Our first stop outside of the Exuma Park was literally just outside the dotted line on the chart that marks the park boundary. We anchored between Rocky Dundas (in the park) and Fowl Cay (outside the park) so Tom and Sergej could go lobster hunting. Lobster season ends at the end of March and they were determined to have a lobster dinner.
Looking for Lobster
They came back empty handed but lucky for us a local fisherman was willing to sell three large lobsters and a grouper that he had picked up just a few yards from our boats! Our wallets were a little lighter that night but boy did we have a feast.
Live! In the Cockpit on Polar Pacer
Great Grouper
This is a large dinner plate. There was enough lobster leftover for a big pot of lobster bisque. Incidentally, the Joy of Cooking says that you cannot call a cream soup ‘bisque’ unless there is seafood in it.
Community events determined our course and social calendar for the next while. Bahamians use VHF radio to communicate with each other and with boats visiting in the area. We were within range to hear announcements from Staniel Cay and the settlement of Black Point on Great Guana in the Exumas (as opposed to Great Guana in the Abacos – Place names are frequently recycled in the Bahamas.).
First on the agenda was a Bahamian cookout on the beach at Staniel Cay. It was a fundraiser in aid of the local school and was well attended by cruisers who were glad to get out of doing their own cooking and had come by wet dinghy ride from the anchorage at Big Majors Spot.
Behind the scene at the Staniel Cay cookout.
Beach soccer at Staniel Cay
Beach pigs at Big Majors Spot swimming out for boat scraps.
A Bahamian cookout consists of many residents spending hours in their kitchens preparing and cooking large quantities of food in big foil pans and transporting them to a central location for distribution. The menu typically includes BBQ’d ribs and chicken, fried fish or curried chicken or mutton accompanied by peas ‘n rice, vegetable rice or plain rice. On top of that you choose two side dishes; mac ‘n cheese, coleslaw, potato salad or canned corn. The quantities are generous and the quality such that I do not expect to lose any weight soon.
Preparing ribs on the dock for the weekend cookout. Sure saves on kitchen cleanup.
Staniel Cay is also home to the Thunderball Grotto where part of the James Bond movie Thunderball was filmed. We did some great snorkeling in the grotto at slack tide but passed on the Bond themed Casino Royale dress up party at the yacht club as we just did not have anything appropriate to wear.
With stops at the pink store, the blue store, the general store and the bakery we were able to pick up a few provisions at Staniel Cay. The choices were limited but we found eggs, local tomatoes and cabbage, long life milk and fresh baked bread plus enough canned items to add some variety to what we still had on board.
The pink store.
The blue store (my favorite)
Directions to the bakery.
001 Every dozen eggs had one brown one.
The weather patterns had definitely changed by the time we left Staniel Cay. There were no cold fronts in the forecast for a week or more. We could expect gentle breezes, mostly from the east, as we made our way towards George Town. We have access to weather forecasts from a few sources. At 6:30 every morning we can listen to Chris Parker’s weather service on our single side band radio. As we have subscribed to his service we sometimes ask him for specific details for the area we intend to travel. Also, on many of the islands there are volunteers, some of whom we have been told are retired meteorologists, who faithfully provide daily local forecasts.
Next up was a three day Easter celebration at Black Point. We arrived on the Wednesday before Easter to beat the rush for the laundry. Many of the boats we had met at Staniel were headed for the same place and like us, had not seen laundry facilities in over a month.
Industrious Ida operates a mean laundry, probably the best in the Bahamas. She has her own RO (reverse osmosis) water system, dingy dock and reasonable prices. The place is spotless with a dozen new washing machines and a matching set of dryers. Attached is a small marine supply store where she sells some basics like outboard oil, Never Dull cleaner for your stainless and laundry soap. If you need a haircut Ida will do it for you just outside the backdoor where the views are to die for.
More than just a laundramat.
View from Rockside Laundramat
For a community with a permanent population of around 300 residents they put together a fantastic weekend. The population of Black Point at least doubled with all the visitors. High school students were home from Nassau and younger children had come to spend their school holidays with their grandparents while their parents were at work elsewhere. There were as many as 50 boats in the anchorage with at least two persons on board each of them.
A posted schedule of the weekend’s events began at 11 AM Friday with a multi denominational church service, followed by the cookout and ended late Sunday night with a gospel concert. There was something for everyone; volleyball, basketball, children’s games, face painting and an Easter egg hunt; a fishing tournament, dominoes and pool tournaments, junkanoo, Easter Sunday church services and a raffle. Only the church services started on time, everything else was generally a couple of hours late getting under way. The posted times are really only a suggestion about when to start thinking about getting organized. That’s okay. It gave us plenty of time to hang out and meet people.
Some very patient and well behaved children.
Junkanoo with The Valley Boys from Nassau
We also had time to do a little sightseeing and visit the Garden of Eden where Willie gave us a tour of his driftwood and rock display pointing out the animals and other objects they depicted if you stand in exactly the right spot and use your imagination a little. Apparently, if you lay in one spot in the bush for long enough you will be amazed at what you see! Willie also has a garden in his solid rock backyard where he grows fruit trees and vegetables in little potholes in the rock. He generously hands out samples of the things that are ready to eat. We came away with tamarind pods, a couple papaya and some sapodilla.
Headless Dancer in the Garden of Eden
Willie's tamarind pods.
A short walk from the town we came across an ocean blow hole in action. Don’t lose that hat Sergej!
Impromptu beach party. Are we starting to look relaxed?
After the excitement of Black Point we needed some time to wind down and Bay Rush Bay, down island a few miles, was the perfect place to start. After a beam reach sail at 6 to 8 knots for an hour and a half we dropped anchor near a long deserted beach and sat for two days doing almost nothing. We left the boat only for a quiet bonfire on the beach and a short hike up the hill to a cave that overlooks the beach on the ocean side of the island.
We bypassed the settlement on Little Farmer’s Cay and an opportunity to pick up supplies in order to take advantage of the good weather conditions and move farther down the island chain. We followed the visual piloting route on the west side of the islands through submerged coral heads and shallow shifting sand bars where bright sunshine from high above is necessary in order to see the color changes in the water and avoid going aground. The sand bars were easy to identify but it was hard to tell if the dark patches were coral heads under our keels or just patches of weeds on the bottom. The shallowest water we saw was four and a half feet.
Reading the water.
We stopped at two more secluded bays with deserted beaches and underwater caves to explore on privately owned Rudder Cay and Lee Stocking Island. Lee Stocking also has a marine research centre that gives tours but it was closed when we went by. We were joined by a few other boats that we had met at Black Point so were not totally isolated. The water was perfect for swimming and getting a bit of exercise.
Looking for the sting rays that were hanging out in the bay with us.
After a rowdy evening of sing along to music from the sixties and seventies it was apparent that we were wound down enough to head for George Town to experience a bit of civilization.
One of the caves at Rudder Cay
A Pair of Prouts. Thanks to Wendy on Altona for the photo.
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