Sailing Ohana

I will look back on our last few days in Georgetown as a challenging and pivotal time. There were several pretty heated conversations within our family about how the trip is going — not only practically, but emotionally. On one day we argued about every. Single. Thing. All. Day. That was the same day that we pulled up anchor and anchored closer to the grocery store, went to the grocery store, did laundry, got gas for the dinghy, moved the boat to a new anchor spot, dropped the anchor there, and had to bring food to a big potluck dinner at Flip Flop beach. The boys are loving life on the boat, which is important. I love it too and am learning a lot about myself… But some days I just want to go home.

It can be hard to live on a boat, and it’s a very small space. There are a lot of chores and never-ending projects. Things aren’t simple like they are at home. For example: we don’t just get in the car and go to the store. A trip to the store sometimes requires that we pull up our anchor and take the big boat closer to town and the store, if the water is too rough for a longer dinghy ride. If we can go by dinghy without moving the big boat, we always get at least a little wet and sometimes soaked. When we get to town we must find a place to secure the dinghy. We walk to the store (could be a long, hot walk), then stock up at the store, hoping they have a decent selection that day. The shipping boat comes to Georgetown on Tuesdays so right after that is when the stores might have better stuff in shock. We can only buy what our family can carry in our shopping bags and backpacks and will fit onto the dinghy with all of us, then we walk back to the dinghy, load the groceries, and head back to the big boat. Lately because there has been so much wind, it’s really bumpy and I spend a lot of the drive trying to keep precious produce from being bruised. Once we tie the dinghy up to the boat and unload everything, we have to find space to store what we bought, which can seem like a jigsaw puzzle at times. This extra effort applies to most daily chores like doing dishes by hand using buckets of water we pull up from the ocean, disposing of trash, doing laundry. Most of the time it’s fine; it’s all part of the adventure. Sometimes however, it’s a huge pain in the ass.

We played with friends at Chat n’ Chill, had a wonderful lunch with a handful of other kid boats at Peace & Plenty, and Tommy hosted a kid poker tournament on our boat. We have been feeling anxious to move on after being in Georgetown for so long. With the weather predicted to change again soon, we started planning the Raggeds trip with some friends who have been there a few times.

Docking at the Exuma Yacht Club for diesel and water was a challenge since they never answer their radio. A fellow cruiser heard us hailing the yacht club and let us know the main guy’s cell number, so I called him right away. He had us come in at noon and park behind a party barge and in front of a big motor yacht. Tommy did a great job in a tight space with current and wind. I ran to the nearby Exuma Market while we filled up, and was thrilled to find that they had tons of tortilla chips and cheeses, among other things. It was about a thousand degrees and 90% humidity so when I lugged back my backpack and two bags full of groceries back to the dock, I left a river of sweat behind me. There was a loud, aggressive power boat in the harbor flying an oversized “Let’s go Brandon” flag. Sad that in this quaint, peaceful part of the world that kind of thing still shows up.

I’m looking forward to a change of scenery, but will also be happy to be back in again Georgetown soon, to welcome our dear friends from home.