Black Point Cay

Though our anchorage at Big Majors has been my favorite so far, Black Point Settlement is my favorite village. We were there for two nights along with Shazza. We also met another boat Crux there who it looks like we will try to make the trip down to the Virgin Islands with, which will be nice. Black point is a little off the beaten path and not as exploited by tourism. The people are the kindest, most sincere, and generous that I have met in all of the Bahamas. The kids play in the street until dark and everyone says hello, have a good day and mean it. We anchored in the bay, made a little lunch and hopped in the dinghy with Bob and Sharon to go explore the island. The village consists of a few churches, two restaurants, a bar, a couple of markets, a fantastic laundromat (amazing the things that become important in your life while cruising!) and the “Garden of Eden”. Lorraine is the big entrepreneur on the island, running a cafe, a rental cottage, and email services. Her mother also bakes bread that is to die for. We all immediately put in our orders, us and Shazza both selecting whole wheat, though what she is famous for is her coconut bread…will definitely have to try that next time b/c it smelled heavenly this morning when we picked up our loaf. Our walk through town took us to the Garden of Eden which is this incredible driftwood art exhibit. The artist is a local, Mr. Rolle and he personally gave us a tour which was really a treat. His process as he explained it, is that he looks for his inspiration in the clouds. He may see a cloud formation that looks like a deer and then he knows that that is the piece of driftwood that is waiting to find him. He then heads to the beach and bushes and waits for it to come to him. His tour was so great and so personalized. He would set a scene for us, create an anecdote and wait for us to connect the dots. In addition to his driftwood garden he had the most unreal fruit and vegetable garden. All of the island is made of limestone and to grow any thing, you must get it to thrive in the holes and pockets within the limestone. He’s a genius b/c he was growing everything from almond trees to kiwi trees…right there in the holes in the limestone. He must have 20 different fruits and vegetables and we were lucky enough that he bestowed some on us! After leaving the Garden of Eden we headed back to the local bar to catch the tail end of the Patriots/Eagles game (sadly the Patriots were victorious) and later put in our order at Deshamons restaurant for lobster dinners the following evening. The next morning, I had a beautiful 5 mile run out to the bluff that overlooks Dothum Cut and we spent the the remainder of the morning doing laundry. Doing laundry is quite a social event in the cruising community, much like being at the local bar in but daylight. We met several people and ran into others that we had met on different cays. Our lobster dinner that night was the BEST $20 meal that we have ever had. First off, they went out that morning and caught the lobster special for us and it was the most delicious, sweet lobster served with rice and peas and veggies and followed with homemade ice cream. I am dreaming of that lobster now and I’m hoping that David is going to be able to catch some for me. Now we are off for the 8 hour trip down to George Town.