Black Point and Hawksbill Cay

Saturday May 3, 2014

24 05.968 N

76 24.163 W

Happy 65^th birthday, Deidre. I had a card for her that I had bought locally – there was not much choice and it was a Mother’s Day card that I had to alter. But it did the job.

We did not hang around for the weather forecast at the 8 AM cruisers net. By the time they got around to “arrivals and departures” we were a mile or so thru the entrance and well out into the sound. But we dutifully called in our departure and were asked for a report on sea conditions, which we provided.

It was a nice day. The light wind was on our stern, the swell on our starboard quarter and we enjoyed a bit of a current most of the day. With the early start we expected to arrive at “The Black Point Settlement” by early afternoon. Our course was unchanged, entrance to entrance. Once we settled onto the course we took turns reading our books.

We reached the entrance known as “   Cut” on schedule. This is a deep but narrow cut from the ocean side to the “bank side” with strong tidal flow creating a “rip”. The tide was ebbing and the current slowed Tide Hiker down about 4 knots and the water was quite turbulent for a mile or so until we were out of its reach. The anchorage at Black Point was right in front of the town with plenty of space, good holding in sand, and protected from everything that did not have too much “west” in it. The weather was calm as we anchored and the forecast was “OK”.

Black Point seemed to have potential. We had read that there were “shops” and a "restaurant" called “Lorraine’s” that had been recommended. It was Deidre’s birthday and we wanted to celebrate, so I radioed the restaurant (this normal procedure - the restaurants want to know how many meals they were making) and made a reservation.   But first some shopping, so we launched the dink and headed into town. I do not like leaving Tide Hiker unless she has been at anchor at least overnight, but we really wanted to get moving, so I contented myself with a look at the anchor using the “glass bottom bucket”. I was not happy with what I saw (half the anchor was still in sight) so we decided to compromise – drop Deidre off at the dock to stretch her legs and shop and I would return to the boat and reset the anchor.

The dock was a bit "rough and ready" but Deidre has become quite accomplished scrambling from the bouncy dinghy onto wobbly and slime covered ladders and she was soon on her way. Just as I turned the dink a large nurse shark – at least 8 feet – came and had a look. I am glad it was not around when Deidre was on that ladder.

Back at the boat I started both engines and backed down hard on the anchor. It did not appear to budge an inch. (We have an “app” on the iPad called “Drag Queen”. It is a GPS device that you “set” when the anchor goes down and it tells you how far away the anchor is and has an alarm function.) So I felt better about the anchor, and later on that night I would find comfort in that extra step

Deidre soon coo-eed from the dock and I picked her up. She was decidedly unimpressed with the town. All she was able to buy was a loaf of bread for $5. Nevertheless we got all gussied up and headed ashore again. Just as a FYI, based upon our accumualted experiences, Deidre packed a bag to take with us including:

1. Two plates - we do not like eating from plastic plates or "baskets"
2. Two sets of silverware - we do not like plastic "silverware"
3. Two glass jelly jars for our drinks - not plastic and we know they are clean
4. Change of underwear for Deidre (the dink can get wet)
5. The trash ($2 per large bag "donation") I now suspect that this is the "town's" best revenue item

Unfortunately “Lorrain’s” was so bad I could not stay so we turned on our heels and headed back to the boat. Deidre made a great salad, we ate it on the aft deck, and I did the dishes.

We watched a movie and went to bed about 11 PM. At about 3 AM we were woken up by quite a storm. Unfortunately it decided to hit us from the west, so we were on a lee shore. I fired up the computers while Deidre raced around and closed up. Once I was satisfied we were not dragging things calmed down a bit but I set the timer to wake me up at 4 AM and again at about 5 AM to fire up a gen. I was glad the anchor was properly set.

Sunday May 4, 2014
(Hawksbill Cay)
24 28.995 N
76 46.320 W

Bit tired this AM so we did not get underway till after 9 AM. No big deal, we had a short day planned and it would be on “the bank”. The trip was uneventful except that the weather was poor with overcast skies, a bit of rain and 15-20 kt wind out of the west. Its hard to find westerly protection on the bank side of the islands (plus the wind was forecast to swing North after midnight) and so we decided to take a mooring ball at one of the island parks.

It was quite tight (shallow water all around) and choppy as we approached the ball but got it done first try. (We cannot snare the ball over the bow as I bow is too high, so we have to slide the ball down the starboard side and grab it with a boat hook about mid-ships, which takes some doing).

A series of thunder storms moved through shortly after we arrived. The rain was quite heavy but there was not much wind. For a while it looked like we had storms all around us but they seem to be breaking up. There is one other boat here. The island is a reservation so totally deserted. We took the dink ashore between downpours and called in on the other boat on the way back. Nice people.

Bouncy night.