A Cruising Metropolis – Spearing, Sharks & New Friends
The more I travel, the more I feel the word stranger slipping from my vocabulary. Sure, we’re driven by curiosity, the thirst for adventure and a deep desire to see the wonders of the world. But many of our fondest memories have more to do with the people we’ve encountered rather than the places we visit.
Our best friendships, like the bail-you-out-of-jail kind, have been forged through adventures. So after months of Bahamian islands mostly to ourselves, sailing into the harbor towards George Town felt like driving across the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco.
It was clear we had arrived at the cruising metropolis.
We’ve seen more boats in the Exumas than anywhere else in the Bahamas, but Elizabeth Harbour is a whole new level of popular. As we rounded each bend, more boats of all shapes and sizes were revealed and my excitement meter was rising. An eddy of salty souls swirling about from who knows where, that have done who knows what, and here we all are anchored together. It’s a full-on convergence!
Cruising around in the dinghy we were like a couple of wide eyed freshmen aimlessly riding around a college campus. Luckily, we already knew of at least one friend in the neighborhood who could give us a proper introduction to the area.
We spent nearly a month in the George Town and Stocking Island vicinity, yet I can’t tell you much about what to do on land. But, I can tell you it’s a fantastic place to meet up with old friends and make loads of new ones!
A big thanks to Alex of s/v Aqua Bob for the good times, sharing his mad spearfishing skills and bringing his (working) drone! And thanks to all you salty cruisers who stopped by to share stories, words of wisdom and rum. It really is the boating community that makes this place unique.
Stocking Island is only a little less than 3 miles long but you can hike almost the entire ocean side of the island. There are several different access points along the beach to get from one side to the other. It’s rugged, beautiful and never once was it crowded. It became our go to hike most days, even the super windy ones. In fact, I would say the more intense the wind and weather, the more fun it was to go. I love watching the ocean churn up the water and send waves pounding into the rocks…that is as long as Curiosity is safely tucked into a protected anchorage.
Sailing Report
To see our full map with interactive pins, click here: gonewiththewynns.com/map
Dates: February 20 – March 15, 2017
Nautical Miles Sailed: None. We motored from Stocking Island to George Town for a blow and then back over for another blow. Seems to be the way it goes around here. We never had trouble finding a spot to drop the hook at any of the anchorages.
Anchorage: We spent most of our days anchored out side of Stocking Island (Sand Dollar Beach Anchorage) due to the direction of the wind, but we did move around. There are spots to anchor all along both Stocking Island and George Town and I can’t say that any one location is better than another. It all depends on what you want to look out on, what you want to be close to and the direction of the wind and swell. The anchorages can be found easily on Active Captain with additional info and reviews.
Cell & WiFi: Our cell phone signal/data worked well here. There are plenty of restaurants in town with decent wifi as well.
Gear Used In This Video
- Portable Floating VHF w/GPS: http://amzn.to/2hwEoK7
- Dinghy: gonewiththewynns.com/dinghy-swap-ab-highfield
- Mantus Lights to Light Up The Boat, very important in crowded anchorages: gonewiththewynns.com/product/lights-torches
- Mantus Anchor: https://www.gonewiththewynns.com/product/mantus-anchor
- Hawaiian Sling Spear: http://amzn.to/2hIBfHb
- Snorkel/Dive Gear
- Hammerhead Free-Dive Mask With Camera Mount http://amzn.to/2d5C6SB
- Hammerhead Free-Dive J Snorkel: http://amzn.to/2cjh3dV
- Jason’s Omer Freediving Fins: http://amzn.to/2kIhljK
- Nikki’s Sporasub Freediving Fins: http://amzn.to/2kIYmlf
Cameras Used to Capture This Video
- Sony A7ii: http://bit.ly/a7rii-sony
- Sony Zoom Mic: https://www.gonewiththewynns.com/product/sony-gun-zoom-microphone-black
- Sony 24 – 70mm f4 lens: http://bit.ly/2470-zeiss
- Sony Action Cam: http://bit.ly/sony-as300
- All of our up to date photo and editing gear: gonewiththewynns.com/best-travel-camera-video-photography
So happy to have you along for the adventure! If you enjoyed this post, check out our Say Thanks page. It lists out some ways you can show us some digital love and most won’t cost a penny.
