Black Point, Exumas while the wind blows

On Sunday March 6 we motored the 7 miles from Big Majors to Black Point. It wouldn't have been that far except we had to go out around Harvey Cay and while going out the wind was light and dead behind us but the wind event was yet to come.

Forecast for this week was and has been fairly high winds all week. Winds have been forecasted to be 15-25 kts almost all week and so far that has been true. We enjoy Black Point so spending several days here is no burden.

When we arrived on Sunday we went ashore to catch up on internet work for the first time in a week. We enjoyed wings and Sands beer at Scorpios a local pub while we updated everything internet.

We also met up with some old friends here. We met up with Hayden and Radeen Cochran who are headed north. We also met friends who used to be members of our sailing club who are buddy boating with IP 44 Cloud Nine that we chatted with on the radio Friday. It's amazing how small the world is. Monday night we had dinner with several other IP owners and their friends. As everywhere else we made

new friends.

Other than cleaning we haven't done much in the way of boat work. We expect to get to George Town in several days and stay in Emerald Bay marina for a few days and handle several projects while tied to the dock. Our focus here has been some shopping, exercise, working on the internet and discussing future plans. We have been fortunate to have internet through our booster to an outlet onshore so we have been able to work right from our boat. As much as we enjoy siting at the bar and meeting new folks, working from the boat is cheaper and easier.

Next Fall we want to continue on to the Caribbean so we have begun studying in earnest charts and routing books to find the best plan for doing that. There are only 3 viable ways we see to do that. A straight offshore route from the mid-Atlantic to the Virgin Islands similar to the annual Caribbean 1500. Work down part-way through the Bahamas and then head east with a turn south. Or, work down through the islands and head west through the windward passage to the central and western Caribbean. Lots of people talk about the so-called "thorny path" but that doesn't even seem like a viable route and I wonder why so many people consider going that way.

The "thorny path" looks easy but involves fighting wind and current for hundreds of miles and crossing potentially tragic passages. Not to mention it includes close exposure to Haiti and direct contact to daily stops in the Dominican Republic. All places with serious security risk. So we're considering heading to the western Caribbean first and then working our way back.

But, back to now. The anchorage here has really gotten crowded in the last day or so as lots of boats wait out the blow. Very lively happy hour at Scorpios tonight. We may try to move a little south to another protected anchorage that is more remote although we like having internet here so we'll see what tomorrow brings.