the fact that we were there celebrating my last day of being aged 61. Vicki said, “So, your birthday is June 1?” I acknowledged that and then, Craig said, “What are the odds — with only 4 visitors here (all the rest were residents) two of us have the same birthday.” That’s right, Craig’s birthday is June 1, as well. In addition to drinking at the bar we all happily contributed $1 to the Exuma Foundation and got a button that says “I love Exuma”. When we asked the bartender what the Foundation supported, he was not sure. Later, he introduced us to the one of the owners who told us about the various charities that the Foundation supports. Among the on-going projects is reef restoration nearby. The owner also told us that his father had purchased the Club in 1972 and that he passed away a few years ago leaving the club to him and his brother. He said that neither of them lived on the island, and running the hotel from afar just wasn’t working, so they have put Club Peace and Plenty up for sale. We enjoyed a two and a-half hour “happy hour” with them and then the rain came down in buckets, so we moved from the outdoor bar to the dining room. Vicki and Craig had not planned to have supper there, but they couldn’t go back to their boat, moored across Elizabeth Harbour near the Chat ‘n’ Chill restaurant, in the downpour, so they joined us for dinner. Our friend Joy had recommended that we eat there and, as usual, she gave us good advice. We enjoyed a lovely dinner (with more red wine) and when dinner was over the rain had stopped. So we walked back to the boat, about three blocks through flooded streets, and called it a night.
