13 March 2024 - Wednesday
Anchor location adjustment and Dinghy travel only
We packed up the dinghy and started on our way to the docks to pay for / register for the buffet dinner scheduled for Thursday night. A short distance from "Sunset Delight" Clark said, "It looks like some boats left, and we can look for a spot closer to the venue and perhaps with better cell service." I was all for that, so we quickly turned around and went back to SD to pick up anchor and find a new home for the next few days.
Once we were settled in, we jumped back into the dinghy to continue our trip to shore. Since we were here in 2016, more dinghy docks have appeared. We headed to the one associated with the High Tide Café since that is where we planned to buy our tickets.
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| View from dinghy dock of waterfront by High Tide Cafe and BPYC (not our dinghy) |
Our welcoming committee was not so welcoming as she was busy with her morning bath when we arrived.
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| "Excuse me! I'm bathing here!" |
We got our meal tickets, but while there, I decided to buy raffle tickets as the money received benefits our hostess - Lorraine of Lorraine's Cafe. Then I noticed a shirt advertising Lorraine's Cafe and I bought one. The volunteers selling raffle tickets and shirts were from a boat named "Impulse", so my "impulse" buying was quite appropriate I thought.
Clark inquired after the name "Impulse" and immediately dove into a technical discussion with the owner of the boat "Impulse" talking Electrical Engineer talk.
After we left the café, we checked out the situation for getting laundry done. We could do it ourselves or pay to have it done. The service cost $25.00 plus cost of using machines.
When the proprietor told us we could have the laundry back at 4:00 today, we went back to the boat to collect the laundry and have her get the job done.
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| Ready to cast off from the dinghy dock |
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| Lots of boats in the anchorage |
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| Where is ours again?! |
On our way back to the laundromat, we stopped by "Happy Now" to drop off an item for the raffle. We had dropped our donations of school supplies and craft materials to "Kingfisher" earlier. Members of the Seven Seas Cruising Assoc. incorporate good works into their activities. Supporting the people of Black Point is a major goal of the organization.
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| "Happy Now" |
Clark has an "eagle dye" for Mainship boats. He spotted a Mainship 1 and had to go take a closer look.
When we went back for the laundry, we tied up at the dinghy dock associated with laundry. The rails on this ladder felt further apart and more difficult to climb than the ones at the café. Plus the tide had gone down making more rungs of the ladder appear. Hold on tight while climbing!
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| We had to push a few boats out of the way to get to the ladder. |
After dropping off the laundry, we headed back to our boat. Along the way, Clark spied another boat of interest - a motor sailor vessel. He had to go over to take a peak. The owners were on board, and even though we were ready for lunch, Clark decided we should climb on board to have a look around.
We talked to the owners, Steve and Denise, had a tour, and made new friends in the process.
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| "Big Moose" |
When we did finally get back to our boat, about two hours later, it was 1:30 and definitively past time to eat lunch. After lunch, Clark dove into the water to look at the squeaky stabilizer fin on the port side of the boat. His projects frequently make work for me as I became the "gofer" to get various tools he needed to do the job. He used Allen wrenches to try to tighten a bolt that did not need to be tightened.
Then he thought the squeak might be caused by a weed wrapped around the unit that he could not remove by hand. He ended up using a hacksaw blade to snag it and pull it out.
After he was done working on the hull, he invited me in for a swim, but I declined for today.
Later, as it neared 4:00 and laundry pick-up time, we climbed into the dinghy to head back to shore. The tide was going down, so the ladder up to the dock looked more and more intimidating.
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| Bottom of ladder completely out of water now |
As expected the laundry was not ready when we arrived. It took another 30 minutes before it was dry and folded. Meanwhile, we looked for sea life in the waters near the docks. We saw turtles, rays, and sharks.
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| Ray by the dinghies |
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| Shark swimming by |
We spent the 30 minutes we waited for the wash to be done, talking with our new friends on "Big Moose" and getting to know Mike and Sophia on "Flying Squad".
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| View of anchorage from High Tide Café |
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| View of High Tide Dinghy dock |
When I saw Clark making his way back to tie up at the dock, I went down to help shove other dinghies out of the way for him.
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| Busy night for tacos |
It's the Bahamas, so things work differently here. As customers appeared, no one was turned away. More and more tables and chairs were carried in (from places unknow) and setup to accommodate any and all comers.
Tacos came out to waiting customers in random order. Mike and Sophia had finished theirs before anyone else at our table got their food. Eventually, Steve and Denise got their order, but still nothing for Clark and me. When they did show up with our order, only my food came out. After two hours of waiting for food, Clark was started to get a little lightheaded. I managed to talk to Lorraine - we think they forgot his order in the kitchen chaos.
We departed as soon as Clark had eaten and paid the bill. The weather was on the chilly side, and I did not want to navigate the ladder down to the dinghy in the dark. Clark was glad that he had turned on the anchor light earlier even though it was only 4:00 when he did so.
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| Which one of those is our anchor light?! |
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| A little past Sunset at Black Point |
Clark and I estimated about 80+ anchor lights out there.
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