Georgetown wrap-up — Cupcake Afloat

Last night we stopped at The Marina at Emerald Bay to do laundry. The marina has a deal where laundry is included in the dockage fee, so we figured that the six loads of laundry we needed to wash (including mattress pads!) would cost us at least $40 at a laundromat and would require a trip in the dinghy across Elizabeth Harbour in Georgetown (a wet, salty ride). So the marina cost seems very reasonable. And the boat is clean as a whistle: we used the shore power to charge batteries, run the vacuum cleaner, charge the toothbrushes, run all the lights and fans, and generally go hog wild with electricity.

Despite the free wifi (which is astonishingly slow), I squandered my time here and did not draft an insightful, thorough, engaging, informative post like I typically do. All you get is this slap-dash submission.

Georgetown was a great time. We fully enjoyed the Cruisers Regatta and ended up staying an extra day so Moss could compete in (and win) the model boat construction and race event.

John, Moss, and Jonathan with Aquamoffin. — John, Moss, and Jonathan with *Aquamoffin*.

She and her pal John from Mojo and Jonathan (excellent name, by the way) from Vivens Aqua built a voodoo catamaran. The boat was rigged with woven palm-frond sails. Ellen had a field day teaching the kids how to weave, and we all pitched in to get Aquamoffin ship shape.

The kids all gathered for the race at the Fruit Bowl. (Side note: the Fruit Bowl is a little protected basin near where many cruisers anchor in Georgetown. It’s named the Fruit Bowl because a handful of moored houseboats are available for rent, each named for a fruit. Mango, Pineapple, Tangerine. You get the idea.)

The variety of junk the cruiser kids lashed, taped, hot-glued together was pretty impressive. But Aquamoffin had size and sail-area on all of them. Moss and her team won, Moss got to take home the prize: a Regatta t-shirt.

In less salutary news, the dinghy outboard died. I won’t get into the details because they are still irksome to me. But basically, the carburetor is clogged and leaking. (Ironic, isn’t it? The carburetor, at the same time, refuses to pass fuel to the engine but is ready, even eager to dribble fuel everywhere else.) I’ll get it all fixed, I am reasonably certain. I am hopeful I will get it fixed in time to pick up Jim, Sherry, and Eliot at the airport so they don’t need to swim to Cupcake when they arrive on Wednesday.

The accursed outboard (on the right…I’m the one on the left).

(If you’re reading this in time, Jim, see if you can find a carburetor rebuild kit for a Nissan NS 5B engine. It’s not critical but it would probably be a good idea to have one on hand.)

Cruising tip of the day: check to see if your outboard engine comes from the factory with a fuel filter. Because if it doesn’t… Anyway, if like the Nissan we have, it doesn’t come with a fuel filter, you might want to install one. I actually have a fuel filter I brought as a spare, unaware that Nissan didn’t even bother to install one at the factory. I will be installing the filter when I get back to working on that greasy, smoky, unreliable engine later today.)

Beach on the Exuma Sound side of Georgetown.

Dinghy full of supplies from Georgetown: groceries under the dry bag. (Why not in the dry bag? Long story.) Also propane and water and beer we found for just $24/case which is why we got light beer.