Our last day in Georgetown had a bit of everything that makes a pretty perfect day.  Lindsay had a lovely kayak around the boats and shore followed by a swim and then at midday we met up with our new German friends at the beach bar for beers and their Sunday pig roast.  Whilst we were there a magnificent pair of contrasting coloured rays, one blackish, the other almost white, turned up in the shallows to be fed.  They were completely fearless and very friendly (no stingers) and David fed one with a bit of conch flesh.  We felt their soft velvety wings as they brushed past our ankles – a magical experience.  Afterwards we headed for the fabulous beach on the other side of the island and had a swim in the surf in the pristine waters.  A short recovery period back on board and we were off again to drinks on another boat with fellow members of the Ocean Cruising Club.  As always, these seem to be intrepid sailors and this pair had sailed from New Zealand to Alaska via Hawaii, then down the coast of South America, round Cape Horn and up the other side!

David feeding a ray:

We were a bit reluctant to move on after such experiences, but a week in one place seemed enough, so we headed up the Exuma chain towards our next destination here at Staniel Cay.  It was a very effortless 10 hour sail once David had hoisted our big red gennaker, apart from the last half hour as we inched our way VERY CAREFULLY over depths here of not much more than 2.4 m (our draft is 2.1).  As usual Lindsay preferred not to look at the instruments but stared resolutely down at the clear and very near sea floor.  As we finally anchored with a sigh of relief, we had 3 nosy visitors straight away, brown sand sharks.  They are probably harmless enough, but first mate isn’t going swimming in this spot.  As we sat on deck after sunset we were treated to a spectacular electrical storm with a lightning display that lasted for hours.  The main attraction of this place, however, are the famous swimming pigs that apparently take to the water from the beach just in front of us, so we shall go ashore later to see if they are around.