When we flew into Brunswick to pick up the boat after the summer storage we found that Brunswick GA had been converted into 1920’s Ybor City, FL for the filming of the Ben Afleck/Dennis Lehane movie “Live By Night”. “Live By Night” was one of the trilogy of books (fiction, well worth reading) by Lehane dealing with mobs and prohibition in the 20’s. The Brunswick downtown had been converted for a week of shooting the Ybor City scenes. Many buildings had false fronts, temporary balconies, the main street median had been torn out and the entire street covered with dirt, and old cars motored up and down the dusty road. Three days later the entire town had been restored to its current, small town state. The pictures here were after the dirt was removed. Needless to say this movie was the talk of the town and we look forward to seeing it soon.
Our latest excursion by boat began in mid-November and took us from Brunswick, down the length of Florida and then across the Gulf Stream to the southern Bahamas, aka the Exumas We had intended to sail the Exumas last spring, but we never got south of the Abacos, so we put the Exumas back on the schedule and once again headed off for the sunny southern cays. Of course the problem here is that the first half of the trip involves traveling the "length of Florida" and this is a very long state. At this time of year the “length of Florida” also involves some bad weather so the trip was once again down the “inside”. We did visit Cumberland Island again for a pleasant anchorage, and then we made an early stop in St. Augustine to haul the boat for a quick (minor) repair. We were out of the water for less than a week. That week allowed us to get reacquainted with St Augustine and our favorite bar (Hurricane Patty's) and our favorite restaurant (Back 40) there while we were "working on the boat". We also had the company or our friends Liz and Craig on Salida (sailed with us in Panama and Guatemala) who hauled their boat at the same time. Unfortunately they spent two long months on the hard and we had to leave them behind.
Weather was not a significant problem, but it was nasty enough outside (ocean) that we chose to motor on the inside (waterway) all the way to Palm Beach before ducking outside to Ft. Lauderdale and then Miami. Our one significant stop was Stuart, FL for a week on a mooring at the town marina. Stuart is a fun little town and it turned out to be a very comfortable week with plenty of opportunities to visit with other boaters and sample life in south Florida. We were in no hurry at this point since weather forecasts for crossing the Gulf Stream were pretty pessimistic. After Stuart we lingered in Ft Lauderdale and then Miami and Key Biscayne waiting for the weather gurus to yell “go” for the crossing.
Finally on Dec 16, a full month after heading south from Georgia, we made the crossing from Key Biscayne to Bimini. When you read the books this is a short trip (50 – 60 miles) from FL to the Bahamas. What they don’t mention is that once you get to Bimini you are nowhere. Actually you are a long way from nowhere. It’s still another 120 miles to Nassau and at “boat speed” that’s still two more days. We left Key Biscayne at dawn, entered the Bahama Banks late afternoon, and sailed into the evening finally anchoring in the middle of the banks (read a “long” way from any land) for a short rest. The following AM we set sail again. We found a buddy boat out there on the banks and they suggested Morgan’s Bluff on Andros Island for a check in port. Perfect. Morgan’s was calm and protected, the customs officers were polite and efficient and welcomed us warmly, and they had their own rum bar and restaurant in the harbor. There were big winds outside the anchorage, but we were snug and would be so until the winds shifted… which they did the very next day. For the rest of the trip, from Nassau to Georgetown, all winds blew AT US hard. I don’t think there was another weather window to cross to the Bahamas for at least a month after we sailed and our entire time in the Bahamas was spent hiding in anchorages and trying to sail against the wind whenever we moved. We did have a truly beautiful Christmas at Warderick Wells Cay which is the headquarters of the Exumas Land and Sea Park. About fifteen boats had gathered there in the fairly safe harbor well sheltered from both wind and waves, and we were all invited ashore to the park headquarters for Christmas. The park buildings sit on a hill overlooking the anchorage. The cruisers provided side dishes and desserts and the park employees came up with the turkey and ham. No snow, but turquoise water, white sand, and 70 degree temps is a good substitute. It was a great party in a fantastic setting and a memorable holiday for our ninth consecutive Christmas afloat.
From Warderick Wells south we tried to find calmer waters inside the chain of Cays, but any sailing was a series of long tacks across the wind to move anywhere. Staniel Cay was an interesting (and pretty) stop. Staniel Cay is the home of the swimming pigs and anyone with a little bit of food or water is welcome… by the pigs.
The Bahamas is both crowded and desolate. There are a lot of boats that head here for the winter from Canada, New England, the Chesapeake, Florida and the Gulf Coast states. They tend to congregate in some of the larger harbors so some islands definitely seem more crowded than the less accessible Western Caribbean. On the other hand the vast majority of islands are uninhabited and even the populated islands frequently have fewer than 100 people living there. We spent New Year’s Eve alone in Rudder Cut Cay and then sailed (to windward) to Georgetown on first day of 2016. The anchorage at Georgetown is well protected and HUGE. We were early in the season and still there were well over 100 boats here. Later in the winter when the Cruisers Regatta and the Family Regatta events draw cruisers from all over the number of boats will swell to between 300 and 400. That ranks up with some of the largest mooring fields/anchorages on the east coast of the US. 
Exploring Georgetown ashore occupied only a day or two. It is the biggest town in the southern Exumas yet there is just the one street through town. A well stocked grocery, a hardware/ supply store, some boat goods, a few bars, guest houses, food shacks, and very good library pretty much describes the town. Fresh water was available here and we hauled lots of jugs of reverse osmosis water back to the boat. We tried a “Rake and Scrape” (Bahamian music and dancing), had beers at the Chat ‘n Chill beach bar, walked a lot, explored a little and generally relaxed after our “passage” from Florida to Bimini to Nassau to Georgetown. We spent one Friday evening at the local “Fish Fry” (which had no fish that night). The fish fry took place at a waterfront area filled with small wooden shacks, each of which was a different restaurant and bar. Buy a beer at one place, food at another, rum drinks at a third. No one cared if you brought beers from next door into their restaurant. Our group of ten wandered through the multi-colored shacks buying drinks and sampling conch salads and fritters before settling down to a delicious dinner of ribs, chicken and lobster in an extremely “rustic” setting. The only drawback to a great night was a long, moonless dinghy ride back to the boats very late on a Friday night.
Georgetown is where we will leave the boat while we head home for one more (final?) tax season. We found a lovely guest house in one of the hurricane holes that has moorings available for boat storage. Kevali House will be home for Mañana until we return in March when we hope the winter winds have settled down and life will be just Another Day at the Beach.
Tom and Andrea
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