Back In Time

 

 I've had a song stuck in my head lately; Automatic by Miranda Lambert.  This song really struck a chord with me when I first heard it and I feel like it's really beginning to ring true for us.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with the lyrics, the song reminiscences about a simpler life, a time when things were earned the hard way and the age of instant gratification was yet to come. We are still in Black Point; still working on our ever so frustrating engine. Even though we really do need to get the engine running, I find myself glad that we have been able to spend time here and glad to be able to slip into a town that, thankfully, hasn't quite caught up with modern times.

   A fellow cruising wife and I have found the we have many common interests; one being the Andy Griffith Show.  This town reminds us of Mayberry.  There is basically one street that runs the stretch of the town on which you will find a few small restaurants, a laundromat, a post office, a police station, a school, a couple of stores, a few churches, and a phone company.  The phone company is only open one day a week for three hours, the stores sell the bare essentials (nothing too hard to come by since delivery only comes once a week by boat), the restaurants sell simple but, delicious fare, and the lady that runs the laundromat also sells a few odds and ends in her store (in the same building as the laundromat) and gives haircuts.  Nearly everyone is on a first name basis here.  People help out when and where they can.  They are genuinely glad to have you here, especially if you show an honest interest in the life they lead.

Lorraine's Café

   Lily, the lady that runs Adderley's Grocery Store, is always helpful and easy to talk to.  One of my student's grandmothers introduced us to some interesting fruit grown on the island.  Hog Plums look like a kiwi on the outside but, actually taste like a plum that's been spiced.  There are people here willing to talk to you about pretty much anything and help out if possible; Lorraine's Café is the place to go for this . . . or a good meal.  There is even a lady that cleans and cooks at the school.  She brought me a few canned drinks the other day just to thank me for working with the students.  Turns out, she doesn't even have any children there at the school. She simply wanted me to know that she appreciated what I was doing.

Adderley's Grocery

 

There's Lots Of Interesting Plant Life Here

   With the lack of many modern resources here, Bill and I have been forced (in a good way) to revert to less modern methods.  Bill has baked all of our breads (sandwich bread, hamburger buns, pizza dough, etc.) for the past few years.  However, lately, thanks to the time he's had to contribute to the engine (and a tragic incident with the sour dough starter), he hasn't been able to bake much.  This weekend though, he got back into it and made some wonderful Amish white bread.  He even made hot dog buns!

   I have been trying to fight the cost of laundry (it adds up) by doing laundry on the boat.  So, over the weekend I washed and dried several loads of clothes by hand.  I filled a bucket with sea water, added detergent and a few items of clothing, and agitated the clothes (aka scrubbed them by hand).  Once they were clean, I rinsed them with a fresh bucket of sea water and did a final rinse in fresh water.   Then I hung them on the lifelines to dry and started the process again with more clothes.  Granted, this is not my preferred method of doing laundry but, it didn't cost us any extra money, I used less detergent (also saving money), and the clothes were just as clean as they would have been coming out of a machine.  We checked to see if someone still sells the old tubs and ringers and they do!  Apparently Amazon.com sells them; they have the same set up but, are modernly built.  I told Bill I wanted one . . . Wow . . . Wouldn't my grandparents laugh at that . . .

   I've even been getting extra mileage out of our food.  The other day I boiled up an $8 bag of chicken to not only make a ton of stock but, I pulled off enough meat to make about 4 2-serving meals.

Black Point All-Age School

4th, 5th, and 6th Grades

   Today was my last day to volunteer at the school.  I am certainly not jumping to leave but, we really do need to move on; it's hard to get cash here, we are low on provisions, and, if we can't get this engine going, we need to find a place that has someone that can help.  There is a boat that pulled into the harbor over the weekend that could offer some help.  They rebuilt their engine themselves and their engine is the same kind that we have.  So, . . . this guy is going to come over tomorrow morning to offer a helping hand.  Hopefully, having another set of eyes and hands on the engine will do the trick.  Although I can offer a hand to assist, I certainly cannot offer a skilled eye. 

   I said goodbye to the kids and the teachers today.  I grabbed a few pictures, received a lot of hugs, and the principal even bought me lunch as a thank you.  I will definitely miss this little town.  The people, especially the kids, have grown on me.  I'd really like for us to come back once we are sailing through Bahamian waters again.  For now, we need to move on and, to be honest, even if the engine was fine, we would still need to start heading back to the States in order to meet up with Rain Dog and make it to Maine by August.

Few Smiles From the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Grades

Right After School Let Out

  











   So, I am really glad that we were able to stop in and experience this gem in the Bahamas.  We have been able to slow down our pace and enjoy living an even simpler life.  We are definitely going to keep up our more "hands-on" methods of doing things on the boat.  This life we lead lends itself to self-sufficiency.  Hopefully we will be able to continue making our way of life a little less "automatic".
 


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