svcharm: 2022-03-13 Cat Island, private anchorage, North winds, The Hermitage

Have had a good week in our very private anchorage. There are other boats here, but we are anchored off on our own. The beach is beautiful, and the water clear. Taken some long beach walks, and Kris went kayaking up Joe Sound into the mangroves.

Cruisers like to stack rocks. Its a beach pasttime we guess. This is one of the more fancy ones.

Quite a few starfish washed up on the beach on our walks

The beach, with Charm at anchor

Kayak trip up the mangroves.

Made cookies again. Flat, but tasted good. Still trying some keto cookie recipes.

Weather was changing, with some strong north winds coming, so we needed to move. It was not ideal, as we would have to anchor on a lee shore with some medium south winds, as the wind was supposed to clock to strong north in the middle of the night. We had good company, with out 20 other boats doing the same thing. Made for a rough anchorage for a while though.

You can see the boat behind us and the waves in this video.

We got off the boat and walked up to the store to get some fresh stuff. Small but well stocked (for the Bahamas)

Not like your typical Albertsons or Safeway entrance.

Fresh selection in refrigerated case

Quite a few canned goods.

On our way back from the store, we met up with a couple of other cruisers. They let us know that back by the dinghy (we all beach our dinghies in the same area) where there are a few fish shacks (small places that sell limited food and drinks right on the beach) and the Prime Minister of the Bahamas was going to be there for some Rake and Scrape.

Rake and scrape music comes from the musical traditions of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), and is characterized by the use of the saw tool, as the primary instrument. It was brought by TCI immigrants to the Bahama islands between the 1920s and 1940s starting in Cat Island and then spreading to others.

Sure enough when we got back to the beach, there was band, and lots of folks, most noticeably the protective police force. The Prime Minister was getting down, playing the maracas with the band.

They picked the especially attractive ladies to dance to the music while videoing. No one else dancing. Also notice the very large speakers ready to blare the music.

Today is cloudy, but we plan on walking up to the Hermitage on Mt. Alvernia. Below is some stock photos off internet.

Mount Alvernia, also known locally as Como Hill, is the highest point in The Islands of The Bahamas at 206 feet (63 meters).

It was named Mount Alvernia by Monsignor John Hawes, a Roman Catholic priest. It is said to be reminiscent of La Verna, the hill in Tuscany that was given to St. Francis of Assisi as a place where he could peacefully contemplate and is reportedly where Assisi received the Wounds of the Cross.

Monsignor John Hawes, known to Cat Islanders as Father Jerome, was a skilled architect and sculptor, a self-described contemplative and admirer of St. Francis of Assisi.

Using local stone, he built The Hermitage on the peak of Mt. Alvernia in 1939, a small medieval monastery where he could get away from the world. The way up the hill to the monastery is via a stone staircase on a steep rocky incline.

We hiked up on a cloudy day, but a good day to get off the boat for a spell.