It was Saturday afternoon when we first set out to explore the town and by great good luck we ran into an Under-12 baseball game between the Spanish Wells Divers and a Nassau team called the Conchs who had come on the ferry (a 2-hour ride, one of them said) especially for the game. The local team won, but the visitors seemed to enjoy their outing anyway.

It is different from most places we have visited so far in that its economy is not tourist-centered. Spanish Wells is largely populated by fishermen who catch lobsters (either by diving or in traps) and set nets for fish, depending on the season.

The vessel of choice appears to be a South Carolina shrimper which (at least in the case of lobster divers) acts as the mother ship for a small fleet of speedy outboards. The fall of the hoisting boom is universally used to hold up the center of a canopy over the working deck.

Over the next two days we worked our way from the north end of Eleuthera to the northern Exuma Cays, a chain of small islands running essentially north-south on the eastern edge of a shallow bank. The first day, when we ran across the Bight of Eleuthera, was instructive. We had not paid too much attention to the weather, figuring we would be in the lee of the island, and we were, but sometimes 30 miles away from it! We had no ocean seas, but we did have a steep wind-chop.

The next night we spent anchored behind Norman's Cay, along with a few other boats (an isolated anchorage is a rare thing in the Bahamas, we were learning). Norman's Cay was a center of cocaine smuggling activity in the late 70s and early 80s, but now it is very peaceful, or at least it was until a chartered mega-yacht disgorged two teenagers on very high-powered jet-skis that careened throgh the anchorage at high speed.

One advantage of the Exuma Cays is that one never has to go very far to find another nice place, and we were always torn between our desire to get south and the thought of seeing one more spot. After Norman's we had only a short hop to Warderick Wells, the center of the Exuma Land and Sea Park.

At the park headquarters there is a population of banaquits, little warbler-like birds, that addressed us with some importunity as we came out after checking in. We did not know what was going on until a friend pointed out the sugar jar and told us that they would eat sugar out of our hands.

Our mooring was some distance from the park headquarters and in a wonderfully quiet area. The next morning we snorkeled on a coral reef maybe 50 yards away; it was not spectacular but very beautiful with a great variety of different fish. I took this picture looking down from the side of the boat as we left the anchorage to try and give an impression of the clarity and color of the water over the very white sand. It does not really do the clarity justice; in ten feet you can see every detail of the bottom, and in fifteen you can see most of it.

This turned out to be a great idea. The nicely protected anchorage was by no means isolated (something like 28 boats) but there was plenty of room and the main town, Black Point, is a fishing village that seemed very comfortable to us. The fishermen are renowned in the Bahamas, and the women have a strong line in articles plaited from palm fronds.

From March to Easter is sloop racing season in the Bahamas, apparently, and everywhere we went in the Exumas and south we saw traditional Bahamian sloops being readied or repaired. In Black Point alone we saw three on moorings and a pile of spars at the edge of the government dock. This boat was being rebuilt - the work is well done, but I never did find out who was doing it.

The boarding was an Event. Lines were tossed ashore to whoever took them and put

After the excitement of the ferry we were pretty worn out and headed back to the boat, but we met Kevin and Karen from Dream Seeker and were seduced into attending happy hour at Scorpio's, the local bar. This turned out to be a good idea - not only were Kevin and Karen good people but the atmosphere was really very pleasant.

There were something over 200 boats in Georgetown Harbor, and the VHF was full of chatter about a Valentine's Day bash at a beach bar near where we were anchored, but we had no real interest and stayed on the boat, celebrating the day with a good dinner and a nice bottle of wine, one given to us at Barbara's launching by a well-wisher.

We walked around a little and found Georgetown somewhat puzzling. The harbor is home to a huge number of boats during the winter (and this winter was said to be slow, which is not too surprising), but there are very few boat services (especially in comparison to Marsh Harbour or Spanish Wells) beyond an excellent grocery. The cruisers make their own social life, and in fact I haven't seen anything more organized since summer camp. During the week the streets are full of yachties and it is hard to find a spot to tie the dinghy, but there seems to be almost no interaction between them and the locals.

We had heard a great deal about Geeorgetown, and are happy to have seen it for ourselves, but it is not the kind of place we would want to spend much time. On the Tuesday we hoisted the dinghy aboard and set out for the south entrance to the harbor.

We bought a few groceries and a gallon or so of gas for the dinghy outboard. After asking the way, we walked about a mile up the road to KC Tools, which is also Fox Gift Shop, Cartwright's Construction, and the Salt Pond post office and mailed a couple of letters to friends.

Here too there are racing sloops. We passed one on her trailer in the side yard of a busy garage, all painted up and looking very ready to go, with her very long spars lying next to her.

In due course (which is to say in the early afternoon) we arrived at Rum Cay and worked our way through the cut in the reef to Port Nelson.

We passed one very beautiul church. There was no indication of its denomination, but we thinnk from the color scheme and style that it is Anglican. On an island that is clearly not what anyone would call rich, the church is still beautifully maintained and its grounds manicured.

It was hot walking around, and we stopped at a little bar with a sand floor. A couple of fishermen were lounging outside, just as they do at home on their off days, but here they were in the shade under palm trees. After a while they came in, got sodas, and shot a couple of slow games of pool. The bar walls are covered with pictures of peoples families and it is clearly a community center.