Big Majors (Staniel Cay) to Black Point

Yesterday morning we raised the anchor and set sail nine miles south to Black Point. The wind was right on our nose once we rounded the corner at Harvey Cay so we dropped the main and motored the rest of the way. The harbor at Black Point is not quite as protected as Big Majors but we like being at Black Point much better. First item on the agenda once we settled in was laundry at Rockside Laundry. We weren’t desperate to do laundry but it didn’t look busy at the dinghy dock so we thought it was a good opportunity. We were wrong. All of the washing machines were full. There was a nice couple sitting there waiting for their laundry so we had a nice chat with them while we waited. A little while later another nice couple came in and we chatted with them as well. Finally, after about an hour of waiting we were able to put our laundry in a machine. Ida, the owner of Rockside, was apparently at a funeral in Nassau so a man named Stick, from Deshamon’s restaurant, was covering for her. He was running back and forth between the laundry and the restaurant. He told us that the laundry was having problems with the water pump so the washing machines are very slow to fill. After about an hour and a half one load was ready to put in the dryer. I eventually checked the dryer and found that the clothes were damp and the dryer was not at all hot. I decided to add these clothes to the other load once it was ready to go in the dryer. When I finally did that the second dryer didn’t get hot, either. George saw that the dryers were powered by propane and we guessed the propane had run out. George went over to Deshamon’s to find Stick, who was in the midst of serving a buffet lunch to a tour group. He came over anyway, hooked up new propane and gave us a couple more tokens. Finally, after four hours in the laundromat, we were done. We had made plans to meet the two couples, Darcy and John from Kindred Spirit and June and GT from Sirena Gorda, for happy hour a little later. We ended up at a new restaurant, Emerald Sunset View. It has a gorgeous view of the harbor but, unfortunately, we had just missed the sunset. The six of us sat on the deck and traded stories and had lots of laughs. When we shared the story of our reef line/propeller mishap near Cape Lookout, June said she had heard us talking with Tow Boat US on the radio. When June and GT shared a story about another boat hitting theirs at a marina in Bimini (while they were away from the boat), Darcy and John said they were there and saw it happen. The cruising world is indeed a small one. 

We returned to the main dock to dinghy back to Breeze On. After our experience with nearly sinking the dinghy when it got stuck under the dock last winter, George used a stern anchor this time. Not taking any chances even though the wind was blowing the dinghy off the dock.

Dinghy secure with stern anchor

Shark hiding out under the dinghy