George Town - Brits on Tour

We had recently received a mail from Fiona and Ian on Ruffian and knew that they were likely to still be in Georgetown so it was perfect as we pulled into the harbour, saw Ruffian and anchored just next to her just off Stocking Island - - Stocking Island is one side of Elizabeth Harbour, Great Exuma which includes the settlement Georgetown is on the other.

We had originally met Iain and Fiona in Norfolk, Virginia on Gary and Greta’s OCC dock.  We had shared a fun evening so were looking forward to meeting up with them again.  As Iain passed by in his dingy he immediately came over and invited us for drinks onboard Ruffian.  We had a lovely evening with Fiona, Ian, Rob and Sue a couple from Florida who were cruising with their 2 kids and dog.

Next day Ian and Fiona invited for a walk on the beach on Stocking Island, the beach on the Sound side of the island runs for miles and is beautiful.  It was nice to take a dip in the waves as they crashed over the reef.  Ian and Fiona then joined us for the very British pastime of tea but unfortunately no cakes! We shared stories from the previous months and discussed plans for the future, it was great that our paths had crossed again but sad that we had to say goodbye so soon.

Fiona and Ian say goodbye

As they up anchor we wave farewell to Iain and Fiona on Ruffian

As one set of cruising buddies leave another arrives, with Wendy and Graham on board Oystermist but because Elizabeth Harbour is so large we were initially in different anchorage so did not have a chance to catch up.

Over the coming days we enjoyed the delights of Stocking Island, there are various paths that run all over the island which make for some great walks with beautiful views.  Even with 100’s of boats anchored off Stocking island you could often walk for hours and see just a couple of people.

The beautiful rocky coastline on the Sound side of Stocking Island with the waves rolling in

Mark enjoying the view

Just so amazing - look at the colour of the Ocean!

Magnum is at anchor somewhere in all those mast  - look how clear the water is

And again another angle from the top of Stocking Island

Mark taking our morning stroll on Stocking Island

With another front due we had to move anchorage to get better shelter from the wind which would touch every point of the compass. This involved a quick motor across the Bay to just outside Georgetown but for us it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere are the water here is shallow.  We dropped the anchor jumped in the dingy and rushed over to say Hi to Wendy and Graham on Oystermist where we went on board to catch up.

If the forecast had been accurate this would have been a perfect anchorage but as the wind turned easterly – not forecasted for the night we rolled all night! Shattered the next day we did managed to spend some time ashore just to get off the boat and some more time with Wendy and Graham.  Thankfully the weather did start to swing southerly so we benefited from the move and the next day when the winds came up we were getting better shelter but by the afternoon the wind swung to westerly and drove swell down the harbour and as soon as it started to move north west we were upping anchor with Mark pitching on the deck but quick motor back to Monument and we things were improved.

Here we stayed for yet another week, walking on Stocking Island, swimming in our pool and making the most of the internet.

View from top of Stocking Island - Sorry but had to compress photos to upload so quality a bit poor