After our trip south to the Ragged Islands we returned to the Georgetown area in mid-February, for lots more fun in this beautiful cruiser friendly area. Tom jumped right back into helping out with the morning local VHF cruisers net and Anita volunteered in the choir at Beach Church.
Elizabeth harbor has at least a dozen good anchorages to choose from. We like to spend 3-5 days in a location, then move on to another. They all have different things to offer. We’ll take this opportunity to expand on a few.
Kidds Cove is the anchorage closest to Georgetown and dinghy access to Lake Victoria where shops, laundry and restaurants and entertainment abound. The anchorage is often bouncy due to a lot of boat traffic. We plan our trips here around the weather and tides. Calm seas and a slack current make for a much more pleasant trip into town for provisions.
Goat Cay is a quiet picture perfect anchorage with swimming, snorkeling and a gorgeous beach. Plus an easy walk to propane refills, a pharmacy with groceries, and a hardware store. It’s a longer walk to our favorite butcher shop and grocery, but doable from here as well. The bay is open to the north but offers great shelter otherwise. A shallow area near the bay entrance keeps deep draft boats out.
Monument Beach is directly across the harbor from Goat Cay and offers numerous trails across Stocking Island to the ocean side beach or up to the monument. There are also several gathering spots for cruisers with fire pits and make shift tables and benches.
Chat n Chill or Volleyball Beach is our next favorite beach on Stocking Island. The former is a business and has a bar/restaurant and gift shop on this area of the island. We enjoyed their Sunday pig roast for the first time this year. Fantastic place to meet up with cruisers every afternoon. A place to enjoy chatting with new and old friends, music jam sessions, volleyball, card games, dominoes, basket weaving, sailing topic lectures, or a walk on the beach. Oh, and beach church on Sundays is held here.
Sand Dollar Beach is one of my favorite anchorages, though it can be a bit bouncy in a south breeze. East winds are perfect here. Beautiful long beaches to walk on and several trails that cross to the ocean side of the island. An artist trail decorated by cruisers is a favorite. There are several gathering spots on the beaches of this anchorage as well.
We had one strong Norther where we hid out in our favorite anchorage behind Crab Cay in Red Shanks. We had great all around wind protection and only a small group of nautical neighbors. The island is deserted.
Houseboat Puff hosted a farewell pot luck one evening. We have really enjoyed our time getting to know these people. Until we meet again dear friends on Puff, Margaret Lee, Local Knowledge, and Maranatha. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in this welcoming cruising area until mid-March.
It was exciting to cross to Cat Island with two boats we had begun to hang out with: Wild Iris and Ujam’n. Stay tuned for more on that trip in the next blog.
Sailing on Lone Star 