We are actually in the Domincan Republic as I post this. And let me tell you, we LOVE the DR! It's cheap and lots of nice people and the countryside is beautiful to look at. I'll try to post something this week sometime, but I still need to at least post a little something about Georgetown which we also loved.
Georgetown is a lot like St. John. Small, quaint and only a few thousand people on the entire island, and of course everybody knows everybody. The week we spent there actually felt like a vacation which was much needed. We swam with dolphins, hung out on the beach, went hiking, made new friends and altogether had an amazing time! Bringing the boat down has had it’s moments of anxiety and stress, so it’s nice to actually be reminded why you own a boat once in a while.
Georgetown is a lot like St. John. Small, quaint and only a few thousand people on the entire island, and of course everybody knows everybody. The week we spent there actually felt like a vacation which was much needed. We swam with dolphins, hung out on the beach, went hiking, made new friends and altogether had an amazing time! Bringing the boat down has had it’s moments of anxiety and stress, so it’s nice to actually be reminded why you own a boat once in a while.
Georgetown sits on Elizabeth Harbor, a large, expansive bay protected
from the Atlantic by Stocking Island along with numerous shallow reefs. Cruisers come down here for weeks
or even months at a time. For some, Georgetown is their destination. They hang out for a few months then return to
Canada or Florida. For others, like us, it’s a jumping off point for heading
farther down island. It’s called "Chicken
Harbor" as a euphemism due to the fact that so many cruisers have plans of
heading south, and then “chicken” out once they get to Georgetown. It’s kind of the last easy stop.
Stocking Island sits across the bay from Georgetown and is where most cruisers anchor during their stay.
Hundreds, probably thousands of boats come through here during
the winter season. A handful stay
year-round while most come for a few months then make the jaunt back up to
their home to the states or Canada.
There are lots of Canadian’s down here.
Canadian flags are flying everywhere.
We think it’s because it’s one of the few close, warm places they can
come.
Stocking Island is where all the cruisers hang out. It is a small island with two very small
resorts and one restaurant. The Chat n
Chill was your typical beach bar with burgers, fries, conch fritters and your
assortment of local beer and liquor.
Around the restaurant and all along the beach are homemade tables,
benches, rope swings and hammock chairs.
There is also volleyball nets where there is always a game going at 2 pm
each day. Don’t think, college aged,
bikinis clad girls, think 20 retirees in speedos. We were going to play one day but they had
full teams.
There are two young local guys who do fresh conch salad
daily for $10 a bowl. As they are
cleaning the conch they will give you some of the leftovers to feed the huge
stingrays that are used to getting fed.
They were good sized stingrays.
They would bump against your legs, looking for something to eat.
Each day at 8:00 am there would be Tom from the boat Dream
Catcher who would provide the daily cruisers news via channel 62 on the VHF
radio. He would start out with the Chris
Parker weather update and tides followed by area businesses soliciting their
menus and wares to the boaties. Each
section of the 10 -15 minute program would be mentioned with Tom saying, “come
now”, to anyone who had news to share.
He would provide updates on issues involving the boaties, such as the
garbage service at the Government Dock.
He would also provide safety updates, “Please watch for boat traffic
coming into and out of Victoria Lake. We
don’t want anyone to die this year.” Bob
has a very dry, cynical sense of humor.
Then he would open it up to the boaters themselves. “If anyone has anything they would like to
share, come now.” Each morning provided
something fresh and funny to hear.
One morning we heard an obviously aged gentleman looking for
a yoga class, the next a pastor inviting folks for his Sunday
non-denominational service by the
volleyball nets along with requests for anyone who played an instrument to please
join them. The next morning we hear a
perky little boater saying she had heard there were some bridge players that
had just gotten in and if they would like to get a game of bridge going to
please contact her. In the meantime she
would be at the St. Francis resort playing poker that evening. We loved listening every day. It always made us laugh plus with the added bonus of keeping informed of the island happenings.
Ron and Mercedes onboard Samana told us about a lovely beach
that we enjoyed for several days. It was
on the east side of Stocking Island. We would dingy over to this tiny little
beach, tie up, and walk over the hill to Treasure Island Beach. I would rate this beach as one of the top 10
most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.
It was a couple of miles long with water breaking over the shallow reef
not far from shore. Not being frequented
but by a few boaters or tourists staying on the island we had it almost to
ourselves for two days straight. In an
hour or more of walking we saw only two people. The water is rough though and I wouldn’t
have wanted to swim in it, but for beauty it was lovely. (I forgot to bring my camera both days so
will post photos that I took with my phone later.)
One morning, heading into our private, two mile long beach
we saw a couple of dolphins in the bay.
It is a mama and baby that seem to hang out in the anchorage a lot. I threw on my snorkel gear and spent the next
20 minutes playing with baby. He was the
most playful little guy. He would turn
on his side and look at you as you dove down, then root around in the sand with
his nose, and look at you like, “did you see what I just did?” No matter how many times you see dolphins
they are always amazing.
Of course the highlight was the small congregation in
Georgetown that we attended while we were there. It was made up of about 20 or so publishers. I mentioned in my previous post how we met
about a fourth of the congregation the first day we got there. Their territory also includes the outlying
Exuma islands which they only get to about once a year or even once every two
years we were told. We enjoyed Thursday
meeting, went out in service on Saturday with the group, then we cleaned t
Terry using a machete to clean out the flower beds.
Bahamian drivers take driving to a whole new level. The roads are bumpy and narrow with sharp corners. They seem to take the red stop signs at each intersection as a suggestion and not a hard and fast rule, as rarely anyone stops at them. (We aren’t sure, but maybe it is only a suggestion since even the police didn’t stop either.) You definitely buckle up if riding as well as walk well off the road.
Some of the cleaning crew.
We had so much fun.
Then Sue McGregor and her husband Wendell invited us to
their home for dinner that night. (Sue
is the sister on the right)
They have a lovely home with a great view off their back
deck. Meeting fellow Witnesses is always
the highlight of every trip, isn’t it?
You always have something to talk about and end up making lifelong
friends.
We thought we would be in Georgetown for a bit longer (and
we were having such a great time I really didn’t mind)but our weather window
opened so we knew we needed to get going on Sunday. We decided to wait till the afternoon to head
out, that way we could get to the Sunday meeting. Terry had the privilege of giving the talk. They don’t get many visiting speakers so the
four brothers take turns giving the public talk. There is one elder and three ministerial
servants. They are very hardworking
brothers. It was worth waiting to head
out just to enjoy the association with the friends for one more day.
Vernon and Shanika Thomas (Special Pioneers in this congregation
for the last 6 years)
Wendell and Sue McGregor with Prince and Shamaris (Wendell and Sue act as adopted grandparents
to a lot of the kids. They are so sweet.
Shemaris doesn’t like his picture taken. Can you tell?)
Robert and June Rolles (I was able to work with her out in
the ministry on Saturday and Terry worked with Robert. We had a great time.)
When you dinghy into Georgetown from Elizabeth Harbor you come
into Lake Victoria. (This photo is
looking from the dinghy docks in Lake
Victoria out to Elizabeth Harbor) It seemed as though every time we would come
in the tide was going out, and every time we were going out the tide was coming
in. This equates to having a high
probability of getting wet as the current can get a little crazy through this
little cut. (I have some better pictures
on my phone but will have to post them later.) It was just the cutest little
bridge that you went under. Though with
the current it felt like a Disneyland ride at times.
Exuma Yacht Club (they were adjacent to the fuel dock)
Looking across from Georgetown to Stocking Island.
So Sunday afternoon we got fuel and water and headed
out. We were sad to leave the friends we
had just made and had truly enjoyed Georgetown but we didn’t want to lose any
time getting just a little bit closer to home.
We would love to return though.
