Crew Log for February 5th – 10th, 2023
Trip Summary:
• Little Farmers Cay Black Point
• Trip Distance of 9.3 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 2,888.9 NM
• Departed at 08h30, arrived at 09h30
The forecast showed a week of strong southerly winds which meant we had to find a more protected anchorage, that was a little closer to shore. A number of boats had already planned their passage to Eleuthera, the start of their slow journey back to the US. Our plan since arriving in the Exuma Cays was to stay here through late February before working our way towards the Abacos, where we planned to spend the month of March. Typically the weather is slightly more settled in the Exumas this time year over the Abacos that are influenced by more northernly cold fronts.
We enjoyed a beautiful sail, doing in Judy’s words, “7 and change”, on just the jib alone, sailing along side of Willow all morning. They were planning to head further north, and stage to cross to Rock Sound, Eleuthera later in the week. Nomad and Anodyne were both heading south to Georgetown. Whenever we asked fellow cruisers where they planned to go in the Bahamas, the overwhelming response was Georgetown.
Georgetown is the largest commercial center in the Exumas, and is the turnaround spot for most cruisers. Many boats make their way there and spend a relaxing several weeks with fellow cruisers. It has been described as “summer camp for cruisers” given the number of organized activities and the famous “Chat ‘n Chill” beach bar. While Judy and I weren’t interested in sharing an anchorage with 300 – 400 other boats, there were a number of spots along the way that we likely would have enjoyed, including Rudder Cut Cay and Lee Stocking Island. Next time!
We opted instead to work our way slowly back north and back into the Exuma Land and Sea Park that we really enjoyed. Our plan for the day was to shelter at Black Point which offered a nice balance of beautiful scenery, easy access to services and a real Bahamian settlement to explore.
Our first night back in Black Point was a little uncomfortable given the wakes from passing boats going to and from the government dock and the wrap around swell coming in from the south. In the morning, just as things started to pipe up, to decided to move to a calmer spot in the anchorage, which once again proved to be a learning experience. In our haste to relocate, we neglected to work through our predeparture check list. We had developed a bit of a routine that we work through before we leave, which includes securing anything that might move around, engine checks, a survey of the boats around us to plan our departure, and so on. We didn’t do any of that, given we only planned to move a short distance.
Just as we hauled the anchor we were hit with a massive squall which sent the boat sideways. During the night, we had lengthened the painter on the dinghy to avoid having it rub on the side of the boat, and let it trail behind Elizabeth M. Judy noticed that it seemed to be caught around the bottom of the boat and we feared we had fouled the painter around the prop. She immediately put the engine in neutral. For a sickening few minutes we worried that we had a fouled prop, which meant we had no engine power, in the middle of a crowded anchorage.
Fortunately due to Judy’s quick reaction, we avoided the worse and managed to remove the dinghy line from below the boat. However, our problems weren’t over yet, given we now had to re-anchor in strong gusty conditions. Despite the challenges, we safely resecured Elizabeth M and could finally take a breath. Afterwards we chatted about what we did right and what we did wrong.
Judy’s decision to put the engine in neutral likely avoided a larger problem. However, had we gone through our pre-departure checks, we would have either hoisted the dinghy on the davits or secured it to the side of the boat and made sure there were no lines in the water. And while our location was uncomfortable, we had a good anchor set. We didn’t expect a squall, but we certainly could have waited for better conditions.
There were several familiar boats in Black Point, including Ted and Evelyn on Sensai and Wild Horses and Lola, who we hadn’t come across since we left Lake Worth on New Year’s Eve. The rest of the day was spent refilling our water tanks and doing laundry, the later of which involved another head butting session with “Stick” who accused Judy of breaking the machines.
As forecasted, it was a very windy week of weather and so we caught up on the Crew Log reports and making bread. On google earth we spotted a large sandy beach so we hiked across to the ocean side of Black Point to watch the waves crashing into the rocks. From a distance the beach looked absolutely beautiful. However, as we got closer we were saddened to see that it was completely littered with plastic.
A few years ago, Nike Steiger from the YouTube Channel, White Spot Pirates and Maria LaPointe formed "In Mocean", who's vision is to turn waste plastic in to a valuable commodity to create wealth for remote coastal communities. They partnered with several other sailing YouTube channels to create a network of sailing ambassadors. Each boat was equipped with small scale shredders and extruders that converts waste into a useable form for new products. Judy and I were one of the original supporters of the project and have become even more aware of the importance of initiatives like this, as we travel through remote coastal areas.
The Black Point Yacht Club (aka Scorpio’s) is a popular meeting place in the late afternoon to meet up with other cruisers visiting Black Point. We were happy to reconnect with Daniel from Blue Jazz who we first met in Annapolis and crossed to the Bahamas with. We also chatted with a guy who served in the US military, who was travelling with his twin brother. I regret not getting his name or more of his background. I did however, ask him what his impressions were of the Canadian military, who he had coordinated a number of joint training missions with. He had confirmed what I had heard from other American military commanders, that the Canadians were extremely competent and highly professional and a pleasure to work with. I was proud to hear that, although we agreed, it is likely inconsistent with most Canadians view of their own military.
As much as we enjoy meeting new people, it is more important for us to connect with family and friends back home. Luckily, we had pretty good cell coverage at Black Point which allowed us to video chat in the evenings. Judy even got to participate virtually in the monthly book club gathering. I did have to interject however, when the conversation turned to, “how can you possibly deal with spending so much time together in a small space for so long?”. I offered up the suggestion that I wasn’t really that hard to get along with, although, their question is a valid one, that deserves a separate discussion.
There are a lot of Canadian boats here this year given the 3 year pause due to Covid. I noted before that the overwhelming majority of them are from Quebec. We know from social media and talking to other people that there are other boats from Nova Scotia down here, but we have met very few of them in our travels.
We did meet Bettyann and Rob who were on sv Beyond from Halifax, briefly in Annapolis and have been chatting with them off and on ever since. We were happy to finally reconnect with them in Black Point along with their friends, Colin and Sara on mv River Bend, a Carver 358 from Miramichi, New Brunswick. Colin and Sara are working on completing the Great American Loop, while Bettyann and Rob, like us, are planning to head back to Nova Scotia in the spring.
Anyone who has followed these reports will also know our history with Steve and Judi on sv Adanaco. We last saw them at Cumberland Island, which seems like a long time ago. They have had more than their share of bad luck, but we were excited to finally see them anchored next to us in Black Point. Unfortunately, Steve was under the weather and not up to socializing and so our long-awaited reunion would have to wait.
Another familiar name in the anchorage was Honu Time, full time live aboards and YouTubers from Canada. We first met Josh and Tamara in Beaufort, NC and are energised by their company. They also introduced us to Christian and Jen, who were on HopDrop a catamaran out of Charlotte, NC. Josh and Tamara were planning to continue with their boat refit back in the Chesapeake this summer, while HopDrop had plans to head further south.
We had been seeing reports of a gathering of “Young Cruisers” in a bay just south of Black Point later this month. I am pretty sure that neither Judy or I meet any definition of “young cruiser” so we didn’t plan to stick around for the party. However, lots of “young ‘uns” were. As we were leaving the Yacht Club on our last evening in Black Point (until next time), the crew from the YouTube channel Spear-It Animal, along with several other boats, including Revival and Cajun from New Brunswick arrived decked out in tie dyed clothes, beads and bandanas for the start of their “hippy pub crawl”. We heard it was quite the party.
We had been in Black Point way longer than we had planned and were anxious to get moving again. Our plan was to head back to Cambridge Cay for a change of scenery and to get better protection from the wind which seemed to be relentless. Little did we know we’d have to figure out how to convince our bank of 60+ years that Judy was still a Canadian citizen.
But more about that, next time.
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