Staniel Cay to Georgetown, Exumas

April 19, 2007

After spending a few days in Staniel Cay waiting out bad weather, we set sail for Georgetown, aka Chicken Harbor. We need to renew our tourist visas which expire on Monday and the closest place is Georgetown, so we needed to move quickly from Staniel Cay.

The winds were from the North on Tuesday so we had a fast, comfortable, downwind sail to Rudder Cut and anchored between the Darbys—a recommendation from Snowday. The anchorage was beautiful and protected from wind and surge from the Exuma Sound, a welcome change from the windy, bumpy anchorages at Staniel Cay. We arrived around 5PM. Roger and Hans jumped in the dinghy and went off in search of some fish for dinner and Kristen and Karin climbed to the top of Darby Island (a very strenuous 10 minute hike!) to check out the ruins of an old mansion. The mansion is rumoured to be a relic from WWII when a German sympathizer lived there and built a large concrete dock to host German U-boats. The house was obviously once beautiful and grand, however it is slowly crumbling and you need to use your imagination to see the house as it originally was. The fishermen were unsuccessful although we had a Spanish tortilla for dinner which was very satisfactory.






The ruins at Darby Island.

The weather forecast was correct for Wednesday—light and variable winds so we spent the day motoring almost 40 miles to Georgetown. It was a hot day…and no mahi-mahi were caught for dinner, despite our best efforts. Upon arrival in Georgetown, we anchored at the Redshanks anchorage (again on suggestion of Snowday). We were a 1 minute dinghy ride from a pretty beach and are surrounded by small islands and only a few boats. It is peaceful and a world away from all the other cruising boats anchored in the Georgetown area. We had a wonderful dinner at the Peace & Plenty Inn last night and, with full stomachs, a starlight dinghy ride back to Whisper.


Sailing is such hard work!



Enjoying a cold beer at sunset in Georgetown.