Hiking Stocking Island + Projects

It has been over a month since we arrived in Georgetown and we are ready for some new adventures.  But the weather has not been cooperating.  Staying here another week, we spotted a sailboat with an OCC (Ocean Cruising Club) flag and went over to talk with them.  They were a great resource telling us about a trail map of the island and where to find it!

We procured this map from a couple on Eleanor M.  He keeps the trails maintained, made this map and builds new trails every so often.  It was very exciting to have this guide to explore Stocking Island with.

He said we were free to share the map.  One of the things about Georgetown is that even though there is a community net every morning on the radio, you will not find out about most things that go on unless you socialize a lot. (a struggle for us)

The back side of our map alerts us to conservation pointers.  We didn’t know starfish could get sunburned and die so easily!

We started out by the Casuarinas, a non-native species that is now plentiful in the Bahamas.  They are known by their sharp acorn-like seeds that people (especially kids), enjoy throwing at each other.  Today they are an important part of many islands, staving off erosion because de-foresting in the early years of settlement caused many native trees to become extinct (according to a local and the internet).

Palm trees are another large tree we see a lot.  The path to the ocean-side took us a little bit to find but was a nice trail.

After we reached the ocean the paths became over-grown. Using the map we could just make out the way down to the rocks below.  The waves were crashing in and we were glad Velocir was not out there today!

A sand treasure.

Interesting geology of the rocks towering above us.

Instead of the usual sharp coral formations, this coastline was covered in Pleistocene and Holocene Rhizomorphs (meaning root structures), which as far as we can tell means calcified root systems ten-thousand years ago.

It looked like someone made a very intricate drip sand castle!

Isolated beauty in the sand.

Later that afternoon we went to work on the outboard motor.  I has been quitting lately.  Starting up again fine and then after a little ways stopping again.  We cleaned the spark plug (looked great).

Then we took off the carburetor but that looked great too.  Finally we decided that there may be too much oil in the fuel mixture.  See, we usually keep a mixture in a small tank and fill the motor with it.  We think maybe too much oil has been mixed in because we don’t always empty it all the way before adding a new mixture.  It’s all we can come up with for now and will wait and see if it helps.  Meanwhile, it is still dependable enough and always starts up again.

Grant staying handsome with his clippers plugged into the inverter.

We ended the evening with some steak, adding potatoes with spinach and onions.  Garnished with some Minneolas.  Canned food will come again as soon as we leave this area. 

And another achievement: after two weeks of waiting for propane it was finally available again in Georgetown.  Grant waited two hours and was at the front of the line this morning when the propane truck came.  Over 50 propane tanks were sitting in a neat little row, waiting.  Now we can continue to enjoy warm meals!

By this weekend the weather should clear and we will head north to Andros and the Berrys (weather permitting) on our way back to the United States.  After much agonizing about wanting to go farther south we chose the safer option for hurricane season.  It was clear in the end- Velocir is our home, so she comes first.  Don’t worry, we’ve planned a fun summer for ourselves sailing tall ships, visiting family and camping throughout CA before we head south again next fall!  And with the weather being so unusual this winter, staying out of hurricane territory is probably for the best.

Some videos to enjoy: