Boom De Yada: More around GGT

Our boat name was surprisingly a huge success. People started to sing the BoomDeYada song as a cheer at many events...even when I was first out at Hold'em.

We had so many comments as to what a cool name it is and when people meet us and hear we are from BoomDeYada they would always say how much they love that name. Credit goes to my brother Rick and his wife for adding that name to the list of possibilities two years ago.

The cruising community here is so tight that one couple had a party on their 50' boat for their 36th anniversary...there were 50 of us on their boat with dinghy's surrounding their boat. She cooked lots of good stuff and everyone brought along appetizers and drinks...we can see why people come here and never leave.

Hurricane hole where BoomDeYada will stay for 4 months

As mentioned previously, Julie and I have decided to leave BoomDeYada here as well during hurricane season. There is a hurricane hole with moorings designed for 50' fishing vessels in 120mph winds. The owner, Bob, lives in his home over-looking the boats. Bob also owns a very nice resort called Kevalli House; named after his kids Kevin and Allison. There are also two blue holes (under water caverns that link to the ocean) here that are popular for snorkeling. We tried to setup Allison and our son Robert but she was away at the time of Roberts visit.

Among many things, cruisers are always concerned about power and water.

The dinghy dock in Lake Victoria. See water hose just down the dock

Some have watermakers like us and others will take several water jugs (usually 5 gallons each) into town at the dinghy dock to fill up, dinghy them back, lift them aboard and pour them into their tanks...what a hassle. Some cruisers have lots of solar panels and/or a wind generator trying to keep their batteries topped up...you still need to run a genie at some point. Some use portable Honda generators and everyone around has to hear it running on their deck...usually a nuisance to others. It's best to run your generator in the morning causing the least amount of disturbance to surrounding boaters and it also gives the onboard engine time to cool down before a warm night's sleep.

Coming down the Exumas chain towards George Town, I noticed engine coolant pooling below the engine. After investigation and testing, it seemed to be leaking from the coolant cap on top of the heat exchanger. I searched through the large spare parts box that was left on the boat and found a new thermostat. I changed it, ran the engine and all looks good.

Julie and I borrowed a couple Kayaks from friends on Exhale (a catamaran owned by John and Linda who happened to be members at our yacht club back in Toronto) to do a little exploring. We headed up Stocking Island passing Monument Beach, Hamburger Beach and around the point to a secluded, not often visited, Flip-Flop Beach. We met a couple, John and Nancy, from Ontario sitting under the tiki hut that was built by the cruisers. We chatted a while and exchanged boat cards (business card for your boat with contact details...all cruisers has them). A couple days later they hailed us on the radio and we got together on their 47' Catamaran named Bikini.

I love the name of their boat

John and Nancy charter their boat with themselves as skipper and cook. Bikini is completely rigged for fun times - scuba, water skiing, kite surfing, fishing, etc. They had a single 70 year old lady arriving the next day and asked if we wanted to buddy boat with them to Long Island. Julie and I looked at each other and said, "we would love to". We had previously discussed making the trip to Long Island and it was on our list of things to do. The next day we prepared the boat, checked fuel levels and engine oil, topped up the groceries and secured things below...all set to lift anchor and dinghy tomorrow morning.