Civilization?

Yesterday we hit Georgetown, the last cruisers refuge before you leave the safety of the bank (protected shallow water). A lot of people get stuck here … forever! There is a hurricane hole on the north side of the harbor that is packed with boats that no longer move. Some are cruisers too scared to go further, some are just retired people living on their boats, and some are drop outs in floating plywood shacks like you would see in Sausalito. They all seem to walk over the hill to the beach everyday and then back to the boat at night with weekly trips to town across the harbor for provisions. It seems like it might be fun for a little while, but a ‘Sartre’-like prison in the long term.

Across the harbor (where we are) is town. It is our first non private-island marina ‘civilization’ since we set-out. Arriving on a Sunday before a Monday holiday has limited what is open, but we have plenty of things to do on the boat in preparation for the 250nm trip to Turks and Caicos coming up. If we can get gas, vegetables, bread and eggs before we leave on Tue. morning; I will be very happy.

Last night we went ashore to look around and get some dinner, but with few things open we caught a taxi out of town for the local fish fry. To our surprise we stumbled upon a Japanese ‘destination’ wedding party … and it was karaoke night! After an hour enduring the worst drunk best man ‘bro’ speech ever and a, thankfully brief, juvenile maid of honor toast ( … “we used to sneak out of our houses and braid each other’s hair” … the bride, and her friend were VERY young); finally the food arrived. Grouper, conch, and snapper all fried and all delicious. The snapper was labeled as ‘broiled’ because it was simmered in a tomato based stock after it was fried. Our last dish was the pig foot ‘souse’ which is a Caribbean style boney pork stew. No part of the pig seemed to be spared, but it was also very tasty.

After a dark wet dinghy ride home since we forgot the light and dinner took a bit longer than expected, we tucked in for the night. The harbor is wonderfully breezy which makes for cool sleeping with no bugs but is also protected by reefs from the surge so it is calm. I can see why some people get stuck here, but after 18 hours I am ready to get back to the open water.

8 thoughts on “Civilization?

  1. Hey guys, the blog looks fabu thus far…easy to navigate and the pics open up nicely! Keep up the good work 🙂

  2. Sounds like you are experiencing a microcosm of the ‘real world’. Around one bend is a gaggle of tourists and around the next may be a gaggle of groupers!
    We are looking forward to ‘hooking up’ with our water buddies soonish. I am going to Puerto Rico for one week in early October with my friend Mimi. Then Wren and I will meet up with you the week before or after Puerto Rico depending on your position and route.

  3. Love the blog so far. The stories are really entertaining. Your travels sound like so much fun. Can’t wait for the next one.

  4. Love reading this … Bro speech lol … You guys will have stories to last a very long time. Thanks for including the rest of us for the ride.

    • Glad that you are coming along with us in our journey and hope together to see you along the way.

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