Enjoying some of what George Town has to offer

February 8th, Johnny decided to leave suddenly taking the small weather window as he needed to get back to Daytona in three weeks. Listening to the 'net' every morning quickly became routine. We had lunch at Chat & Chill, listened to a Bahamian historian (one of many different speaker sessions) for 10 minutes before walking over to the ocean side of Stocking Island. The ocean side is basically a beach that runs the length of the island; reefs partially protect the shore line but we can still have fun body surfing in the waves.

The Rack & Scrap band at Eddies

With light winds, its was a nice lazy day. Wally and I fished from the boat with a Sibeki line (several hooks spaced 1 foot apart with small hooks). We caught 5 little Bar Jack fish and prepared them for the BBQ.

 Later we took a water taxi to George Town to go to Eddie's Edgewater - Rake and Scrape. A weekly event where locals play their instruments, while dinner and dancing are enjoyed by all. The lead singer is a nephew of Sydney Poitier. Julie played the drums at one point and Wally played the wash basin...great times!

Julie and a local character - Mr Bush

Doing that thing we humans do...dancing!

The water taxi took us back at 22:30 and Wally and I BBQ'd the fish for a midnight snack.

Cruisers have been coming here for more than 35 years; recently they introduced a pump-out boat (a boat rigged with tank and pump to pump out your waste tank - poopy job).

Rodney and the entrance to Lake Victoria in the background

We hailed the pump-out boat, Rodney, its captain arrived and immediately annoucned he will marry Julie before we leave George Town, then asked for a beer; having no beer we poured him a rum & coke then offered him a chicken drumstick that I was just finishing on the BBQ. As I fought with the pump-out hose, my shoulder pressed aginst the hot BBQ...thinking of making a tatoo from the burn.

We had Sue, the net controller, over for dinner twice as her husband travels home to Texas conducting business. Happy hour on someone's boat or on our boat is a common occurrence. Everyone is very friendly and helpful, not only the cruisers but also the locals. There is no fear of leaving the dinghy unlocked or being harassed when in town. Store/bar owners have no problem if you can't pay them right away just come back another day...everything is cool and laid back...which takes time to get use to after three decades of working downtown Toronto.

Not so scary any more.

There was a Hammerhead shark sighting by the conch shack where people feed the Sting Rays, which happen to be the diet of Hammerhead Sharks. We had a 5-6 foot Bull shark swim by our boat when I was in the water and Julie was about to dive in.

Fishing from the deck of Southern Flight

Well it looks 2 feet long!

Ian and Michelle from Southern Flight, the boat we almost bumped into in the night, took us out fishing in the ocean on their 44' trawler. It was a beautiful sunny day, like most days here, and the seas were calm. After a few hours of drinks and dragging a few lines we had no bites and called it a day. Heading back in the cut (inlet), I caught a 2 foot Spanish Mackerel...not a total loss of the day. We cleaned and filleted it on the back deck before arriving back at anchor...good flaky white meat. It was a great day with a great couple.