George Town Cruisers

The George Town Cruisers' Regatta is the height of the season for many who cruise to and through the Bahamas. When we first got to George Town there were about 270 boats in the harbor. By Regatta Week there were close to 500. Elizabeth Harbor is about five miles long and one and a half miles wide. Within that area there are five major anchorages, so even at its worst the harbor didn't seem crowded.

This year the fun was started off with a 'dinghy bridge'. DinghyBridge.jpg (10775 bytes)

Several hundred folks got out in the harbor in their dinghies and tied up end to end until they were strung all the way across the 1.5 mile wide harbor. It took nearly two hours of chaos before the bridge was complete. When it was done a helicopter from the local U.S. Army base did a fly over to take pictures.

Each year there is a theme to the Regatta. This year it was 'George Town Cruisers' Regatta: A Space Odyssey'. Below is a photo of the dinghy dock on a quiet day during the week. On a crowded day the dinghies are four and five deep. Each trip to town becomes an odyssey to find space to tie up at the dinghy dock. The other photo shows the 'George Town stand'. Yes, folks dangerously stand up in order to get across the harbor and stay somewhat dry.

The regatta is nine days of fun and games for both the cruisers and the locals of all ages. I'll not bore you with a day by day recounting of the events, but there were talent shows showcasing lip synching, karaoke, conch blowing, skits, dancing and musical talent. There was a whole day for kids: sack races, tug of war, model boat races, treasure hunts, and other games.


The kids are poised around the edge of a volley ball court in anticipation of the hunt for quarters dropped in the sand.	Pirate Larry is briefing the kids so that they can help him find his buried treasure.

	On the left Diana is fishing. The 'rod' and line had a hook at the end. Another parent hid behind a screen and attached a prize as each kid fished.
	Another activity was 'Pin the patch on the Pirate'. Behind Diana you can see the schedule of kids' events.

	At the pudding eating contest many kids cleaned the bowl with their hair after slurping it out of the bowl without the use of their hands.
	Diana particpates in the Tug-o-war, boys against girls. In the Moms against Dads event the Moms dropped the rope so that the Dads fell on their butts.

Then, of course there were the usual sporting contests for adults and children. We didn't enter the big boat races, of which there were two; a race around the harbor and a race around Stocking Island. In short I was too big a coward and looked for excuses not to participate. "We might run aground or run into someone else, Maria's departure conflicts with the Stocking Island Race so if we can't enter that one then we shouldn't enter the other, etc. etc." When all was said and done, we should have raced.

Christopher had a great time at regatta week. The model boat that he built, a trimaran with schooner rig, won both the upwind and downwind races.

	On the left is Chrisopher's yacht under construction. He used black trash bags for sails. Some of the other entrants are pictured above and below. One of the boats was a catamaran built from soda bottles with sand ballast, gaff rigged main, and roller furling head stay! Oh yes, the boats had to built from flotsam and jetsam that the kids found on their own boats or on the beach.

Christopher and another teenager won the adult, doubles kayak race. He won the rowing dinghy race for senior men. He won the 50 yard freestyle race for teens and he won the snorkel - treasure dive race for teens. I, on the other hand, didn't do as well. As a result of inexperience leading to a bad strategic error, I finished fourth in the sailing dinghy race. I got third in the men's 50 yard freestyle race, third in the rowing dinghy race (yes, behind Christopher), and I won the men's snorkel - treasure dive race. So, at the end of the week we had six race pennants to fly from our rigging.

Maria and Diana flew home on March 15. The plan was that Christopher and I would start toward home on or about March 18 when the regatta festivities were over. Of course Mother Nature had different plans. Almost as soon as regatta was over two cold fronts came through. This delayed us until March 21 at the earliest. As everyone sat around waiting, the teenagers found a reason to stay in George Town a day or two more. They could not possibly miss Ainsley's birthday on Friday! So, we didn't get out of George Town until Saturday, March 24.