Position           24:06.20N 076:24.25W

Date                Sunday 8 April 2012

We have spent a week anchored off the community of Black Point.  What a friendly and welcoming place.  We met friends Richard and Penny, last seen at Morgan’s Bluff, and went to the Palm Sunday Service at the Gethsemane Baptist Church with them; a very joyous and fun filled service of worship.  We felt underdressed, particularly in the hat department.

Richard and Penny had been here a couple of days and showed us some of the sites, including the community prize skiff that is raced in the inter community regattas during the summer.

With the mast stepped and a crew, I believe of 6 or 8, sitting out on boards, these small craft really shift.

There is a smart local police station complete with reminders of the past:

We met ‘Burkie Wright’ a native of the island who moved away to Nassau but has returned to refurbish his parents old house and build his own home for retirement.

Burkie is a retired senior policeman who is well travelled and he showed us photographs of his time at the National Police College at Bramshill in England and on assignments in the UK and USA.  Perhaps it is his presence on the island but they do have a very smart police jeep and patrol boat.  After a drink together he presented the four of us with two very fine lobster tails that we all shared later on Richard and Penny’s catamaran.

We “struggled” through the week enjoying walks ashore and on Good Friday and Easter Saturday ate at the Church Bake Outs which provided very good local food; chicken, fish and ribs with macaroni, peas and rice and coleslaw.  It was definitely a holiday weekend with many young families back from working in Nassau in addition to some 20 cruising yachts mostly stopping in transit on their way north or south down the Cays.

On Easter Sunday we again went to Church.  This time it was a combined service at St Luke’s Baptist Church which is a fair hike from the anchorage.  Fortunately we were able to hitch a ride in one of the golf carts which are the main form of transport on the island.  This time we got the dress a little more correct but we did not try and compete in the hat department.

This particular example belonged to the leader of the service, a real mitre on a lady who deserved to be a Bishop.  It is very striking that whilst they had a guest minister to preach, who in this instance was a man, the ladies take the major role in the conduct of the service with a very dynamic style.  Elizabeth volunteered to accompany the excellent drummer and play the keyboard with some success as some of the hymns appear to be sung from memory rather than the book.  I, by invitation, played ‘Amazing Grace’ on my newly polished bagpipes before the sermon and the preacher very skilfully wove that into his words.

Tomorrow we will leave this delightful spot where we have been made so welcome and start to head back north.