George Town

Although George Town is on Great Exuma I have categorized it separately because it seems so much different from the other Exuma locales we visited. 

After the Pykes left, we went back to Black Point and waited for weather. From there we sailed out into the sound and down to George Town on Great Exuma. It was a great sail down and Lynn began to feel less uncomfortable out in the deep water. 

Because this was a fairly long day voyage I planned to anchor near Conch Cut rather than to go the extra few miles to be nearer GeorgeTown. Goat Cay is a lovely secluded bay and we had it to ourselves. It was Easter weekend and local families picnicked on the beach. We thought it was charming but noticed when we went ashore, they left their trash everywhere. This was a precursor to our overall George Town experience. 

While at Goat Cay, we contacted a mechanic on the VHF and got an appointment for him to check the generator engine. His diagnosis was quick and confident, injector pump.  We ordered one flown in from the U.S. We went to anchor at Red Shanks, probably our favorite of places we visited in George Town.  

The pump came and the mechanic installed it. Still the generator would not start. The mechanic worked at a couple of resorts so was not available full time. We needed to get out of the slip at the marina and as we prepared to go, another mechanic took a quick look. 

The fuel shut-off on the generator is electrical via the switch. A connector had corroded and was not making contact. I had the right connector on board and as soon as it was replaced, the generator worked fine. $800 to fix a $0.15 problem seems excessive but at least I now have a spare injector pump for the generator. 

The starboard engine water pump was leaking due to a corroded bolt. I didn’t want to tackle it for fear of breaking the bolt and would not be able to remove the stub. We moved to Exuma Docking, the marina in George Town so the mechanic could look at it. He concurred about the risk of breaking a bolt and we decided to wait until we could get a replacement pump. 

Exuma Docking was out of Diesel fuel. Between waiting for the fuel tanker and the mechanic, we spent entirely too many days at the dock. Marina staff was surly and unhelpful. The marina seldom answered calls on the VHF and the condition of the facility was poor. We found the staff of the marina to be typical of most people we met in George Town. Locals drank on the street outside the liquor store throwing their beer bottles in a heap on the ground. 

Except for socializing with other cruisers our experience in George Town was overwhelmingly unfavorable. The fuel tanker finally came but by then we had decided to go on and buy fuel somewhere else. We will return to George Town because it is the best place to reprovision before jumping off to the far Bahamas or other points south. There is a huge cruising community there and we will anchor at new places and experience the social activities of those cruisers but I doubt seriously George Town will become a favorite destination. 

Our experiences have been so favorable everywhere we went in the Bahamas that we segregate George Town in our minds. It is not typical and it could be so nice. 

While in the George Town area, we got south of 23 ½ degrees north latitude which is normally considered the northern boundary of the tropics. That was one of our goals.

Next: Far Bahamas

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