Black Point

Seafever
Tue 16 Mar 2010 22:39
24:6.038 N
76:23.933 W

This morning we said goodbye to our new friends, Jeff, Kook, and Tootie. We were sorry to part ways. They set off for Green Cay as a jumping off
point to cross the Tongue of the Ocean toward Andros; and we prepared to depart for the Black Point settlement on Great Guana Cay.
Before we left our wonderful little anchorage on Big Major Spot, I (Lilly) took a solo snorkel (rare for me). It was
incredible. The shoreline was full of coral reefs and millions of fish. I saw an octopus hiding behind a
conch shell. At one point I swam through a sea of small, bright, almost electric blue chromises. There were elkhorn
corals, brain corals, sea fans, and more types of coral that I couldn't identify. More types of fish than I could find in
the book, too. I'm still seeing the colors and shapes swimming through my mind six hours later. The girls took a swim
and a beach walk and found more shells. As we're eating our stores we're replacing the weight in shells. All those jars
of stew are now filled with little bits of coral, nerites, little conches, clams, and more.

We left our anchorage under sail, which felt great. No engine noise, just the sound of Amazon surfing the waves behind
us. We made it through the Big Rock Cut near Staniel Cay and out into Exuma Sound. The waves on the Sound were low and rolling.
We moved along at anywhere from 3 to 6 knots depending on how we were surfing the waves. The trip was all too short, and
within an hour we pulled into Dotham Cut above Great Guana Cay--a long skinny cay about 12 miles long. We rounded the
tip and sailed into the large anchorage--like a bay--for Black Point. A few other sailboats were in the anchorage, no
doubt taking advantage of the calmer winds to visit. Black Point is not safe in strong westerly winds. We'll have a few
days before we'll need to leave to a more sheltered spot.

We pulled in nearly to the long sand flats of the beach that rings the bay and got out and dinghied to shore. Isabel forgot her shoes, so
her initial tour of Black Point was alternately tenderly walking barefoot, getting a piggy back from Garth, or using
Rose's shoes--Rose volunteered to go barefoot and get piggy-backed. Our first stop was a general store and bought orange
creamsicles, five very ripe bananas, two tonic water cans, and a block of ice. Oh, and the only cabbage the store had: a very tiny one for $1. The shopkeeper's name is Lillie. We scoped out the town, finding where the laundromat is and Lorraine's Cafe (no one was in either) where we will spend tomorrow getting internet access. The townspeople seem very friendly and warm. Just like home, where everyone says hello. Black Point is known for their fishermen. Lillie told us that the weather had been too rough lately and the fishermen haven't been able to go out. Today, though, was certainly a fishing day, and we hope, before we leave Black Point we can buy some fresh fish since we've struck out with our hand line.

Back to the boat, the girls got into bathing suits and swam to shore with Garth. They ran around on the sand flats and then washed their hair back at the boat, taking advantage of a sandy bottom they didn't mind standing on. Tomorrow, we'll spend the morning in Black Point and I'm sure Isabel will be wearing shoes.