A nice little spot. Too bad we can't stay. Lindsay McRory June 23, 1996 A few days of unsettled weather held us up in Allans Cay. The weather's been perfect since. The Exuma Islands are some of the best cruising grounds Denise and I have ever seen. Hundreds of islands, a thousand or more coves and cays to anchor. The water is crystal clear. At 40 feet it looks like you can touch bottom. We really regret not being able to spend more time here. It is tempting to come back next year. Georgetown marks the southernmost portion of the Exumas. From here south to the Turks and Caicos we will be cruising through the Bahamas' out islands. Georgetown also is the southern terminus for most Bahamas cruisers. Every year it gets dubbed "Chicken Harbor" because of all the boats that postpone trips further south and turn back for Florida. The local motto is, "No one moves, no one gets hurt." There are many good reasons not to leave Georgetown. One fellow we talked to has been here for two years. Georgetown is the center of its own micro-cruising ground as well as being party central. You can find your own secluded little spot and still be only a few minutes' dinghy ride from the docks. Anchoring is a snap; the holding is the best we've seen in the Bahamas. It's really a cruiser's paradise. The prices are fair. Diesel is only slightly more expensive than in Nassau. Very few boats use the marina, but it's only 60 cents per foot per night, making it the least expensive in our 3,500 miles. Restaurant prices and food prices are roughly the same as Nassau. Our only trouble in Georgetown has been from a pesky barracuda that won't leave us alone. It's nothing unusual to have a barracuda sitting motionless in the shade under the boat. They typically watch from a distance and then move on. But anytime we went in the water, this guy was following right behind us, smelling the tips of our flippers, opening and closing his mouth. He really scared the kids. We caught and disposed of two other barracudas the other day. Maybe this was their tough cousin coming to give us a message. Our dinghy is melting before our eyes. Seams are bulging. The glue is literally oozing out of tubes. Our clothes and sand stick to it. We were planning on getting a new one in Venezuela, but I'm not sure if this will last that long. We've found the best cruising guide from Georgetown to Puerto Rico is Passages South by Bruce Van Sant. He has done the trip from Georgetown to Puerto Rico at least 17 times now and is well-known among the Caribbean cruising community. Well-traveled cruisers we met in Georgetown say that if you can put up with his writing style (very heavy on the ego), the information is solid, especially if you have not done the route before. Apparently Bruce Van Sant just left Georgetown last week. In his wake, his cruising buddies have, in jest, put together a list of 100 things he preaches but does not practice. The only thing that struck me a little was the book states that you absolutely have to leave Georgetown by the end of March, and here was the author partying on till the end of June. Hmmm. Passages South does fill a huge gap in cruising guides between the Bahamas and Puerto Rico and is essential reading for anyone planning the trip. We're currently offshore heading for Calabash Bay on the northern tip of Long Island. Time to navigate the reef and set our anchors.