Mike
02/17/2008, Black Point Settlement

Feb. 15..

This morning I helped Jim and Beth for a while troubleshooting a charging problem and then we spliced a junction into their new SSB antenna. Having finished a little "work" Kathy and I decided to head south to the Black Point Settlement about 10 miles south to do some laundry. There isn't much in Black Point, but their laundromat is nice and it is a quaint, very Bahamian town. We again had a nice sail in 12 knots racing a big catamaran and a big Hunter. We actually went into the wind better than both and held our own for the morning. We needed hot water and motored the last 3 miles... forfeiting the race, but had a great time tacking with them.

After anchoring, we loaded up some dirty clothes and some garbage and took off for the laundry. Garbage gets to be a problem in some places. In the Exuma Park you must pack it in and take it out. Some places charge you to take your trash, but Black Point has trash bins you can use for free. We had to wait about 45 minutes for the owner to get back for her mid day shower to sell us some tokens, but once started, we made good time and at least have some clean clothes to wear back to the Laundromat tomorrow for the real deal.

While things were in the dryer, we wandered down to the store which was similar to the one we were in yesterday. We'll probably go back tomorrow to pick up a few things like crackers and a few more vegetables. We are also planning to go out to eat at Lorraine's tomorrow... you make reservations and place your order via VHF in the morning.

We have one more stop before heading out in the Sound for our sail down to Great Exuma.

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Mike
02/17/2008, Big Major's Spot

Valentine's Day...

We got the anchor up at 9:30 and sailed west out of the Park. Our goal for the day was the anchorage at Staniel Cay which was about 20 miles south..... if you happen to be a crow. Sailing is not the fastest way to travel. We tacked a few times but and had a wonderful sail again. The trades here are from the east so with a little consideration for bad weather, the sailing is great.... good winds and only moderate waves.

We arrived a Big Majors Spot, where there are wild pigs on the beach that swim out to greet you when approaching in a dinghy. We stayed away from them as we anchored well off the island. Later we took the dinghy into Staniel Cay to check out the town. It was a ride of about 2 miles and a little rough . We tied off at the Yacht Club Dock and went for a walk around town. There were a few rental cottages on the water painted in vivid colors that looked nice but as we walked further, it was evident that the village was not all that prosperous.

Back at the Yacht club... which in truth is a bar/restaurant with a long dock, we had a slow lunch with Jim who had come ashore to fetch a pail of water....and some gas. The lunch was slow because our waitress was setting up for the Valentines Party that night and we were not her first priority.

We had a Valentine's Day Lunch... I had a conch burger for $12, Kathy had a shrimp salad for $10 and Jim a BLT for $8 (Beth stayed on the boat due to the rough situation of getting to shore-distance and bouncin). The food was good and proportions were fine. Conch is the Bahamas version of tofu. It doesn't really have much taste of it's own but does a nice job of absorbing others. A conch salad is a finely chopped conch mixed with onions, green peppers, tomatoes, and scotch bonnets. It is all soaked in lime juice to soften both the conch and the hot peppers.

You can also buy "cracked conch" which is what is in a conch burger. In this case the conch is pounded, or run through a meat processor of some sort and then soaked in lime just as a tenderizer. It is then lightly breaded and deep fried. It is good ... but again tastes more like the lime than the conch.

After our lunch we unlashed our dinghies and headed for the grocery store down the beach about a half of mile. We came ashore, and tossed the anchor on the beach before wandering up to the the first floor of what looked like another pastel painted house. The store consisted of a room about 12 feet by 24 with hardware on one side and food on the other ... there were shelves, a cooler and a chest freezer on the food side of the establishment. We bought butter, frozen pork chops, limes, frozen hamburger, romaine, cucumber, ginger beer ( to make Dark and Stormies), some juices, potatoes, and carrots. So although small they did have some essentials ... NO chips, crackers, or junk food in sight except for some candy bars in the freezer that we figured we didn't need.

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Mike
02/17/2008, Wardrick Wells

Kathy's Birthday

It was windy today and we didn't really do much. Going to shore meant getting soaked so we read and I worked on smoking some salmon filets for supper. I also put together a black bean dip with leftovers for Kathy's party. After their walk, Beth and Jim came over with a cake and a bottle of champagne to celebrate. Later we listened to the end of the Spartans loss to Purdue...as the wind piped up. By bed time Sapphire was rolling stem to stern and side to side to the point that sleep was impossible. Kathy moved to the cockpit and was able to get a few hours of sleep but I stayed below and got much less.
Today I went to shore for a hike with "Madcap" and "Princess" and ended up with a great workout arriving back at around 3pm in time to think about supper...and lunch.

Feb 13...

It was still windy so we stayed in the Park ... I went ashore through the waves and surf and went for a hike again with the crew. It was a good workout in the heat and by the time we returned everyone was ready for a sit in the shade.

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