The winds did die down enough late Thursday for us to venture ashore. We headed West toward the sound side to find the blow hole. It was almost low tide when we landed the dingy at the dock and clambered up the ladder to the dock. The directions in the Waterway Guide said if you reach the cemetary you've gone too far. We did so turned around and went up what looked like a private lane. The No Tresspassing - Private Property signs didn't encourage us. They all seemed to be on the South side of the lane so we assumed they meant off the path was private. We could see the sound in the distance stretching out for miles. After passing around a bend to the south the beach came into view. We saw someone sitting on the rocky ledges next to the beach. My first thought was it might be the land owner but then on a second look I realized it was Curtis.
The beach was about 1/4 mile long with lots of seaweed, flotsam and jetsam scattered about. I walked down in search of sea beans while Scott chatted with Curtis. Barbara was at the opposite end of the beach. I picked up a piece of driftwood to search through the mounds of seaweed and set off on my quest. After walking the length of the beach and not finding anything I caught up with Barbara. We chatted for awhile and continued on her search, she for a specific shell and sea glass, me for that elusive bean. Nary a one was to be found though. I did find a very cool sea fan that looks like a bonsai tree. After some coaxing by Barbara, I decided to keep it. I try not to bring too much stuff on board we just don't have the room. The Captain did approve of the acquisition, and gave it a place of honor on the ships fireplace. We never did find the blow hole, surmised that since it was low tide it might not be active.
We walked back into town together and went to the grocery. I scored a tomato, green pepper, some romaine lettuce and bananas. I was hoping for some ground turkey and some chicken but they had not apparently received any on the boat. I was happy to get the produce though. After paying for our purchases we continued on to Lorraine's Cafe in search of Bahamian bread. I was tempted to stay for dinner the AC was heavenly and the food looked good with enough on a plate for two easily. I was outvoted on that one, plus I believe she wants you to order ahead of time. We did meet Lorraine who directed us to her Mother's cottage behind the cafe. "Just walk in and shout out she said" Not sure how I would feel about that if it were my home but we did. Lorraine's Mom, whose name I did not catch, is a tiny woman and just lovely. We chatted with her about bread making and her technique. Apparently she will give you lessons, next time we are here I will investigate that further. We bought a loaf of Coconut bread, which was rumored to be outstanding and it definitely is. After thanking her we set off to go back to the dock stopping to chat with a woman who was weaving palm fronds. She supplements her income (as a teacher) by weaving in her spare time. The work she was doing was gorgeous and she spent a good deal of time showing us how the weaving was done. She was working on a 6 frond plait but explained you learn starting with two and work your way up in number as you get better. I loved the green shade of the piece she was working on, but she explained that the finished product is dried in the sun. I'm not sure it that is to preserve it or because they feel the yellow/gold of the dried fronds is more saleable.
We continued on to the dock where we had to extract our dinghies from the tangle that were parked and headed back to our boats for dinner.
The picture is of the beach near Blackpoint Settlement looking our over Exuma Sound.