On Friday we sailed wing on wing which we can only do with calm seas because we have to sail with the main to wind and the jib to the lee because we do not have a whisker pole for flying the jib to wind. We averaged about 4.5 knots over the six miles to Governors Harbour (note the Bahamian spelling).
Governors Harbour was the first capital of the Bahamas, prior to Nassau. It has good protection except from the west and is beautiful to see with its nice seawall, semi-circle of sand, government buildings and prettily painted houses climbing the hillsides.
Friday night we went to the fish fry that happens every week. The menu options were pork chops, fish or chicken with sides of mac'n'cheese, cole slaw and included peas and rice. Afterwards we enjoyed street dancing to the recorded sounds of rake'n'scrape and reggae. Ann and Sheila spent several hrs. checking out grocery stores and walking around while Ed and Chris spent the afternoon hanging out at a local pub, chatting with the owner, playing pool and we all chatted with a local musician, Dr. Seabreeze. The ladies meet a local woman who requested any items that we didn't want on our boat; clothes, household items, etc. so we were able to help her. It is nice to meet the local people. We have been taking turns with Never Bored sharing rides in the dinghy so we both don't put down our dinghy and we went into town at low tide and at night, Ed waded out, hiking up his shorts because the tide had come in. Always interesting times with the dinghy. Sometimes
we stay dry and other times not so much.
Saturday, we walked up the hill, about a 175 foot climb, and down to the Atlantic beach which has pink sand, private homes and one small resort. The large resort was cleared away by Hurricane Andrew. Naturally, we stopped and enjoyed shopping and libations on the way back. We visited the Beach House Bar and the Bucenneer Pub; we try to support the local hangouts.
Fisherman had brought their catch back to the harbour for cleaning and sale. Mostly snapper and grouper they caught with lines 500 feet down using 1/4 pound weights.
Sunday we went on to Hatchet Bay but the wind was very light between 2 and 8 knots. So it was a slow sail of 16 miles. We used the spinnaker but we did not finish until 3:15 after starting at 10:30. At the end the wind direction changed so we had a close reach the last 1.4 miles.
Hatchet Bay has a very narrow entrance with rock walls on either side. We went ashore and it was hot, about 88 degrees with little breeze. We walked around Alice Town which was not too different from a lot of communities with many churches, homes in various degrees of repair but the people well dressed, polite and friendly. We talked to a local man about his water purification plant and watched the fast ferry come in from Nassau unloading people and vehicles before loading the same for the trip back. We then adjourned for dinner back to Windswept Dreams.
We continue to sail with Never Bored, at least for one or two more days. We met a couple from California in the harbour and talked to them about Panama and other places. It is interesting to learn about the places to go from people who have gone before.
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