Long Island to Rocky Point to Black Point

We left Thompson Bay, Long Island early yesterday morning and sailed 60 nautical miles by way of the Sou’ Side—south of Great Exuma Island—to Rocky Point. We had plenty of wind for sailing but also surprisingly large following seas causing the boat to roll and twist. It was reminiscent of sailing out in the ocean, even though we were in shallow water. This morning we left Rocky Point and sailed 40 nautical miles to Black Point. The conditions were much calmer and we had to do a few hours of motoring when the wind dropped. We didn’t see another boat until we were almost to Black Point, although we did hear quite a bit of radio chatter from the more traveled northeast side of Great Exuma Island. The photo below shows what we see when traveling the Sou’ Side, miles and miles of shallow water, ten to twenty feet deep. At the edge of the horizon there is a dark stripe which is the deep water of the Tongue of the Ocean. It is thousands of feet deep and so named because it looks like a tongue on the map of the Bahamas. When I took the photo we were less than ten miles away. 

We dropped anchor at Black Point and hurried to eat a late lunch, shower, put the dinghy in the water and get to Scorpios for happy hour. No one else was there—probably because it is Valentine’s Day—so we left after one drink. There were over thirty other boats in the harbor when we arrived so we anchored at the back of the pack, near Emerald Sunset View Restaurant and Bar. Shortly after we anchored the restaurant cranked up their music in preparation for their Valentines Day celebration. We have heard their loud music late into the night other times we were anchored there so, after returning from Scorpios, we raised the anchor and moved 2 miles around the point to Little Bay. It is much more peaceful here with just one other boat.