Black Point - Birthdays and Gullah

March 22, 2015

We have spent over two weeks anchored in Black Point, one of our favorite places in the Bahamas.

Yes it offers some increasingly popular amenities to cruisers, but it is special because underneath it is a true working Bahamian settlement.  It takes time and effort to get beneath the surface, but that is rewarded by a truly unique experience.

Our closest friends here is the extended family of Peermon ('Paymon') Rolle.  Peerman is the delightful matriarch of the family and we spend many hours here just sitting on her porch talking with her and her husband Basil.  It is a simple pleasure that you just don't find much anymore - just sitting in the shade talking.

Joyce, Peermon, and a rare occurrence of a very busy Lorraine relaxing on 'The Porch'

Peermon is a deaconess in Gethsemane Baptist Church of which we are 'members'.  One Sunday featured a visiting evangelist from Nassau, who has come to Black Point annually for a few years.  She had a group of singers and musicians that led a very lively service and we thought her message was very good.

The evangelist had two weeknight services that we missed due to miscommunication.  We didn't know about the services, but when we asked Peermon why she didn't tell us, she replied "I did tell you, you must not of understood".    We understand each over quite well, but I would rate our mutual comprehension at 70-80%.  I have talked about differences in sounding vowels in Bahamian before - for example I am 'Tome' in Bahamian.  But the differences go deeper than that and go back to the African slave experience.

When the slaves arrived, they learned two languages: 'English' to speak to the white people, and 'Gullah' to speak among themselves.   A book that gives great insight into the African slave experience is "The Book of Negroes".  It follows a young woman named Aminata from her capture into slavery through her flight to freedom and later life.  The discussion of when she is being schooled in language after her arrival at a South Carolina plantation helps you understand the language better:

"...I came to see that she was teaching me two languages. ...There was the language that (she) spoke when alone with the Negroes on the plantation, and she called that Gullah. And there was the way she spoke to [the white people] and that she called English."

I am quite sure that out-island Bahamanian is largely derived from Gullah and many years of island isolation have made it the primary language.  The more isolated the island - the stronger the Gullah-based-language.  Black Point has some of the strongest Gullah that we find in our travels.

Now on to Birthdays.  Joyce celebrated her birthday recently and I wanted to organize a little birthday party.  Lorraine (Peermon's daughter and owner of Lorraine's Cafe) agreed to make a cake and I spent several mornings going around the settlement inviting many friends and acquaintances.  I was pleased with the turn-out and we had a great time together.  Elvie, the post-mistress, had recently also had a birthday and it turned into a joint celebration.  Quite unexpectedly, Joyce received several nice presents of straw-work and locally made jewelry and knicknacks at the party.  And then at our last service at Gethsemane Baptist, she received a lovely fruit basket; it was flown in from Nassau - it the best fruit we have ever had in the Bahamas! It is very hard to out-give Bahamians!

A rare picture of us at the birthday party.  I think the candles should read '39'.
Lorraine's son Joshua awaiting a piece of cake on the left

Another birthday picture.
Mrs Adderley of Adderley's Friendly Market on the right
She gave Joyce a pretty straw-work bag. 

Towards the end of the party while a few women remained, the language turned heavily to Gullah.  I could follow the essence of the conversation, but it was not easy.  I am quite sure that the intent was not to hide their conversation from us, but would like to think that we were just thought of as other 'neighbors'.

Our last Sunday service at Gethsemane was a highlight of our time at the church.  It was led by Sister Luann Ferguson and the service was very moving.  Peermon recounted seeing Luann in Sunday School and recognizing at a young age that she was a leader.  She is very gifted and we hope she continues to be a worship leader in the church.  A simple, but moving, song was repeatedly sung with great power - we can't get it out of our heads:

There is nothing that I need that he won't provide

There is nothing that I need that he won't supply

If I believe, If I believe

So, I say to the mountain move

So, I say to the mountain get out of my way

Cause I believe, yes I believe

The people of Black Point are extremely friendly and gracious, but most interactions with 'tourists' are fairly superficial.  But with time and effort, you can build deeper relationships - it is well worth the effort!

In a few days we plan to transit to Cat Island, another of our favorite places.

Tom
Anchored Black Point
Great Guana, Exuma

Transit to Black Point, Great Guana

March 9, 2015


We left the dock at Emerald Bay Marina at around 7:00 AM on Saturday 3/7 and transited up Exuma Sound.

We had a confused 2-3' wind-driven-sea giving us a bit of a rough ride for a about 2 hours before we cleared the foot of Cat Island to the east and the seas smoothed out.

Wind was light, but on the starboard quarter and we motor-sailed with the genoa (headsail) making good time.

At around 1:30 PM, we entered Dotham Cut with about a 1 knot ebb, but with small seas from the SE our transit was relatively smooth.  This cut can have a strong rage (breaking seas) with an ebb current and significant E/NE waves.

There were about 50 boats in the harbour and we anchored farther away from the government dock than we usually do, but this keeps us farther away from the morning and evening boats that taxi workers to nearby marinas and other work sites.

Black Point is one of our favorite spots in the Exumas.  We surprised Peermon Rolle at Sunday service at Gethsemane Baptist Church and spent most of the that afternoon chatting on her porch.

Black Point Signpost

How long we will stay depends on the weather.  There is no westerly protection in the harbour here and there is the potential for a front penetrating this far within the next week - something that has not happened in a few weeks.

Tom
Anchored Black Point
Great Guana, Exuma Cays

Exuma Adventures

March 6, 2015

We have been docked at Emerald Bay, north of Georgetown, Exuma for over 3 weeks - a relatively long winter marina stay.

One of factors in the length of our stay here was that I needed to fly to Miami, to get an exam on what turned out to be a minor eye problem.  So we took a relatively early weather window from Eleuthera to make sure we could make our airline reservation.  The problem had the potential to be serious, but all is well.

We took the opportunity to have a 5-day 'vacation' in the States.  We had some great food, with a visit to Visa-O1 in Miami Beach for pizza and  the Versailles Restaurant on Cali Ocho for roast pork, along with visits to the nearby Pollo Tropical.

But it was not all food!  We had the opportunity to see the University of Miami Women's Basketball team take on 7th-ranked North Carolina.  It was a great game that went down to the final seconds, but unfortunately Miami could not quite pull off the upset.  We also spent time at the Barnacle, a great little State Park embedded in Coconut Grove.

We have had a good time on Exuma, but little new to report.

We traveled 4 times (yes 4!) to Santana's Grill Pitt on Little Exuma.  Run by the wonderful Dee Rolle, it arguable has the best fish dishes in the Bahamas.  It is interesting to see how the chatter in groups just stops, when the food arrives.  Everyone is so intent on eating!

Dee and Tanya

View from Santana's Grill Pitt

On one visit we got to see Safari, Dee's 5-year-old granddaughter and 3-year-old  Shaddy, son of Tanya who helps Dee cook   We had met both of them last year.  Shaddy, who was rather quiet last year, was much more talkative this year.  He and Safari wanted to go swimming, but Dee would not let them because it was too rough.  Shaddy, however, was determined to get down to what we call, the Bahamian little kid bathing suit - you may know it as underwear.  He had taken the belt off his loosely fitting shorts and was struggling to keep them up.  Joyce tried to help him put his belt back on, but that was NOT the direction he wanted to go (his mother later gave him no choice in the matter).  Santana's had decorated for a wedding later that day, and Shaddy gave me a flower that had fallen off.  When I went to hand it to Joyce, he said "You can't give it to her!"  We think that he was still 'holding a grudge' about the belt assistance.

Safari is showing that she will be a 'strong' Bahamian woman.  We had brought both of the children small gifts.  Safari had been at a church group for the day and was not there when we arrived and Shaddy opened his gift.  It was very busy that day and no one had been able to give Safari her gift which was behind the counter.  Shaddy repeatedly told Safari "You have a present", to which she repeatedly FIRMLY responded "I already opened my present!".   We never figured out what 'present' she had already opened, but probably it was something she got at church.  Well she finally found the present - her favorite part was the costume jewelry that Joyce threw in at the last minute, after I had spent a long time picking out a cute top and sundress.

We have gone to church several times at Mt Sinai Union Baptist Church in Stuart Manor.  And last night we went to a night of the 'Crusade' being held at the nearby Ebeneezer Union Baptist Church in Farmer's Hill.  It was a great night of praise and worship.  Two members of the marina staff, who attend a a church in nearby Rolleville, were part of the special music for the night.  Although we plan an early morning departure tomorrow, we hope to attend the final night of the Crusade tonight.

We had hoped to travel east to some of the outlying islands next, but the E-SE trades have built in with a vengeance, so our next leg will feature a trip north to the Exuma Cays for a few weeks.


Tom
Docked Emerald Bay Marina
Great Exuma