Harbor at Black Point
Great Guana Cay is almost 12 miles long and is the longest cay in the Exuma chain with the exception of Great Exuma. The only settlement on the island is Black Point. This is the largest and most traditional settlement in the northern and central Exumas. Black Point is beautiful with coconut palms and quaint traditional houses. The residents rely on farming, fishing, and plaiting (weaving lines for fishing) and tourism for their living and the men at Black Point are known for their fishing prowess.
Walking around the town area near the dinghy dock, this looked a lot more like a regular, traditional Bahamian town. There were 3 "small" convenience stores. Please understand these are not like what you would expect in the states. Most often these stores are small concrete structures just like the homes here. They have supplies around the inside, some may even have one or two isles of shelving with supplies. What they have can vary depending upon whether the supply boat has arrived in the last day or two. It is definitely a different kind of experience. Here are a few pictures from our walk along the main drag.
The school
Police station
A phone booth that we think was actually functional
Sloop in the yard. Regattas are popular here and many locals have a sloop they will enter in the yearly races.
For lunch we stopped at Lorraine's Cafe.
This is a fairly well talked about eating spot in Black Point. Because there are numerous tour boats that stop here for lunch, we had to wait quite a bit ( an hour) after arriving to get our lunch. Please note that even with the tour boats there were only about 18 people here for lunch. We had nowhere to be, so we just went with it.
After lunch we rode the dinghy down the western side of the island. One of the Bahamas guide books I have noted there was a good shelling beach along this side. We tried several beaches and had no luck. I think I will go with my instincts from now on as far a shelling goes.
Riding and exploring with the dinghy.
Dinghy cave exploring
We had made a reservation for dinner at a spot we found while walking town earlier in the day. They ask for your order and what time you will arrive. We picked what we wanted for dinner and said we would come back by dinghy at 6 PM. They even checked to see if they had what we wanted for dinner, as the supply boat had not arrived in several days. They seemed very nice and happy for the business. We were the only patrons there at 6 PM and had a drink before our dinner. As we waited, a total of 6 people came into the restaurant (one other table of 4 and one of 2). We still waited an hour before dinner came. Again not a big deal as we had nowhere to be, just odd. Also we had to chuckle because when the meal came it was not exactly what we had ordered earlier. My grilled grouper was a lightly breaded white fish (we think cod) and Keith had ordered coleslaw as his side which turned into sauteed vegetables. Oh well, at least we had something, and we are not that particular.
The view was spectacular. It would have been stunning, but we did have a few clouds at sunset.
View from our dinner spot
Because there were high winds predicted to start again on Saturday night, we pulled up anchor from Black Point Saturday morning to head for some cover for the weekend. Now when I say we pulled up anchor, we had a bit of a fiasco during this anchor retrieval. We have been putting a small buoy on the end of our anchor that floats above the anchor. This marks where our anchor is located and helps keep other boats from setting their anchor over ours. When we pulled the anchor in Saturday morning this buoy with its line got under the boat and around the stabilizer fin on the port side of the boat. So we could not get the anchor all the way up and the line from the anchor to the buoy was under the boat stuck on the stabilizer. Not Good! Not Good! Not Good!
There were not many good options. To my severe distress, Keith decided he had to get into the water to attempt to get the line untangled, while I manned the boat to keep us out of any really shallow water. He tried to untangle the line but could not get it so we had to cut a small piece of the line to get it off the anchor. Luckily once it was cut, he was able to pull it out from under the boat. Good grief! After that little 10 minute episode we were back on our way. No harm, no foul. Just another story to tell.
The ride to Cave Cay only took about 2 hours. The wind was picking up a little and there was just a moderate chop on the water for the trip. Cave Cay has a very well protected little harbor that you enter via a small channel.
Approaching Cave Cay
One of several caves along Cave Cay (hence the name). Locals from other islands used to take bat guano out of these caves and use it for fertilizer.
View of the cut into the marina
No very wide... is it?
After passing through the cut, we could see the slips of the marina.
Marina office
Cave Cay is a private island. The current owner put in the small marina and an airstrip. There are also five houses in numerous states of completion. Rumor has it that for a mere $60 million you can buy this island as the owner is looking to sell.
After we got settled at the dock, we went walking around the island. We waked down the airstrip and out across to the ocean side and a small beach.
Airstrip on Cave Cay
View from out across the ocean side of the island
Not long after we got back to the boat from our walk, the power at the marina went out. The marina manager, named "Shark", said a wire had melted through from the generator supplying power to the marina. He would have to do some electrical work to try to get it working and since he had been drinking beer since 4 PM, he felt it best he not do this repair until the next day. Whatever man, it is the Bahamas. So we just operated as if we were at anchor and ran the generator a bit. We were still glad to be inside the protected harbor for the upcoming blow which began overnight.
The wind did pick up during the night, but we were so well protected the boat barely moved. In the morning we put on our anemometer and clocked wind up to 32 mph. Soooooooooo nice to be in a good harbor. During the day Keith and I walked around the island some more. Nothing dramatic was found. I did take the kayak out, but due to the wind did not venture outside of the protected harbor.
Next stop; the all inclusive Sandals Resort at The Marina at Emerald Bay, Great Exuma Island.
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