Black Point Settlement, Great Guana Cay
It was still
a bit choppy when we went ashore at Black Point Settlement. Our first stop was the laundromat which was
full of cruisers trying to get their laundry done.
All the machines were washing or drying when we arrived. We chatted with a few of the people doing
their wash to get an idea of where we could get our provisions. There was no gas or diesel for sale at Black
Point. Water was available at the
spicket down the road. The
grocery store was two doors down. We discovered Scott and Annie on Carpe Diem there . They were out of Boca Chica Key, Florida which is where we wintered last year. Of the
two restaurants, only Lorraine’s Cafe
was open which was where we planned to eat lunch since it is a Seven Seas
Cruisers’ Association cruising station. Lorraine reputedly serves the best conch fritters in the Exumas. We ended up going to Lorraine’s Cafe for lunch while we waited for the laundry. Scott lived in both Wisconsin and Kansas. So he and Dwayne talked about the Wisconsin Dells and dairy farming in the old days.
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| Cat Rigged Exuma Racing Boat |
We had just taken a table at Lorraine’s when Renee Fletcher and her husband Jon walked in for lunch. Their boat, Jon Ne’, was on the same dock as we were last winter at Boca Chica. They were traveling with Carpe Diem and three other Boca Chica boats. Renee is an author and illustrator of children’s books. We bought a couple of her titles from her last year. So, we had a long lunch and got our laundry done while discussing the past, present and future. Once again, we discover it is a big ocean but small world.
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| Lorraine, Carla, Dwayne and Renee (seated) |
Across the street from Lorraine’s was a beautiful Exuma cat boat on a trailer. These boats are made by hand and are raced during a couple of regatta weeks during the year. The owner of this boat said he competed with almost 80 in the cat class and he finished 4th overall in the last regatta. There was another similar boat under construction in the lot next door. His sister-in-law was weaving palm leaves making articles for the local straw market. Black Point Settlement is famous for its boat building and woven craftwork. Tourists come up on fast power cats from Georgetown to get a flavor of out-island life. A group came in for lunch while we were at Lorraine’s. Tourists are the major economic source for this community of about 300 people.
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| Exuma Wooden Racing Boat Under Construction |
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| Weaver at Work |
After lunch,
we loaded the wet washed clothes into the driers and headed to the grocery
store. Our food stocks were getting
pretty low. We needed bread, milk,
cheese and meat of some sort as our refrigerator was almost empty. The grocery was about as large as a single
car garage. We were able to get enough
items to carry us over at least until we got back to Nassau.
We were able
to get good internet access while at Lorraine’s Cafe. As a result, we were able to make postings to
the blog and get current weather reports which all looked good for the next
week. We hope the forecasts are correct. If so, we might be able to make it to West
End and perhaps even to Fort Pierce, Florida without a weather delay. If the weather holds as predicted, it will be
the longest period of favorable weather since our arrival in the Bahamas.
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