A Day in Black Point

Feb 28, 2013
67
Pacific Seacraft 40 Belfast
We arrived in Black Point, Exumas, yesterday morning around 10 am and anchored in the spot that has always been left for us, midway between the government dock and Ida Patton’s dinghy dock. Our first stop after rowing ashore was at Ida’s laundromat. We had done two loads of laundry in Rock Sound so didn't need her machines but bought one of the pastries that Ida always has on hand.

(Ida has the finest laundromat in the Bahamas, perhaps in the world for all I know. We could have waited until Black Point but were glad we hadn’t. The Rock Sound laundromat, 3 T’s, is run by the former center fielder on the national Bahamian softball team which played in tournaments all over the world. He regaled us, and his two Bahamian customers, for hours with tales of his travels and other topics that came to mind. It was a fascinating time and we enjoyed it immensely.)

Our second stop in Black Point was Pearmon Rolle’s house. Pearmon makes a unique form of coconut bread unlike, and better than, any other in the Bahamas. We always get a loaf from her and treasure our visits with that dapper, diminutive, charming lady.

We then had lunch at her daughter Lorraine’s cafe - pizza from the oven Lorraine put in a couple of years ago. Lorraine’s husband, Uriah, has inexplicably become an avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan and the cafe is now festooned with Steeler flags, banners and other football memorabilia. The business is doing very well - each day several fast boats come loaded with tourists from the Georgetown area for lunch at Lorraine’s and the other restaurant in town, Deshamon's.

As we were waiting for Lorraine to open for lunch we saw Keith walking down the road. He is the carburetor mechanic and conch salad maker. We talked him into getting a fresh conch and turning it into a conch salad for us. He said he would make one for us if we came to Deshamon's after lunch. We did and he made a bowl for us to take back to the boat.

We rowed back to Ida’s dinghy dock later that afternoon for excellent rum punches at Zhivago’s Scorpio Bar. It was a brief but rewarding visit to the small town I fell in love with so many years ago.

There were other friends that we missed seeing this year. We missed Basil Rolle, Pearmon’s husband and Lorraine’s dad. He was the first person I ever met from Black Point. I was anchored at Chicken Cay in 1999 where Basil was the commuting caretaker. He came out in his rickety skiff to say hello. From the way he talked about Black Point and from his genuinely sweet personality, I knew already it was a place I would love when I got there. Basil passed away four years ago.

I missed Kevin Rolle who became my best friend in Black Point. He was the myopic town cop who really wanted to become a preacher and was working hard at it. Soon after he made the transition he died of a heart attack. I miss him every time I pass the cop house.

Willy Rolle, Lorraine’s uncle, has been in poor health these past few years. Up until last year we would see him struggling to walk to town and back. This year we didn’t see him and decided not to bother him. He was the most interesting of all the Black Point folk we’ve known.

I have so many great memories, so many stories, that I treasure from my visits there over the years. Without a cruising sailboat to find places like Black Point my life would have been greatly diminished.

Merry Christmas and happy New Year.
 
Mar 1, 2012
2,182
1961 Rhodes Meridian 25 Texas coast
Loved Black Point- Sorry to hear about Rolle. If you get the chance, tell Deshamon's mother the guy who repaired her sewing machine said hello.

Maybe one day I'll make it back

deshamons.jpg
 

Sumner

.
Jan 31, 2009
5,254
Macgregor & Endeavour 26S and 37 Utah's Canyon Country
Thanks so much for the update on Black Point :dancing::dancing:


I stopped there twice when I was over there with the MacGregor and we hope to be back there this spring with the Endeavour.



Great place also to get water and get rid of trash and the people as you mentioned are great ...

http://1fatgmc.com/boat/mac-1/2015 Bahamas/2-Bahamas-1/Bahamas-Page-9.html

What are you doing for Internet? Do you have a BATELCO sims card in a phone? I used my long distance WiFi to connect to someone's server there but plan on using a sims card in a phone and the phone as a hot spot when we go. Is that what is working for you? If so has that been working for most of the distance in the Exuma Chain.

We also plan on going from Marathon to Morgan's Bluff (north end of Andros) and checking in there. Then south along the east side of North Andros. Then west across the Decca Channel to the Exumas and Black Point to resupply. Any thoughts on that? Thanks,

Sumner
=====================================================================
1300 miles to The Bahamas and Back in the Mac...
Endeavour 37 Mods...
MacGregor 26-S Mods...
Mac Trips to Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Canada, Florida, Bahamas
 
Last edited:
Feb 28, 2013
67
Pacific Seacraft 40 Belfast
I use wifi whenever possible, Ida's in Black Point. When no wifi I use an iPad with BTC SIM card.

Never checked in at Morgans.
 

Sumner

.
Jan 31, 2009
5,254
Macgregor & Endeavour 26S and 37 Utah's Canyon Country
I use wifi whenever possible, Ida's in Black Point. When no wifi I use an iPad with BTC SIM card.

Never checked in at Morgans.
Thanks and you have a great time over there. Sure hope we make it,

Sumner
===========================================================
1300 miles to The Bahamas and Back in the Mac...
Endeavour 37 Mods...

MacGregor 26-S Mods...http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/endeavour-main/endeavour-index.html
Mac Trips to Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Canada, Florida, Bahamas
 

Hagar

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Jan 22, 2008
45
Catalina 42 Olympia Washington
Hey Sumner, I got curious about your link to Idaho and checked it out. I grew up near Hay, Washington (real name, not far from Dusty - also a real name) on the dry side of the state. We were dry land wheat farmers and our annual vacation was 2 weeks at Priest Lake every August after harvest was done. I was too young to remember the first trips in the early 50's but remember the late 50's when it was still a long trip on gravel roads from Priest River up to the lake.

Those 2 weeks were absolute heaven for us kids. The crystal clear water and green trees where a big change from the farm where after mid June the only green was the watered lawn. Hours and hours we spent in the water every day. We had a small pond on the farm where I first experimented with sail-powered craft. The biggest was about 16 inches long. I had read up on sail power and sort of knew the theory. At 14 years old my first ever experience conveying myself under sail was with a family friends' summer cabin at Priest Lake. It belonged their in-laws and came with a canoe rigged with a small lateen rig and lee boards. Nobody new much about it but I was given permission to give it a try. Among the 10 second "videos" stored in the grey matter is the sensation of the way the canoe took off once I figured out how to make it go. It is a super Hi-Def video with vivid colors and Dolby sound. No doubt the years of review and "editing" have given it some enhancement. Whenever there was wind I had it out on the water for the 3 days of our Labor Day weekend visit. I consider it my first introduction to a life-long addiction!

My younger sister also loved The Lake so much that when she found herself without a job in her mid-twenties she signed up for a summer gig at Hill's Resort on Luby Bay. She has lived up there ever since and has a small house a couple of miles off the lake. My other sister married a guy who owns a summer home near Soldier Creek just west over the peninsula from Cavanaugh Bay. The lake-front property has been in their family since the mid '40s and is worth a fortune. Not for sale...

We did take our San Juan 24 up to Priest Lake a couple of times in the early 90's.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane.