Voyage 2002-2003: Chapter 6

22 Mar 2003, George Town to Black Point Exuma, 24 06.129 N/ 076 24.290 W

George Town kept us a little longer than we had expected. A broad area of instability hung over the Bahamas for over a week. Nearly every day, a squall would come visit with wind gusts in excess of 40 kts. The last one had a 180 degree wind shift which proved too much for our Bruce anchor. We started dragging our anchor, our anchor alarm went off, and we were up in the cockpit in a flash. We started the engine and applied moderate forward thrust. That was enough to stop our dragging. When the tempest past (2330 hrs), we pulled anchore and went back to our original anchorage place. Bummer.

On Thursday, the weather was settled and we decided to start our journey north. We left Conch Cut for the Exuma Sound and found 10-15 kts on our back with seas on our quarter at 4-5 ft. We had jib, mizzen, and motor pushing us towards Black Point Exuma. Nothing out of the ordinary occured other than the seas were lumpy which did not make for the easiest ride. We approached Dotham Cut at 1615 with a favorable current. While transiting the cut, our ground speed exceeded 9 knots (giving us a 3 knot boast).We arrived at the anchorage in Black Point Settlement at 1630.

S/V Celena had made dinner arrangements for us at Lorraine's, a must go place if you are in Black Point. Lorraine's is quite popular with the cruisers so it is best to make reservations. The anchorage left a lot to be desired. Though we had adequate protection from the wind, the swells, would refract around the point yielding beam seas. Very uncomfortable! We managed to deploy our dinghy (and motor) for the short trip to the dinghy dock. As promised, Loraine's was great. We all had fried grouper. After a relaxing dinner, we had to go back to the anchorage for a rather uncomfortable night. Did I mention that it is hot!

Black Point is one of the larger settlements in the Exumas. It boasts two grocery stores (sort of), a couple of restuarants, and the Exumas jail. While strolling the main street (really the only street), we met Charlie, a rather relaxed gentleman who had some conch shells for sale. He provided us some rather interesting insights on Black Point. The guide books stated that Black Point is typical of the 'untouched' Bahamian settlements. People are very friendly, but poor by US standards.

24 Mar 2003, Staniel, Big Majors, and Sampson Cays, 24 12.470 N/ 076 28.360 W

On Friday, we left Black Point for Staniel Cay where we caught a mooring near Thunderball (the grotto where one of the original James Bond movies was filmed). The views were astounding! The water was clear and the weather settled. S/V Celena and we headed for the Staniel Cay Yacht Club which is the local watering hole. Good food and lots of cruisers made for an enjoyable lunch. We are eating too much and we continued to do so at the Club Thunderball restaurant where they had barbecue night.

Our mooring had great views of Thunderball, , the cut, and Staniel Cay.Our mooring was greatly effected by the ebb tide where the current would approach 2 kts. However, there was little current during the flood. Go figure! We had fish, rays, and the occasional shark come visit the boat. Ann definitely is not going in the water with all of these critters around. However, Bob took her on a 'look bucket' trip to look at the coral and fish around Thunderball. That is more her speed.

We are told that there are two wild pigs (hogs, actually) on Big Majors Spot which is a 20 minute dinghy ride from our mooring. Celena and we left for Big Majors on Saturday in our dinghies knowing that we would probably not find the pigs. However, no sooner had we beached the dinghy than we had two visitors, and mama and baby pig. They were very tame but were hoping that we had some food. Nancy brought some food just in case and they were very appreciative. Later Ann and the baby pig took a leisurely stroll along the beach. Baby pig seemed very intent on what Ann was saying. Birds of a feather?

Weather forecast indicated that a cold front would pass over our area either Sunday or Monday. We decided to seek shelter at the Sampson Cay Club, a rather fancy marina that caters to the mega yachts. We arrived at the Club early on Sunday at slack water. It is rather tight but the staff quickly tucked us onto the dock. Celena and Jule III had barbecue cookout at the local gazebo and we stuffed ourselves again. We are not supposed to be gaining weight but I am afraid we are! On Monday the front approached and more mega yachts came into the shelter of the Club. One trawler was having difficulty handling the current when his dinghy turned turtle (complete with motor). That must have spooked the captain as they came within a foot of crashing into our stern. We all helped collect the flotsam that came out of his dumped dinghy. Tonight we will celebrate Ann's birthday at the club with Celena. Tomorrow we will be heading back to Exuma Park on our way to Eleuthera.