South of Staniel Cay

Strong winds from the north made it impossible to dinghy around Staniel Cay for two days without getting soaking wet! Many of our clothes were damp and salty and so we headed off to Black Point where we knew we could get shelter from the winds and where there was a great little laundry. While waiting for our clothes to be washed and dried we met another cruising couple--Debby and Fred from “Early Out” and enjoyed a great lunch at Lorraine’s Cafe. The next day we decided to explore the island, eventually ending up at the “Garden of Eden”. Many years ago one of the more creative residents of Black Point began collecting twisted pieces of wood that he found on the island in which he imagined he could “see” shapes suggestive of various birds, animals and people contorting their bodies in different ways. He set his “finds” up amongst the rubble and rocks in front of his house--like wooden sculpture--and for a small fee took us on a tour of his property explaining what everything was supposed to be. At the back of his small house he had created a wonderful garden through backbreaking work--hacking holes into the limestone coral which was his “land”, filling the holes with compost and then planting fruits and vegetables. There were mangoes, papayas, tomatoes, peppers and sweet potatoes. Because it is so dry, everything has to be watered by hand and all “earth” has to be created. An amazing feat!

We left the next day for White Point--a simply gorgeous crescent of wide white sand without a soul in sight. After spending much of the afternoon beachcombing, we climbed up a rocky ledge where we discovered a humungous osprey nest but were shooed away by it’s owner when we ventured too close. At White Point we were joined by “Beltane”--another boat that had shared our anchorage in Black Point and who asked us if we’d like to buddy boat with them down to Georgetown. Pat and Doug (Beltane) are Canadians from St. Andrews NB. and we found it comforting to be travelling once again with friends. We decided to explore another anchorage with them the next day--Hetty’s Land, a sheltered cove just a few miles further on. And here we were joined by “Early Out”--the other cruisers we had befriended at Black Point. That night we all had sundowners on “Beltane” and got to know each other a little better, deciding that we would travel as a threesome off shore to Georgetown in a few days time when the weather was favourable for the trip.

The next day we moved on to Little Farmers Cay where we anchored out the first night and took a slip at the marina there the next. This is a charming place and we spent a great day exploring the village, beachcombing and meeting the locals. Here we met an American couple who had decided to stay for the rest of the winter--too frightened by the “rages” that plague the cuts out to the Atlantic, to proceed further, a German who in retirement had built a lofty villa on a peak of the island overlooking a beautiful crescent of beach and who had been wintering there alone for the past 4 years after having been dumped by his younger wife, and several interesting Bahamians who were ALL related to each other and descended from the same freed slave who had bought the island of Little Farmers Cay 165 years ago, willing it to her descendents. We had a great lunch at the wonderful little restaurant “Ocean Cabin” and a horrible night at the marina. The dock there was too high and at low tide it was impossible to either get on or off the boat! The current was extremely strong, noisily rushing past the boat making sleep very difficult and sounding as if we were next to a washing machine--being bumped around all night long. As much as we enjoyed Farmers Cay itself, we had to leave that marina after only one night because of the sea state. And the more we looked at the “rage” outside Farmers Cut, the more we decided it was something we didn’t want to attempt. And so we left and sailed off to Cave Cay where our two boat buddies “Beltane” and “Early Out” were already anchored enjoying calm waters, and a beautiful environment. We joined them just outside of the Cave Cay Marina--a gorgeous place which is gradually morphing into a new upscale resort. Across from our boats was Musha Cay with its expensive villas owned by David Copperfield. We would liked to have stayed here for a few more days to explore the area and spend some time at the marina but a weather window was opening offering the opportunity for a perfect passage to Georgetown the next day and we all planned to leave together at first light in the morning. And after a comfortable night we did.