G-Town

It is 8am and everyone on the boat is still asleep- except for me of course.  A typical morning on Mirage begins with me quietly making coffee and straightening up the boat while everyone, including Zander, snores away in the V-berth.    This morning I am sitting in the cockpit, looking back at the boats we played on last night.  We are currently anchored in Red Shanks, which is about 5nm south of George Town in the Exumas.  We are here to wait out some crazy weather that is predicted- which, so far, we have not seen any part of.  This smaller anchorage feels remote compared to where we’ve been for about a month- more on why that happened later- but there are still about 18 boats anchored near one another, wind generators whipping away, kids playing, VHF radios on, and I can see cars driving by on the mainland.  “Remote” is relative here.

So is time, which is truly the reason why my blog posts have fizzled.  I’d like to say I haven’t posted because of major internet problems or lack of battery power on my laptop, but in actuality, island time has a good hold on all of the crew of Mirage.  Days melt away somehow here- it has nothing to do with Rum or margaritas- but there is a “Jimmy Buffet song” sense to cruising the Bahamas.

We are anchored in Red Shanks with four other “kid boats” – which seems high, but is actually a fraction of the kid boats in the main George Town anchorages.  The Bahamas are very much a kid and dog paradise.  You can imagine kids swimming, zipping around on dinghies, running around exploring beaches and islands- endless opportunities for fun.  It was very easy to get “stuck” here in George Town after seeing only 1-2 kid boats travelling down the Exumas.

We all know that our time here is fleeting, however.  We, and everyone else we’ve been getting to know, must move on soon.  Some boats will be lucky enough to be able to sail further south.  Some, like us, will turn north and head, slowly, back to the states to work and look forward to another sailing season. 

But, for the moment, we are talking one more little trip south and west to the Jumentos.  I’m not sure if it will actually happen, but the diving and fishing is supposed to be some of the best in the Bahamas.  Tyler has been diving more often- free diving- not scuba- and has yet to spear a fish.  The temptation to travel just a little further and find that illusive ‘big one’ is great.  We shall see if reality or fishing wins.