George Town (again!)

I was about to say that you can't cruise the Exumas without a visit to George Town, but as our friends Kurt and Shanty managed to avoid it I guess I need to change that statement! But if you've got kids on board, it is pretty much a must-stop. The large harbor can easily handle 300 anchored vessels and with two grocery stores, tons of restaurants, trash drop-off, free RO water, fuel, daily kid and adult events, and some of the most helpful, friendly fellow boaters you may ever find, it's a stop that meets many needs. I detailed most of it during out first year here--check it out at George Town--A Cruiser Mecca.

In the interest of doing "new" things this year, we did more hiking on Stocking Island, Frank went to more beach yoga classes, we tried a few new local eats, and we tried out the Masters Harbour anchorage for a frontal passage. I managed to do some sewing and "boat crafts" and Trent did, well, whatever a bunch of teenage boys do when they take off to an island together! 

We hiked the monument and saw our boat name in the pond below, and explored the windward side of Stocking Island several times. And I found more stromatolites!

Yoga at Chat & Chill and water aerobics right next to the boat at South Monument Beach kept us active Mon-Sat!

We discovered Chef Keva and her delicious baked goods! A call to 242-524-8016 was all it took to put in an order for pick-up the following day.

Anchoring at Masters Harbour for a front brought us to the abandoned development of Crab Cay Resort and Marina and some great local eats (via a "new" dinghy landing) at Fanny's.

During the front passage I made a cover for the fuel can and a cell phone sleeve for the dinghy seat thanks to a fabric-scrap-for-beer swap with another cruiser! On another windy day I made a mat from one of our old lines. Boaty crafty!

We FINALLY made it over to the Fish Fry Shacks! Such a great atmosphere and great food...can't wait to return!

Having filled up on fuel, food, and crowds for a bit, we departed for Long Island. Will we be back this season? Maybe!

Of course we hit the old favorite of all cruisers...Chat & Chill!

~Jo, 1st Mate

Back home! (sort of!)

After a few days of dodging storms the Captain and kid crew met me at our dock for the next MONTH! That's right, we paid for a whole month. Why? We have some boat projects that would greatly benefit from access to shore power and water, we have some big deliveries to get ready for (a new "car!"), we have some shipments to prep (boo, shipping the girl to France!), and this spot put us in reach of all of that and friends and family. So where the heck are we? Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland (a.k.a. NAS Pax River)!

There are two military marinas in the area that are priced the same, but this one was much nicer and deeper. Getting to use these military marinas is a huge financial win for us. The transient rate for our vessel is about $350 per month here, including power, water, and wifi. We would get 3-4 nights at our old marina in Herring Bay for that same amount. While the amenities aren't quite the same as those found at our old resort marina, and we have to drive about an hour to see friends, it's still a win. We have our car so this really made the decision for us. After a week here I can say that this was a good decision. While the dock we are at only has single 30-amp service at each slip, the slip next to us is vacant so we can fully power up and run the air conditioners (not a big deal if we can't as the solar panels provide what we need for house usage). The marina staff is super friendly and extremely competent, which has not always been our experience on bases. We have close access to a decent bathhouse with a washer and dryer ($2.50 for a complete load), easy parking, a commissary (our grocery store) nearby, a pool we can use as a retiree family, and plenty of safe, walkable roads for exercise. There is even an easy-to-access pump-out here! The only thing that's missing? Fuel, but everyone just goes across the river to Solomons Island for that. And our neighbors have been super nice and inviting. So...we like it!

How have we spent our time during this first week? The kids got their second COVID jab, we found a great skatepark a mile away, we hit the base pool, Katreina and I made some sweet new pillows for the cockpit, we visited friends in Rose Haven, all four of us knocked out our dental exams, Katreina and I got some "girl time" with local friends, the guys hit one of their favorite paintball parks with friends, I deep cleaned the port side of the salon and treated the wood, we started cleaning up the old dinghy (to sell it!), I began a "refresh" of the composting head, and we found amazing Thai food. Busy, fun, and productive week! 

2nd jab...DONE! Let's travel!

Our peaceful marina and some of our pool and marina fun.

K helped me make some fluffy new pillows for the cockpit.

Cleaning cabinets and bulkheads and refreshing the forward head (yep, that's a toilet seat that I'm spray painting!)

Thai food! I have a friend who has a love affair with Khao Soi, but says it's tough to find in the U.S. so when I saw it on the menu I just had to try it! Soooo good!

~Jo, 1st Mate

More shade

While our dinghy woes had us hanging around the boat I decided to tackle a sewing project—more shade! Last season I knocked out a set of deck shades while we were at a dock on New Providence Island. That project left me with big, triangle-shaped scraps that I just couldn’t bring myself to send to a landfill. More than a year later, the scraps have been painstakingly  stitched together (5, perfectly symmetrical panels 😩) to make our new stern shade! This one will be awesome as the sun sets and we swing in the prevailing easterlies. Bring on the sundowners!

Sailrite tools:

- Ultrafeed LS-1

- Edge hot-knife

- Pres-n-snap tool

- Parasol (steel gray) fabric

- thread, snaps, grommets