Tag: marina

A Rough Couple of Days on Board

Sometimes the wind is not with us. Sometimes it seems like nothing is with us. The last couple of days have definitely felt like that. Sailing the Bahamas is not easy but we’ve had a rough couple of days on board Sava.

It Starts With The Windlass

Thursday, March 7th: Elizabeth Harbor, Georgetown to Galliot Cay, Long Island, Bahamas

Brian fixed the windlass enough so we could haul anchor and leave Elizabeth Harbor on Thursday. We spent about an hour at the marina filling up our water tanks since we still have not gotten the watermaker working properly. If you hadn’t guessed, this post is going to give you an idea of some of the things that still don’t work on Sava.

We left the marina in the hopes of catching some of the northeasterly wind to help us go east. It was rough. We probably left the marina before 9am and we were on the sea tacking away from our destination for part of the time, and then to our destination the remainder of the time.

map Long Island sailing
Our zigzag route from George Town to the top of Long Island, Bahamas
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Places to Go In George Town

We arrived in George Town last Thursday. George Town is the capital of The Exumas, where we’ve been sailing the last couple of weeks. It’s a popular spot for cruisers, with great anchorages, beautiful scenery and a lot of amenities. If you come here, especially by boat, read on for places to go in George Town, Bahamas.

map Bahamas
Nassau to George Town map

About George Town

George Town is a town on the island of Great Exuma and is the capital of the Exumas. It is the site of an annual sailing regatta, but we were about a week late for that event. Even so, when we arrived in George Town there were 100s of boats in the area, and fortunately lots of different spots to anchor.

George Town Bahamas anchorage
A view of one of the anchorages near George Town Bahamas

Overstaying in George Town

We had planned to stay less than a week but circumstances change. We were waiting for a part for our engine and our windlass broke yesterday. The windlass lifts and drops the anchor so we need to fix that! Yesterday morning we moved to an anchorage closer to town so we could pick up the part that was supposed to arrive. After dropping the anchor, the windlass started letting out more chain on its own. The control box wouldn’t work so we had to flip it off at the switch. Brian has been trying to fix it and only when he does are we leaving.

Here are our recommendations of places to go in George Town.

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I’ve Made Some Mistakes on the Sailboat

We all knew going into this that I had a huge amount to learn on this boat. Now it’s time for me to fess up and reveal the big mistakes I have made in my first months aboard Sava. I’ve made some mistakes on the sailboat, and I doubt they’ll be the last, but we’re still having fun!

Mooring

The Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park offers mooring ball facilities, which are generally more reliable than anchoring on your own. The mooring ball is attached to an anchor, and you attach your boat to the mooring ball. While Brian drives – slowly – as close as he can to the mooring ball, I am supposed to hook it and tie it up to our boat. Easier said than done.

One time, I caught the mooring but couldn’t hold it as we drove over it and I dropped the hook in the water. I grabbed our net and fished up the hook to try again. Then I caught the mooring and broke off a piece of the hook. By this point, a man in a nearby boat had gotten into his dinghy and picked up the mooring for me. All I had to do was throw him the rope and attach it to our boat. Even that I almost did incorrectly. You have to run the line under all the rails – which Brian had to yell to me – because if you don’t you can rip the rails off the boat.

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