After getting a weather update from the quite slow and unreliable WiFi at Warderick Wells, it looked as though the wind would be clocking quick enough to make a useable anchorage at Black Point, so we dropped the mooring and headed south on a nice fast beam reach. The forecast front overtook us in the early afternoon, with the Sirius weather display showing the front right on the transom exactly as the squall line overtook us. As it was coming up behind, I decided to take the 2nd reef in the main, and bumped the autopilot 20 degrees to luff it a bit. But it did not luff. Another 20 degrees and another. The wind had shifted from West to North in about 30 seconds (and picked up to 25 knots). It was surprising how disorienting this was, I couldn't quite believe it and thought maybe the cays had moved instead.

Anyway I got that sorted and we shortly came into Black Point with the wind now N by W. Sneaking in the south channel, charted at just over 2 meters, we went round to the north east side and anchored in about 9 feet, however the left over swell from the west winds over the last day made it quite rolly. By the early hours of the morning the wind had shifted NE and the swell had died, in the morning we took a dinghy ride across to the Settlement of Black Point. This is the largest settlement in the northern or central Exumas they say. It did have a very nice laundromat (but we hadn't brought our laundry) and a small store. No fresh milk though. Our provisioning has reached a crisis stage, no milk for the espresso machine. We had bought a bit of the super pasteurized unrefrigerated milk in Highborne Cay but it makes a horrible morning latte. Adderly's Store in Black point had only soy milk, this is better but still a poor substitute. I tried some powdered concoctions with equally dismal success. I now have a greater appreciation for the mariners of old: hard tack, salt pork, and no lattes - a hard life. Having walked the main street of the largest settlement and visited most of the businesses (this took but 1/2 hour) we weighed anchor and headed south 12 miles to Little Farmers Cay.

Coming in off the banks to Little Farmers, Explorer Charts shows as little as 1.9 meters. Navionics charts are useless in this area. We picked out way along, secure in the knowledge that we had about a foot above MLW, and the tide was rising. There were very clear tracks through the sand and grass bottom, traced out by the single or twin screws of the large motor yachts which habituate (or curse) the area, however one did not know if they were correct in their navigation either. The depth sounder showed a minimum of 6.9 feet and then we were back in deeper water. I had called Ocean Cabin, an establishment I was told not to miss, on VHF and was assured there would be a mooring in the narrow and current ridden channel, but when we got to its described location there was already a boat on it (unknown to Ocean Cabin). We proceeded further and with great effort picked up another one, its pendant only a foot long and with 2 knots current and a strong cross wind adding fun.

Little Farmers is a very small settlement, but features two restaurants, one of which is Ocean Cabin. You place your order on VHF before 15:00, then come to dinner at the appointed time. It was a small and very tidy establishment, adorned with yacht club pennants from far and wide. The dinner was very good, the only other diners where a family on their way back after a 9 month adventure. The adventure had gotten more adventurous lately as their transmission had failed in the Turks, and they were navigating their 20 ton boat with its 7.5 ft draft under sail through the cuts and banks. It was a very wet dinghy ride back to the boat with the wind against the ebb tide, soaking us both.

Next morning early we dropped the mooring to head out of Little Farmers Cut. This is narrow, but deep. There was a dilemma: the tide was beginning to ebb about 7:00, but the sun was not high enough to see the rocks and coral heads guarding the cut. By 8:00 we thought we could see, but now there was a pretty good ebb flowing out the cut, against the 18 knot breeze. This made some very interesting short period nearly standing waves, and was the first time I had seen enough water on the deck of Anomaly to have it roll back all the way to the dodger. Once clear of the rocks we zigged out of the current to smoother water, still lumpy from the 20 knots or so overnight. The wind was East at about 14 - 16, and we were heading SE ending up just being able to squeak out the course close hauled, and by 14:00 we were at Conch Cut, the entrance to Elizabeth Harbor and Georgetown. We dropped anchor off of Stocking Island, along with a hundred or so boats who had beaten us there. This is a popular place!

Night photo of Monument anchorage, Stocking Island. Foreground left you can pick out our deck. Nearly every light you see is an anchor light stretching into the distance, looking like a Houston refinery: