Regatta

     Many cruisers look down on Georgetown and the boaters who choose to reside there all winter. The scores of people and the assortment of organized activities make the whole place seem like a summer camp for retired people. Many scoff at the idea of staying in one place all winter when the Caribbean is full of other wonderful places to sail and explore. I happen to greatly enjoy Georgetown, and even though spending the duration of the winter here seems like too much for me, I can understand why many people love to do so. The harbor is safe, the people are friendly, the atmosphere is happy, and of course the supermarket is well stocked. The cherry on top of the winter season in Georgetown is the annual Cruiser’s Regatta, which is currently under way.

            The Regatta is a blast. It would be easy to laugh at it’s corniness and just not participate in the various events, but if you’re willing to make a fool of yourself and have a good laugh, Regatta can be a whole lot of fun. The first Regatta event we entered was the Coconut Challenge. Rachel, my mother, our friend Marilyn, and I all donned t-shirts with drawn on coconut bikinis and piled into an engine-less dinghy to paddle our way around the harbor on a desperate quest for floating coconuts. We didn’t do particularly well, but we had so much fun dousing our friends with bucketfuls of water while in pursuit of coconuts.

            I spent one day volunteering at the Regatta Children’s Day events in Georgetown. Rachel, Jake, and I were too old to participate but we helped supervise and oversee the games that the little kiddos were playing. It was very cute. They all beat me at Simon Says though, a slight hit on my ego.

            My parents and I also signed up for the rowing races since we are one of the few boats with a dinghy that has no engine. My dad won in the men’s category, beating even a couple of very strong young fellows. My mother came in first in the women’s category by a large margin as well. When it came time for the kid’s rowing race, I discovered that I was the only person signed up. The race never happened but I got to claim the candy prize just for showing up. My parents each won a blue flag and a bottle of rum for their achievements. The next night they went to Trivial Pursuit and ended up winning more flags as well as ten dollars in gift cards to the grocery store. The Langworthys are cleaning up the prizes around here!

            My friend Reg from the sailboat Messenger invited me to be a part of the Regatta’s inflatable dinghy sailing race with him. We spent the better part of one afternoon lashing an extremely tippy mast and two sails onto his dinghy. We got slaughtered in the race against the other home-made sailing rigs but it was very fun. I made up a little flag with our names and everything.

            We entered White Seal in the Elizabeth Harbor Race next. The course had the boats sailing through the anchorage, which meant we had to be on our toes at all times. Fortunately, White Seal is very nimble and quick to turn so maneuvering through the haphazardly anchored boats wasn’t too sketchy for us. We got third in our class and it was so much fun. It was my first race and I discovered that I really enjoy the intensity and strategy that define sailboat racing. The wind was around 20 and we were MOVING.

            We also participated in the around Stocking Island Race, which as you might infer took us all around Stocking Island. The course was about 18.5 miles, half of which were out in the ocean. The wind was 16-18 knots and the pounding of the waves offshore caused me to be quite ill. We were one of the first boats to cross the start line and we quickly established a solid lead over the other small boats in our class. Much to our surprise and delight, the larger, faster boats that started a few minutes after us didn’t catch us until we were about 3 miles from the finish line. As we rounded the buoy back into Elizabeth Harbor we were still the boat in the lead, which gave everyone aboard a feeling of extreme satisfaction. We crossed the finish line third, a dang good race for us considering our competition. We got third in our class again.

            In addition to the constant stream of organized Regatta Events, my life has been loaded with parties and girls nights with my wonderful cruising friends. In addition to Rachel and Jake, I’ve been hanging out with Michelle, Reg, Eric, Courtney, John, and Michaela. Unfortunately we all will be splitting up soon, but until then we are all just living it up and spending a ton of time together. It is so nice to have a social life again after months of being home with your parents on Friday nights. I’d almost forgotten how nice it is to have an Oreos and peanut butter feast/ toenail-painting extravaganza with your girlfriends. (Depressing, eh?)

            Regatta ended this weekend and tomorrow we will slowly begin our long journey back north. Yes, north. Back towards home and the life I sailed away from last fall. I thought I’d be relieved and happy to turn back, but to be totally honest I love it here and leaving Georgetown is going to be as sad as leaving Vermont was-if not more so. I’m trying to soak up as much happiness from this place as possible; I haven’t yet wrapped my brain around the devastating concept that I am soon leaving my Georgetown friends and adopting the solitary life patterns of living and traveling on the ICW. But enough with this sadness. Regatta has been great, but heading north will be wonderful too!

            Tomorrow we will go to Cat Island along with our dear friends on Sisu. From their we will head up to Eleuthera and maybe then to the Berry Islands. It will be nice to be on the move and see new places for a change!

            P.S. Enjoy the pictures, the Internet finally cooperated and decided to let me upload them!

Our Coconut collecting team and our classy uniforms...

White Seal crossing the finish line after the around Stocking Island Race!!

My old man crossing the finish line at the rowing race. Go Charlie!

My fam up by the monument on Stocking Island.

The L.N. Coakley High School band in Exuma plays some songs for visitors.

Reg and I preparing to set sail in our home-made sailing rig.

The ocean side of Stocking Island