Day 89 - 99 (Fri, Feb 10 – Mon, Feb 20 , 2012): George Town. I have to apologize for not writing more. Seems like a poor excuse to say “busy.” Honestly, we have been going pretty much nonstop with the activities in Georgetown. Upon arriving, we heard on the radio, before we even anchored, our friends from “Sanity II” David and Mary. Cocktails were planned for the evening. At the sunset, we met the folks from “Gratitude.” She is a Brewer (same genre as a Whitby). First evening kicked things off the right way “good friends, good times and what a sunset ceremony, not to mention the stars.” It is amazing that you can see the stars so well given the number of boats here (last count 285) and all of the anchor lights. It is comforting seeing the stars above and then our own little star field of anchor lights.
Per Professor Jim, we anchored a little further out off of Volley Ball Beach. The sand is a little courser (less like the sugar sand closer to the beach) which provides better holding. The next couple of days proved that we picked a good spot because a front came through. Didn’t budge. Thanks Professor Jim for the advice!
We quickly got into the activities here. Monitoring 68 during the day on our VHF and the Cruiser Net Morning announcements. Tons going on for everyone. I did a design for the 2013 t-shirt completion. A full-up, acrylic. It has been a while since I have put brush to canvas. It felt good. I decided on a bit more whimsical design, not super realism, but one that still portrayed the richness of the reefs around Georgetown and the Exumas. Will see… the judging will be on March 9th. A scan of my design is below. Patrick decided to do his HAM Radio license. I am so proud that he finally decided to study and take the tests. I know he will do well. He has lived this radio thing since he was a kid, not to mention, Antarctica. He is studying quite a bit but that is good for him. Then, for me there has been volleyball. I haven’t played since the Arabian Horse Club meetings in Burlington, KY. Thinking it has been 26 years. I am having a blast. Every day at 2pm we gather at Volleyball Beach. The coolest thing is that it is all ages, all levels of athletic prowess and all makes of sailboats J. Simply said, we have FUN. Now there have been strained muscles, broken toes and a few bruised egos but all with the proper amount of good sportsmanship and support for each other. Did I mention FUN?
This week is Chris Parker (the weather guru) week. We have signed up for all of the sessions from Weather 101 to GRIB Files. Will be great for me and will help Patrick fill in any holes… in what he already knows, from the air force weather training he received. Will keep everyone posted on what we learn.
Regatta is the following week. We plan on participating in a few activities: the sandcastle completion, the dingy race (non-motor powered of course and we have a great plan for this. Only issue is to test our idea and keep it “secret” until race day). We may even do the “race” to Long Island that follows the Regatta. We plan on heading that way. So, why not. Will just stay back and let the serious “racers” charge ahead. Will see if the old girl (Gaia) is up for it.
Dobbie is doing well, although he prefers when we are “moving the boat.” He gets a little board staying in the same place. So to keep him happy (it is all about keeping the crew and passengers happy) we have provided great “Kitty Rum and Sushi.” Kitty “witching hours” are from 3-6am and from 9-11pm daily. And, we have done a couple of dingy rides. While there are no little, isolated islands here that would be appropriate for kitty exploration we have supplemented with other “kitty diversions.”
Now for happy hours… we have had the best time at various sunset cocktail swarajs. Multiple evenings with Bert and Maria on “Not So Interim” and Gerard from “Salt Whistle.”. He is a phenomenal artist. He has such a nice style… great voice and can really play guitar. Honestly, he is one of the best I have heard. I usually feel uncomfortable (for some reason) when someone breaks out a guitar… even professional musicians (except for Jimmy and btw… some local sightings but nothing confirmed). But Gerard, a Kiwi, is perfection… he can play flawlessly and he does it with such a nice “out-on-the-water” style. He is easy to listen to! AND boy can he grill up a nice Lamb Shank.
Valentine’s Day was a hoot too. We went to St. Francis Resort for a very nice dinner then, on to Chat and Chill for a dance. I even managed to cling on to Patrick for one slow dance (given my no dancing protocol or should I say, lack of any rhythm disability). It made him very happy. We had such a nice time… perfect evening and best Valentine’s Day I have ever had…J
From a healing standpoint. I am really doing well. Relaxed, tummy is all better and my brain has officially reached its “OK finally calmed down” state. Painting helped, great people with every story in the world, amazing blue water and the gentle rocking of Gaia has done it. Think I am all better. We have even started to talk about “what’s next.”
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