The Georgetown shuffle

We have now weathered two strong fronts blowing through Georgetown and have witnessed first hand what is referred to as the Georgetown Shuffle. Elizabeth Harbor is a mile wide and when strong winds blow from the opposite side, the long fetch* can build up quite a chop. For this reason, when high winds are forecast to clock around, multiple boats will prudently up anchor and move to the other side, seeking better shelter.

The front, which arrived yesterday, was forecast to clock quite quickly and for this reason, we decided to suck it up and keep the good spot that we had, in spite of the rockiness. That is until our shallow water anchorage turned into a no-water anchorage! Our boat should have no problem resting on her keels if the water recedes. Banging down on her keels in the chop is another matter. The bottom of the boat probably only hit the sand half a dozen times before we were in motion to get out of there. Being aground though, moving was a tad tricky but our well-set anchor and strong windlass were able to help us get into deeper water, kedging us off with little drama.

Still on the same side of the bay, we now have a beautiful view, anchored just in front of the monument at Monument Beach. I heard on the cruisers net yesterday that this monument, and others like it, are in place on various islands to allow mariners of old to know that salt was available there. Interesting. Down side to this new anchor spot? Although the paid internet access that we had at the other place was hit or miss, the access here is, up to this point, non-existent. 🙁

So what does one do for entertainment in unsettled weather? We took advantage of the SW winds yesterday afternoon to explore the now-calm east side of Stocking Island. Although we got soaked (completely!) on the dinghy ride back to ZTC, before that we had an excellent hike along the shoreline, finding several large caves, sand dunes and rugged rocks. Our bumpy evening was spent on board ZTC, playing Yahtzee and practicing playing music. A nice quiet contrast to last night’s party circuit.