Sprawl and Socialization

Only in the Bahamas can you go from the polar opposite cruising experiences in a day's sail. At one end of the cruising spectrum is Georgetown, Bahamas during Cruising Week. At the other end are the remote and desolate Ragged Islands/Juementos, Bahamas.
In Georgetown (G/T), we listened to the VHF net, wrote down the daily and weekly activities and had to use (gasp) a calendar with time commitments to organize our lives. The cruising lifestyle in Georgetown is organized, punctual, with a set hierarchy of leaders. Volleyball daily at 2:00 p.m., Beach Church on Sunday's at 9:30 a.m. and ARG (Alcohol Research Group) meetings at 5:00 p.m. Arriving at 5:10 p.m., we found a full beach and many appetizers already gone. If anything, our "just in time"
arrival policy has gotten worse.. after all we are on a boat. However, retired cruisers are frustratingly early to events. With 300 plus boats in the area, privacy is non existent with new friends popping by the boat daily. The anchorage was a wave of color with boats flying every flag on their boat. The kids were excited to display the G/T flags won 2 years ago and add the new ones from this year.
Nothing like Georgetown exists in our experience around the Caribbean. Bed times, who needs them especially with cruisers' parties only lasting until 10:00 p.m. However, at the end of week 2, we are tired, and ready for the solitude of the Juementos.
At the last campfire of our time there, we tried to convince the other friend and family boats, Los Gatos, Miakoda and Cambraytion to join us in the Juementos. As described in our chart books, "they are unpopulated wilderness with only one tiny settlement, closer to Cuba than Georgetown". Our information purports to be prepared for no all around anchorages, limited protection from fronts and swelly, rolly anchorages. Food is limited and water and fuel are non existent. Oh, and than there
are the sharks who come in the shallows to breed in the spring and become aggressive. Of course, all of the ladies have read and reread this information, making the area seem more and more dangerous after each reading. At top of that, the weather god, Chris Parker, said that the wind was going to be blowing hard out of the N-NE for 5 days straight, making the anchorages even more rolly and snorkeling challenging. Needless so say, no-one left with us. Most boats leave in the morning and announce
their departure to a chorus of "goodbyes" on the radio from fellow cruisers. We left late afternoon, so we could use our raffle-won day on the water in a high speed power boat, sneaking out during the afternoon activities. Cruisers never say good-bye, just see you later. We left not knowing when and if we would be seeing our friends again, but happy to be finally sailing.