Stranded in Georgetown

Hello friends.

You might have sensed the frustration building among Dan and I from that last post.  We  continue to wait for that right wind to blow so we can get on our way to the Dominican Republic to help out with the orphanage. We’ve been in Georgetown, Bahamas since January 1…waiting.
Georgetown is filled with cruisers almost entirely over 55 years. There are very few “young” sailors like Dan and I. I used to think it was because they were simply boaters were who had careers, worked, retired and then bought a boat. But after 11 days waiting for wind, it dawned on me that might not be the case. I’ve started wondering if these sailors were once young just like us, headed around the world, but then got to Georgetown and have been waiting ever since.

Well two days ago we decided we had waited long enough. Wind or no wind we were going to sail! We pulled anchor and set off into the wind. Just having the sails up again was invigorating.  We were moving again. Not very fast, but moving. To sail into the wind you have to tack- basically zig-zag back and forth at steep angles into the wind. Well after a good 15-20 miles of sailing it was clear we were not making any ground. So… back to Georgetown.

But everything happens for a reason, right? When we got back to our little colony of boats, Dan had to replace a light at the top of the mast. He got suited up and shimmied his way up. Fixed the light and came back down. “We’ve got a problem,” he said. “Look at this…”

Dan handed me the camera he carried to the top of the mast. I looked at a couple strips of metal. “Now zoom in…” The picture he took was of the metal strips that hold the “stays” or support lines for the mast. As I zoomed in, the crack became clear. It was split all the way through. If that piece gave, the support lines would have come down and if the sail was up the mast would have too.

Count your blessings I guess. Yes we’re stuck here in Georgetown… but better here than in the middle of the ocean. At least here we have a community of retirees to do yoga, play volley ball or Texas hold ’em with. Now the hard part: finding a piece of metal, reinforcing the support and getting all of that done in time for the winds that are predicted to clock around over the next couple of days.

Keep your fingers crossed would ya? For the parts, for Dan and I… for the children. 🙂

I’ll keep you posted.