George Town Feb. 9-23,2007

George Town is quite the place for the cruising community. When we arrived, the number of boats in Elizabeth Harbour was 279. ( I’m using the British spellings as the Bahamas are British and spell their words as the British do.) Elizabeth Harbour is a long wide beautiful harbor with several main beaches: Hamburger Beach, Monument Beach, Volleyball Beach and Sand Dollar Beach. You can see the influence of the cruisers with these names. The hub of activity for the cruisers is on Volleyball Beach. Every morning at 8 a.m. on the VHF Radio, one of the cruisers broadcasts announcements for cruisers. Most people monitor this so that they know what’s happening. There are announcements as well from the George Town businesses. Currently the cruisers are preparing for the big cruising regatta to take place February 27 and 28. There will be a pirate contest, volleyball, tennis, golf and bridge tournaments plus assorted activities for the kids. Yes, the kids. There are many of them sailing with their families ranging from ages 5 to 18. The parents are home schooling their children and find that very rewarding—although apparently some of the teenagers do not!

There is a lot of dinghy activity here. Most people park their boats and use their dinghy to get back and forth to town, to others’ boats or to activities on the beaches. What is amazing to me is that most couples stand up in their dinghies for the 1-2 mile ride. Apparently it makes the dinghy more stable and allows more speed.

In the evening we often get together with new friends we’ve met for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres or an occasional dinner on board someone’s boat. Most of the cruisers are professionals—engineers, professors, etc. Some others we’ve met are carpenters, fish industry workers and one was a steeplejack. Most are very friendly.