Laundry Day at Black Point - and a Few Surprises!

Our friends, Anne and Reg, arrived in Staniel Cay last week, so we stayed to have lunch with them on Saturday at the Yacht Club. We were planning to spend the week exploring after that, before they would join us on our boat on February 1^st. But we were stopped in our tracks by the wind again, so we’ve been waiting it out, hunkered down behind a big rock shelter on the back of Thunderball Grotto.

Hallelujah – today the weather forecast was for calm winds and flat seas, so we decided to motor the 1.5 hours to Black Point, where they have a superb laundromat (a real sailor’s “scene”). The boat batteries needed a boost, and my captain needed to swing the compass (circling in calm water while making adjustments) – so this seemed like the perfect opportunity! We would stay overnight and head back to Staniel in the morning – still predicted to be calm weather before another big blow.

The first surprise when we arrived was being told, as we pulled our dinghy up to the laundromat dock, that the power was out, and it would be hours before we’d get any machines, as everything was backed up. We went in anyway, and indeed found a huge crowd of frustrated sailors waiting for their half-finished loads to start up again. It was a good opportunity for “shmoozing”, though, and eventually the power was restored and all of our washes got done (4 hours later – island time). A lovely walk among the island’s many flowering bushes helped pass the time (pics below).

But while that was happening, the weather suddenly changed – a huge West wind riled up the water, so that our trip back to Sea Change in our dinghy was treacherous, on three-foot crashing waves. Just getting in and out of that small boat was a challenge, as it bounced and bucked like a bronco in the crazy seas! And now the calm harbour was a mess, with no protection from a West wind. “Let’s get out of here” pronounced my captain, and his first (and only) mate agreed. So off we went in the 4-foot rollers, back to the protection of Staniel Cay. 

That would have been fine, except for the third surprise – in our hurry to leave, we neglected to batten down the forward hatch. Ooops – a bow berth filled with sea water from the crashing waves, soaking the bed which our guests would be using in two days L.

The day finished with a bar-b-que that wouldn’t work, despite all the repairs it’s had – so we just wrote it off as a very bad day – hopefully, tomorrow will be an improvement. We’re planning to just stay put and dry out the boat.