And then there were two.

The good food isn’t the only good part of George Town. We were able to get Christmas gifts at Sandpiper (Anna Ewart – get excited), I had a massage at Peace & Plenty, we went to a Fishing Contest at Regatta Park, and the best yet was a trip to Eddie’s Edgewater for local Rake ‘n’ Scrape. It is a group of five guys – one on a guitar, one on a drum, one on a steel drum – and then the interesting ones. The other two instruments are something I had never seen before the first is a simple hand saw being played with a screwdriver and when you bend the saw it makes different noises and the other is a string attached to a metal drum which are both attached to a stick. The music itself is infectious and it causes everyone to dance – it seems similar to Zydaco or Jamaican music, but the strange instruments bring a new distinction to it.

But not only are there all of the activities and people in George Town (and the large retirement-like community of the yachters), but there is also the beautiful nature of Stocking Island (which I got far too acquainted with already). As we are anchored right outside of the large white monument on the island, we just had to go climb the monument (Mom and I) with Zephyr so that we could see the view. Once up there, although now riddled with mosquito bites, we did get to see the entire anchorage from above and get a close up of an Osprey nest – baby birds included!

Mom picked up a coconut during our hike so we had fresh coconut curry soup!

Remember those books that were popular for kids about 15 years ago. The ones that had tabs across the side and as the puppies would run off you would learn that 9 puppies minus 1 puppy equals 8 puppies. Well we are losing a puppy. With Grandma being 92 and about to have some teeth pulled Mom decided she wanted to be at home, also we are about to do some intense blue water sailing (big crosses from here to Turks & Caicos, then Dominican Republic, and then Puerto Rico) so she is also just happening to be missing this also. She will be sorely missed, but Dad and I both believe she is needed at home. We spent the last few days watching the weather, replacing our first reefing line and topping lift on the main sail, and other things like getting diesel and doing laundry. Last night we went to Regatta Park and watched a Christmas celebration with the Royal Bahamian Marching Band, which did the most amazing turns and steps while playing Christmas songs.

The weather is looking very bad for the next few days, so tomorrow morning we are bringing Mom to the airport, provisioning, and then taking the boat and tucking it into Red Shanks which is just a safe island area a bit south of George Town. We will stay here for Thursday through Sunday and hopefully leave for an overnight sail to Rum Cay and then another overnight sail to Mayaguana Island before leaving the Bahamas and doing a final crossing to Turks and Caicos.

For your appreciation, I really don’t know exactly who is reading this, but it seems like every once and a while I hear of another random person reading the blog. So thank you all family and friends, campers, boaters, college friends, high school friends, random folks – thank you all so much for your love and support. We miss you all quite a lot. (Also, Mom might not reactivate the phones when she is home, so don’t think she is ignoring you!)