Saying goodbye to 2023 in George Town

The day after we arrived in George Town, we tuned into the Cruisers’ Net, a morning VHF radio assembly at 8 am on channel 72 for all the boats here in George Town. The moderator went through all sorts of topics, so there were sections of the net for welcoming new boats, asking for assistance from fellow cruisers, advertising items for trade or giveaway, community announcements, and even a kids’ corner for the kids to arrange meetups! The net became a morning staple for us while we were in the harbor. After the net, we took stock of our surroundings in the mooring field off Sand Dollar Beach (the Elizabeth Harbour Partnership put moorings in a couple of weeks before we arrived, so the mooring situation is new for all the boats here). Happy with our location, we decided to head to town.

We hopped in the dinghy for a long ride across the channel and into Lake Victoria to explore George Town. We planned to stop at the grocery store (which we had heard had a great selection), as well as get some gas for the dinghy, and fill up our water jugs.

We only walked through one part of town, but it seemed like we’d be able to find whatever we needed. George Town isn’t the biggest town we’ve been in, but it has all the essentials. After we stopped back at the boat to drop off groceries, we tried to meet 3 Lil Birds over at Chat & Chill (a cruisers’ hangout on the island) but it was a short-lived meetup as the rainstorms moved in. Oh well – on the next sunny day we’ll get to really see what Chat & Chill is all about!

The next morning–the last day of 2023; how did that get here so quickly?!–the Pyrat Soul crew came by to see if we wanted to go for a hike to the ocean side of Stocking Island. Of course!

We emerged onto a lovely ocean-facing beach, and Kate and I decided to go for a long walk while the guys and the kids headed back to the boats to do some work on Pyrat Soul‘s battery management system.

We got to the end of the beach and then turned around and hiked over to the hurricane hole, where we caught a ride back to Pyrat Soul. I picked up a lot of pretty shells on the beach while we were walking, and we caught a nice sunset from the mooring field.

The dads and kids dinghied off to collect wood for a planned New Year’s Eve kid-friendly bonfire on Sand Dollar Beach, and I did some cleaning on Oestara and actually had a few minutes to myself to finish a book! We headed over to the bonfire after sundown, and enjoyed getting to know lots of other families while the kids made s’mores over the fire. Just before 9 pm (sailors’ midnight!) we all counted down to the new year (woohoo!) and then broke up the fun to head home for a good night’s sleep.