17th May or maybe 18th
Have lost track of the date. Arrived yesterday morning in Elizabeth Harbour
in the Exumas. To get there we had to closely follow the GPS and I was
posted to the bow to watch for rocks or coral heads because the depths were
no more than 3m and our keel is 2.2m. Entered by the western entrance which
is wide. Crept up on Heimkher and we had a delightful evening meal with Bert
and Marlene.
Went to Georgetown to look around. It is the size of a large village. We
stocked up on food, bought Bill another hat and had lunch in a cafe.
Everyone again, really friendly.
Bill has had his nose in a book which he can’t put down. Normally Bill only
reads computer manuals or Screwfix catalogues (for DIYers in case you were
puzzled). It is one of a trilogy and called the Girl with the Dragon Tatoo
by Stieg Larrson. I’ll have to get him the other two.
Bert and Marlene are coming over for dinner and we will plan our route
across the Banks to New Providence leaving at about 0800. Looks like we
will have to go round to the north side to get into Nassau as there is a
bridge our mast won’t go under. That’s a pain. Even after Nassau there are
more Banks before we get into deep ocean to make the short crossing to the
US. The journey will take some days and you don’t cross unless it is light
enough to see what is below. Trouble is shallow keel boats may not have to
be so careful and may come along the published magenta track that we are on
at night, so we must take care to move safely to one side and have lights on
so that no one runs into us. We hope to be able to buy the electronic charts
we need for our next leg there. If we can't we may bypass and go straight
to Florida although we will have to stop somewhere to check out of the
country.
The fishing rod is rerigged by Bert and I will have another try in deep
water. I think I understand more about the gears now. It is not wise to
fish in the shallows because of ciguatera poisoning. (I gave the wrong
pronunciation when I mentioned it last time).
Here are some pictures. Please note all life jackets are numbered and Bill's
is marked No1. The pic in question is of him doing a deck check whilst on a
4 day passage. The last picture is of Bill swimming next to Heimkher.
