Daily life in George Town, Great Exuma

January 13, 2011

The boat count is 157 boats in George Town harbour this week. Five or six are at the marina, about 20 on mooring balls and the rest are all at anchor. Some, like us stay but in their favourite anchorage others move around every few days or some even daily. This morning there are 32 boats at the Sand Dollar anchorage up from the 12 a few days ago. With more boat come more activities in the community. 

Ted is usually up between 05:30 and 06:00. He makes coffee and studies for his Ham Radio Course which he is taking down here to get license. In a few weeks he will begin in weekly Wednesday Ham lunch.  At 07:00 I awake and Ted brings me a coffee in bed- yes some girls have it good! The one thing that remains a constant part of our schedule is the 08:00 cruisers net on the VHF radio on channel 72. Every week someone in the harbour volunteers to moderate the net. This week Chris on Toucan Dream is the moderator. The net starts off with the very important “weather” report which is the main reason we all listen. Usually it’s a five forecast and we plan our activities, sides trips and our lives around that forecast. Next is the” local business” section where the business get to announce to us what’s on and who has what services. This is followed by “community announcements”.  This is anything and everything happening in our community. Today for example:

·         Cruising ladies lunch today at St. Francis at 12:30

·         Final day of Total Immersion swimming workshop update

·         Regatta T-shirts on sail from 9:30 to 12:00

·         Art in the park class from 9:00 – 12:00 today

·         Texas Hold’em poker tonight at St. Francis at 6:00

·         Luncheon sponsored by the Bahamas Tourism next Friday

·         Aqua fitness class (taught by me) on Saturday at 8:20

·         Yoga classes at 9:00 am Friday

·         School looking for books on AIDS/HIV

·         Rockin Ron announced the first dance on the season at Chat n Chill on Monday night

·         Choir practise meets today

So as you can see from the list above our activity schedule continues to build as more boats arrive in the harbour. The last section of the morning net is “boaters general” which is the opportunity for anyone to ask for help or to announce something they need or want to get rid of.  The net ends with announcement of arrivals and departures and the thought for the day.