Tag: Black Point

Black Point and mega yachts.

One of the things we were very much looking forward to during this season’s trip to the Bahamas was a visit from my best friend Lyn and her husband Ken. Pegu Club is too small for overnight visitors, but Lyn and Ken had decided to rent a cottage at Black Point for ten days. The plan was for us to anchor at Black Point and take them on day trips, but sadly Mother Nature had other plans. We had to move the boat to our hidey-hole a few times and the day trips didn’t work out because of too much wind, but we still had a wonderful time hanging out, sharing meals, and relaxing together.

We took walks around the cay:

This was a 5 minute walk from their rental.
I don’t know if this floating BBQ is still in business, but I love the idea!

We watched a relay race for field day at the local school (in true Bahamian style, it took around 20 minutes to get organized for a 45-second race):

And we played many games of Rummikub in their rental, which had an amazing view of the shallows on Black Point:

While Lyn and Ken were there, the Seven Seas Cruising Association was having their GAM at Black Point, sponsored by Lorraine’s Cafe, so they were even able to get a flavor of the cruising community.

I felt bad that the weather didn’t cooperate, but Lyn said it was exactly the kind of laid-back vacation she needed. And there was the added bonus of getting to spend so much time together!

After they departed, our trip north officially began with one last stop in Staniel Cay for the season. By now it was late March and spring break was in full-swing with mega yachts galore anchored outside of Staniel. It’s always fun to see them, and to know that we get the same views from Pegu Club (if not the same amenities).

Why take a dinghy to get to Staniel when you can use a helicopter instead?
Or you can use a dinghy and a helicopter – your choice.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ yacht, Bravo Eugenia, made an appearance. I didn’t get a picture so this one from Google will have to do. Research revealed that Bravo Eugenia travels far and wide – lucky captain!
The top reminded us of the Wicked Witch of the West. At 282 feet, it used to be owned by Steven Spielberg. Maybe he also thought it looked like the Wicked Witch of the West!

Staniel is a small cay, but if seems like there is always something new to see, like Herbie the Golf Cart:

We also saw the residents working on one of the sailboats that are used for the local regattas. The wooden mast was SO tall compared to the boat that it goes with. The racers carry a huge amount of sail area on the small boats.

A coin at the base of the mast is supposed to bring good luck.
I couldn’t even get the entire mast in the picture because I was thwarted by the placement of the boat. As you can see, it’s VERY tall!

Ultimately, the calendar was insisting that we leave, so after getting more groceries we reluctantly waved goodbye to Staniel for the season. Using Staniel as our base in the Exumas worked out splendidly, especially once we bought the bigger outboard. It’s centrally located along the cays, we can get (expensive) groceries when we need them, and our hidey hole for cold fronts is less than an hour away. There is no doubt that from now on, Staniel will be our home base when we are in the Exumas.

A return to Little Bay – and our first blowhole!

As you can probably tell, we are not dawdling quite as much as we typically do.  Even though it feels like we just got here, it’s actually been a few months and we need to start thinking about the timing for sailing back to Connecticut.  We would love to stay longer, but we also want to spend some time in Connecticut and in the Chesapeake as we go south again.  As Jeff pointed out, it took us so long to get down here that in order to get somewhat back on track, something was going to have to get cut short.

We decided that a maximum of three months in the Bahamas was going to have to suffice this time.  We’ll make up for it next season.  We need to get back to Connecticut by the end of June for doctor appointments, so as a result we’re skipping up the Exumas with an eye towards crossing back to the United States by the end of April.  However, we are definitely taking notes on where we’d like to spend more time when we return at the end of the year!

One repeat visit for us already on this trip was Little Bay on Great Guana Cay.  Looking at the forecast we were going to be getting some westerly winds in the mid-teens for half a day before the wind clocked to the northwest and around.  One thing that the Exumas lacks are an abundance of anchorages with westerly protection.  Little Bay was only 10 nautical miles away from Little Farmers Cay, and while it was open to the west, we could tuck in and get protection once the wind turned to the northwest.  Bonus points for it being a lovely anchorage and a 45 minute walk into Black Point, which is a settlement where we hoped to be able to pick up a few provisions.

We had a nice, lazy, jib-only sail of 12 nautical miles from Little Farmers to Little Bay.  Although the wind was supposed to be light, it started turning west and picking up speed as we approached Little Bay.  By the time we anchored we already had two to three foot swells in the anchorage.  Good times – not.  Tom and Anita from S/V Lone Star pulled in a few hours later and although we had planned to get together that evening we decided to postpone until the next day given the conditions.

As the evening progressed the wind started to shift, but the wave direction didn’t.  This put the waves on our beam with Pegu Club rolling side to side, side to side, around 20-30 degrees at a time.  It was an absolutely sleepless night for both of us.  I wanted to set a swell bridle but we had never done it before and Jeff didn’t want to set it up in the dark.  While in hindsight this was obviously the right decision, it didn’t make the night any easier.  Finally we both fell asleep around 4:00 a.m.  The rolling hadn’t stopped, but we were so tired it didn’t matter.

The next day Tom and Anita came over and cheered us on while we rigged up a swell bridle.  The relief from the swell was immediate, and we won’t hesitate to do that again in the future.  Tom, Anita, and I decided to walk into the settlement while Jeff opted to stay on the boat and rest, feeling especially tired from our sleepless night.  I was on a quest to buy some bread from Mama, who reportedly made the best bread in the Exumas.

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