May 16, 2000 Lake Worth, West Palm Beach, FL

Dear Gang,

George Town is such a different experience, I'll try to describe it. The harbor is like no other in The Bahamas - about 4 miles long, extending about a mile wide between the main island of George Town, Great Exuma Island and the smaller Stocking Island (about 4 miles long) to the northeast. It can easily accommodate the 200-450 boats that gather there during the winter with fun and games on their mind. G Town is the largest settlement in The Exumas (about 900 people), catering to the sailing community. There's a hotel with restaurant, 3-4 smaller local restaurants, 2 liquor stores, 2 laundries, 2 grocery stores, 2 dive shops, a ship's store - all in about a quarter mile. Exuma Market is the main source of groceries and info. They provide a free dinghy dock and town water ( not drinkable, but every time you dinghy ashore, you fill a 5 gallon container), fax and mail service, ( Out-going mail to the States goes in a box and is picked up by anyone flying out).

The harbor side of Stocking Island consists of a series of beaches: Hamburger Beach, Volley Ball Beach and Sand Dollar Beach mainly. Volley Ball Beach has two volley ball setups, one for amateurs and one for the serious (Regulation) group. Both groups play every afternoon. They always invite new people, but you better be good (in both groups) or the old timers are not happy. And The Chat and Chill, a little beach shack restaurant that opens about 11am or when the help shows up. There are 2 TV's - one for sports and one for financial news. Yachties wander in all afternoon and evening for hamburgers, conch burgers, local Kalick Beer(in bottles) or exotic blender drinks, to check up on The Market and to buy RO drinking water at $.60/ gallon. It's a short walk across the island to the ocean side with lots of sand, shells, reefs and crashing surf.

Some boats arrive in Jan or Feb and remain til April or May. Others just pass thru or stay for a few weeks. During The Cruising Regatta in Mar and again in April for The local Family Island Regatta, the numbers soar to about 450. We arrived March 18 and left April 21, missing them both. We had wanted to make the Cruising Regatta, but weather held us up, and after a month we were ready to leave and head back north. The sailing community is very organized and has set up a radio network for info and communication. Every morning at 8AM, the boat handling Net Control for the week comes on and asks for anyone wanting to communicate to call in and sign up. Boats and businesses start calling in to go on the list. At 8:10 everyone is listening to The Net. Many local businesses give short blurbs (diveshop, restaurant, taxi, boatyard); next community announcements (church services, men or women's Bible studies on the beach, a slide show at the community center, etc); and then boat announcements. These can be just about anything: someone looking to share a taxi to the airport; boat parts for sale or trade; someone looking for info on sailing to Cuba or other islands; looking for certain tax forms (that's a big one in Mar and April); announcements of upcoming parties, volley ball tournaments, community brunches on the beach, Easter Bonnet contests, or anything else to keep the gang occupied.

The winter season and Cruising Regatta so big they have to appoint a Regatta Chairman to be in charge of organizing and keeping all the volunteer committees going, as well as keeping track of all the money and where it goes. This is a fulltime winter job, lasting about 3 months. Money comes in from T shirt sales and other events and much of it goes to George Town and their Family Regatta as well as improving shore facilities used by both cruisers and locals. The chairman, a volunteer also, must commit to two years and even has his own business card. He is as much an ambassador as an event supervisor. This year's Chairman was Ron Knaggs on Latitude, a trawler. Ron and Shelly used to live aboard on their sailboat, Latitude, on the next dock from Ken in Portsmouth, RI and also worked at The Foxboro Company (Ken's Company), in Management. Some of you from Foxboro may know him. We got together for lunch one day. I'm sure you can imagine some of his challenges having to keep 100's of boaters as well as local merchants, community groups and local government happy. This is a community like any other and has its little spats, disgruntled members, misunderstandings, etc. (often voiced over the radio for all to hear). Actually a favorite pastime is listening in on everyone's conversations. In general, however, they are a fun-loving and cooperative group.

Some activities while we were there:

I described the sunset dinghy raft last letter.

One quiet morning , anchored off Volley Ball Beach, a voice came over the radio: "The flying dinghy is headed your way!" I started scanning the harbor for a runaway dinghy, when I heard a whining overhead. In the distance came a hard-bottom tender with an outboard engine on the back and an ultralight sail flying toward us with one person aboard. What a sight to see! What I really wanted to see was how he took off and landed. Those who had seen it say he still has some problems and tends to flip on landing.

Dawn and Spencer Howe arrived April 8, loaded with goodies: Pringles, Oreos, peanuts, coffee and four bottles of wine. It was like Christmas. Spencer said he had never bought so much junk food and was embarrassed checking it out at the store. But these are some of the things we crave and are so expensive here. He also brought a bottle of Marsala wine and made us his favorite dish of chicken Marsala. It seemed sinful buying heavy cream and mushrooms in G Town, but we enjoyed it immensely. I also found a couple who truly appreciated my banana rum pancakes and even requested them a second time.

Later that day was the Margaritaville party. They had been planning for it on The Net for a couple of weeks. Dawn was beat from traveling, so Spencer, Ken and I took off for Hamburger Beach about 7:30pm. It's a good thing Dawn didn't come because I doubt she was old enough. I know Ken and Spencer weren't. The party started about 6pm with about 150-200 people of all ages, a bon fire, lights strung all around , Jimmy Buffet playing and a free Margarita Bar. Local stores donated ice, liquor, sound system, and the hamburger stand agreed to stay open selling cheeseburgers in paradise. Each boat was to bring an hor's deurve to share. We missed the first two contests (best costume and Your favorite Lay/lei) but arrived just in time for the coconut bra contest - for men and women. Surprisingly, it wasn't the buxom young woman who removed her coconuts to bare all who won, but a fully clad , more mature female with bra over her T-shirt, tassels dangling from her coconuts and doing a Sally Rand Act. Yes, she could get them going in opposite directions. Luckily, most of the kids had left before the next event, The Tin Chalice. Four male bearers entered carrying a platform with several candles surrounding tin cans of various sizes. They were accompanied by females fanning them with palm fronds, all to appropriate music. Waiting for them was Doctor Proctor (Proctologist) and Nurse Gamble. I won't bore you with details, but the main idea of the contest was for Dr. P or Nurse G - depending on the sex of the participant - to assist the contestants in nd deposit ing quarters in the chalice. It was definitely X-rated. As the successful participants decreased, so did the size of the chalice. I had to hold the boys back from getting into the event and decided it was time to take them home, so we missed the limbo contest. You can see this gang is serious about their parties and I'm certain days of planning had to go into staging it.

The next morning, having heard there were serious winds coming, we took off for Red Shanks, a well protected harbor from all directions, located about 3 miles south of the usual anchorages. Those 300 boats remaining in town would have to keep re-anchoring from one side to the other as the wind changed. As it turned out, the wind came up Sunday , April 8 in the afternoon and never died down til Monday April 17, 3 days after the Howes left. No boats came or left the harbor all week and as you know, Spencer and Dawn had to fly out of G Town instead of us taking them to Nassau. We certainly did not do very well by any of our guests as far as weather and sailing, but have come to learn that's life in The Bahamas (although everyone keeps telling us this is a very unusual winter). While in Red Shanks, we usually made at least one trip a day to town. By the time the tender returned, Everyone was usually soaked, we had a new set of salt water soaked clothes (which never dry) and had swallowed a fair amount of salt water(at least I had). On one of these bouncy trips, Ken's wallet managed to slip out of his pocket into the water - (with cash, credit cards, license, etc) causing another whole set of problems. Now, instead of me being a "kept woman", Ken is a "kept man". Something is wrong with this picture, but life must go on!!

I had asked Dawn to bring me a recent newspaper, particularly a good financial section. Since she works for a financial investment company, she brought me several. By Monday morning I had devoured most of them and decided to have some fun. I signed into The Net, introduced myself, and said I had good and bad news. " The good news is friends arrived Sat with various copies of The NY Times, The Wall Street Journal and Investor's Business Daily. The bad news is we're anchored in Red Shanks (3 miles from town and it's blowing 20-25!) ." Right after The Net closed, the calls started coming in. The first was across the harbor in Red Shanks - an invitation to cocktails for a NY Times. The next came from about a mile away, would be there soon for a Wall St Journal. The longest came from G Town Harbor, 3 miles away, for another WS Journal and Investor's Daily, coming by tender ASAP. Dawn and Spencer were amazed, but I knew boaters would jump at it, we so seldom get to see good recent papers, particularly financial. If we had been in town we would have been bombarded!

We were sad to hear Ed and Beverly on Kokomo say it was time to leave. The night before they left, they had a cocktail party for all our gang. What a surprise when Ed pulled out his guitar and started to sing. His personality transformed from a quiet, reserved individual, to an outgoing, gifted performer, singing Cape Cod ditties as well as other singalongs, with Earl from Star Child accompanying on his harmonica. It was a great evening.

As we lost Kokomo, we regained Cavalier. One night on their boat, we met several new people. One of the men, Terry Meyers, mentioned he had grown up in Bristol, RI. As we talked, I discovered I knew his brother well and had taught his step brother at Gordon School. What a small world.

One morning during SSB weather, a message came from Nassau for Karen on Star Child to call home. She found out her father was going in for triple bypass. So she flew home leaving Earl to single hand it back to the states. He actually seemed to be looking forward to the challenge and left a couple of days before us..

Bruce Van Zandt, author of "The Thornless Patch" (I think that's the title), spends the winter in G Town on his boat. He offered two talks on the beach. Since several boats had gone on reefs recently, he spoke on safety afloat. Probably 75-100 people attended (we didn't). But, when he was offering a talk to women, sponsored by Women for Sail, about concerns of women living aboard, I really wanted to attend. However that was when we were 3 miles away in Red Shanks and blowing 20-25. That morning, a call came on the radio from a woman on a boat nearby to anyone in Red Shanks who wanted to go. Two of us answered, and we three took off in one tender for Stocking Island. It was a bumpy ride, but worth it (as well as a female adventure). He was actually very good and I made several new women acquaintances. There were several men in attendance, also.

4/20 We took off with Cavalier, heading north through The Exumas, toward Nassau. I've told you how we listen to Herb, in Canada, on single sideband each afternoon for the weather. While listening to him one afternoon, a woman's voice interrupted him with an emergency. They were in Flamingo Bay, The Jimentos, an uninhabited island about 45 miles south of George Town. She said they had come across a disabled boat with 70-80 Haitians in need of help. They had no food, water, were dehydrated and many sick. They had given them all the food and water they could. She couldn't reach anyone on VHF radio, so called Herb. He immediately interrupted the weather long enough to call the US Coast Guard and reported back to her they would take care of it. The next AM during Nassau weather, she called again to say The CG had brought water and blankets but they still needed food and doctors. George Town then dispatched some boats and doctors. You may have heard about it on national news. There actually turned out to be over 200 Haitians, several died. Most were taken to Nassau and will be returned to Haiti.

On our way back, we stopped in Exuma Park again. When we were checking in, I saw that Evelyn, the ranger's wife, was all alone, so I volunteered to cover the office and the radio for the day. They are always willing to take volunteers. Not only did we get a free night's mooring, but also I knew that was the place to get the scoop on all that's happening. A member of The Bahamas Defense Force lives at the park and travels around with the ranger. They often have to handle poaching ,illegal or expired entry permits, etc and the ranger is often threatened. While discussing the Haitians with Evelyn, I asked how they could possibly have all those people on one boat. She said they often have to deal with them in the Park area. They pack them in layers just like the old slave ships. They get dehydrated, are carrying all kinds of disease and no one wants anything to do with them when they appear. It is a tremendous problem for The Bahamas and extremely costly.

4/30 Left Norman's under power, no breeze, for Nassau , about 40 miles. Since you can see clearly to 25 ft in the water, it was like snorkeling in fast motion. Within a couple of hours, the wind came up (right on nose, of course) and we had to beat across The Yellow Banks, looking for and avoiding those nasty purple coral heads. Our mark to get into Nassau was right into the wind with reefs on either side and we had to fight for every inch (so we couldn't even use the auto pilot). I spent the day on the wheel while Ken did all the winch work. About 3 miles from the mark, all of a sudden the wind switched (to the northeast), built to about 30-35, and we found ourselves barreling down wind at about 7.5 knots, with all sails flying. A fast, thrilling ride! We were two tired people by the time we set anchor, (dragged, set anchor, dragged, set second anchor ). Cavalier was quite a bit behind us and didn't set anchor (drag, set second anchor ) 'til just at sunset, thankfully 7:30 by now. That was the beginning of another week long norther (20-30) keeping us in Nassau .

Mon, 5/8 wind died during night. Took off with Cavalier for The Berries and an adventuresome day. Arthur and I were both fishing. I had lost a couple of lures when he reported having a dolphin (fish) on the line. It took him a good 40 minutes to land, about 14 pounds. He was thrilled, exhausted and covered with blood - from the fish. At the same time, I was at the helm and started seeing dolphin (mammals) coming at Conquest from every angle. Now, we were used to seeing a couple of dolphins every day in The ICW from N Carolina down, but seldom saw any in The Bahamas. Here were 50-60 swarming the boat, riding the bow wake, running along side, under and around the boat. They just kept coming and stayed with us over half an hour. I finally asked Ken to take the wheel and just stood on the bow watching all the activity. Several were mothers guiding their babies along. The big ones look like torpedoes attacking. It was a Spectacular sight!! And then fresh grilled fish for dinner.

5/11 Left harbor at 4AM and a 60 mile trip to Lucaya, Grand Bahama. No breeze, motored-sailed all day. It was so hot we used only the headsail and kept up the bimini to keep off the sun as much as possible. Arrived at Lucayan Village Marina about 6pm. (14 hours of motoring in the heat.)

5/14 Mother's Day and my birthday. The dockmaster came around and presented each woman with a small bouquet of flowers. When he found out it was my birthday, he also gave us a free lunch at their restaurant. Cavalier joined us for a lovely lunch (free champagne for us Moms!!), then we took off about 4pm for FL. It's about 80 miles and might be done during the day. However, with the heat we decided to do it at night. WE motor-sailed through the night and approached land about 8am. Cavalier had gotten too far north and couldn't fight the Gulf Stream back to Lake Worth, so they called us and said they were heading for Ft Pierce instead. We were almost to Lake Worth and wished them a fond farewell. We had left Lake Worth with them and StarChild Jan 18 and were very sad to see them go (headed back to NJ)

5/16 Just signed up for a long term slip at Frenchmen's Marina, about 5 miles up the ICW from Lake Worth. It's well protected from storms so Ken won't worry (too much). We'll settle in, then drive or fly back to RI. It's been a fun winter. We've met lots of new people, seen many new places, fought the weather all winter and are glad to be back in The States!! Hope you've enjoyed our letters and our attempt to let you know what it's been like. Retirement isn't easy. We're ready for a vacation!!

Happy Summer

Note from the Captain:

This was a difficult but rewarding trip. Navigation in the Bahamas is difficult because of the lack of a reliable lateral buoyage system, the scarcity of safe (from all wind directions) harbors, the unpredictability of the sea conditions in the cuts when you arrive at your destinations at the end of the day and the shoaling resulting in frequent grounding. The Islands or Cays are beautiful; limestone with tropical vegetation, lots of sandy beaches and most are desolate with no inhabitants. Communication to the outside world is not possible unless you have onboard SSB (strongly recommended) from most of the Islands. The water is claimed to be the clearest to be found anywhere in the world and is full of fish and provides great snorkeling. It was well worth the effort to experience it.

Jane was a great crew for this trip! It would not have been as successful without her abilities with all aspects of running the boat; long stints at the wheel (even in heavy weather conditions), keeping a constant check on the skipper's "flawless" navigation and keeping him well fed with a well organized store of groceries and preparation of three great meals every day, often with a cocktail hour (or so) which included such local delicacies as Conch Fritters. In short "A Real Sea Woman".

Jane and Ken

5/18 Postscript: After spending the day researching cars, buses, trains and planes, Ken gave his brother , Jim, a call. He lives on the west coast of Florida, but we heard he was planning on moving to The Virgin Islands. Jim said he was driving his gear to Ft Lauderdale next week then taking his truck to MA. Now we'll have his truck next week and drive it to New England when we go. Now Ken can take all his gear he wanted to get north. Talk about timing!!