Black Point and the Garden of Eden

We’re back in Black Point, Exumas– 24⁰06’.14 N latitude and 76⁰24’4 W longitude, after a 9 mile, mostly down wind sail over the banks from Staniel Cay. Hi 70s during the day, mid to high 60's at night -- the natives tell us it's the coldest ever. We’re getting south!!! En route we passed a Bahamian Defence boat. They do a great job, sometimes involving boarding and searching boats like our friends’ Ken & Heather. Machine guns in hand, 6 big men who don’t ask questions, and you better have your papers. But they are doing their job, checking for drug dealers and terrorists.

We like Black Point, for a variety of reasons. First, there is the cruiser-famous laundromat here! Only a mere $7.50 for 1 washer/1 dryer load, but it’s clean, plenty of machines, and a gathering place for the cruisers. Laundry is not “woman’s work” in the cruising world. It’s a social thing. Necessary, but social.

AND – as a bonus, you can get your hair cut at the laundromat! Both women

And men. Note, the laundromat is also a hardware/convenience store. AND she cooked lunch (conch fritters) for us (6 for $1) while we were there.

But how many laundromats do you know that give you this view out of the door while you’re having your hair cut for $10!!!

First things first, Luke climbed back up the mast, replaced the wind indictor, and VOILA! We now have wind speed and direction again! Wonder why he’s not crazy about going up there…(It’s really REALLY high! 60 feet above the water! – Luke)

We met up with friends, had cocktail hour on the boat, and joined about 40 other cruisers at Lorraine’s, a popular dining place for cruisers. Good meal, lots of fun!

On Wednesday we did the tourist stuff, taking the dinghy to the Black Point Beach.

Here’s the local church complex.

Then on to “beach glass beach”, shown to us last year by Joanne, who promised beach glass at every step. It must have been picked over then, but it was sure bountiful this time!

It’s a beautiful beach, but very rugged at low tide.

She was right – here’s Luke with his first major find.

And here’s the booty! That’s as much as I’ve collected in 2 years! Luke was quite the help, finding about as much as I did!

The beach was interesting – Mother Nature takes care of herself. Lots and lots of plastic washed up on the beach. But here is a bit of growth, determined to make it’s way, even if it means going through a piece of plastic on the beach.

Next we walked through town. It’s still very depressed, lots of empty buildings, some dating back to British Loyalist times, just after the American Revolution..

But there seems to be progress, with a few new houses going up.

The Bahamians race a local style of sailboat, the C-Class Racing boat. Each island has a regatta each year. “Muriell”, a very fast boat in Staniel Cay, has a 28 foot waterline, and 60 ft mast! It needs a lot of movable human ballast. There is a huge amount of pride in winning these races.

Here is the skeleton of a new racing boat being built. The construction is a bit rough, and, as in days gone by, uses the crotches of tree branches as knees and elbows to provide high strength at sharp curves, like the keel.

A bit further up the main road and we came to the Garden of Eden. Oh, yes, art and all. The owner/designer, Willie Rolle, takes his inspiration from the clouds and finds driftwood to make his visions real.

Here for example, an iguana.

He has lottttts more, some more imaginative than others. Plus a garden built in the holes in the coral rock. The summer rain collects in these holes and provides the necessary moisture for growth, very uncommon here in the Bahamas. Back to the boat, with a coconut, compliments of Willie. There may be further pictures of us trying to get the thing open. We had cocktails on the boat with friends tonight. Based on the weather forecast, we’ll probably be here for a few more days. The plan is to go the local bar/internet provider (what a combo!!!) on Thursday to pick up e-mails and get this blog sent.