The guide book description of Staniel Cay would have you believe that there actually was a town, when in fact, a few scattered, colorful houses, a church, small government office and Batelco (Bahamas Telephone Company) office were it. At the little market we found, much to our delight, fresh grapes, apples and a few other treats. Then we checked out the yellow, blue and pink houses…all noted in the guides. At the yellow house, we met a wonderful woman whose specialty is coconut bread. “Treat it like a baby”, she crooned as she handed me a warm loaf from her kitchen table. We can highly recommend French toast made with coconut bread -- it is a taste treat straight from heaven!
Leaving Staniel, we inched north to Sampson’s Cay -- a polar opposite of Staniel and most of the other islands we’ve seen so far. It has a small, private resort on it, with a restaurant, store and marina that is said to be one of the safest in the Exumas in heavy weather. The buildings are made of stacked stone with pale green trim and gabled roofs. Snappily dressed staff, Jimmy Buffett music and pet sharks in the dinghy dock area complete the package that can be yours for $8,000 a week in season. We got it for the price of lunch.
Black Point Settlement on Great Guana Cay gets a lot of good press in the guide books as well. Lorraine’s Café, in particular, is written up as a must do experience. Here’s our take…….we dinghy in to the Government Dock and tie up with no problem. A short walk up the pier we find two guys just hanging out in front of the “Government Building”, a 20 foot square stucco structure with peeling paint and sagging shutters. Bill asks them if there is a place open for lunch (it is Sunday) and they reply that Lorraine will probably be cooking at her place after church. Aha! This is good, we think, but it’s already past noon, when is church over? They have no idea.
We walk in the direction they have indicated, and easily find Lorraine’s -- a couple from another boat and their dog are sitting under a tree in front, busy at their computers. A quick glance inside reveals that the place is empty, however, so we wander further down the road. Blue trash bins line the road at about 50 yard intervals, and all are full or close to full, and still garbage lies along the road and in the yards of the small homes that line it. What a shame. There are few people out -- still at church, we guess, so we wander back to Lorraine’s. This time we discover that there is a back room where other boaters are congregated using their computers. One has a key to the cooler out front that he offers to unlock if we’d like something cool to drink. Lorraine left it with him. I have a water and peruse the overstuffed shelves of the lending library that makes up one side of the tiny restaurant. Bill finds a magazine and we settle down to wait for the place to open.
Finally, Lorraine herself comes in, dressed to the nines in her Sunday best, to tell those of us waiting (about 10 now) that she will be back in a bit after she changes clothes. It’s now about 2 pm and hunger is setting in for real. Lorraine leaves and the clock continues ticking. One couple finally gives up, saying they are off to find a restaurant that is actually open. Where’s the adventure in that? We wait, meet a nice couple from Arizona, check email, wait, get a beer, wait. At last, Lorraine returns in jeans and a t-shirt, ready to cook up her much touted grilled snapper sandwich. We wait. She serves us, at last, after three in the afternoon, what Captain Bill describes as an ‘adequate’ meal. I would not be that generous.
We did meet some nice people, however, who invited us to their sailboat for drinks that evening. The next morning we made new friends as we motored back north to a place called Shroud Cay -- a southbound Nordhavn hailed us and we traded tales for a bit. Further north, then, back to Ship Channel Cay to prepare for our next crossing. This one only 40 miles -- the Exumas to Eleuthra. That story next. We leave you now for a quick trip in Love Me Tender into Spanish Wells where we hope to find gasoline for the dinghy, a hose nozzle for the outside shower and maybe some groceries. All in a day’s work for this crew --
Let’s Dance -- Carol and Bill
