May 18th, 2014:

Hope Town
May 14, 2014 Day 5

Laundry day. $10.00 per load. Two loads.

While I was at the laundry, Gary washed a few items by hand and hung them on White Swan’s lifelines to dry. At $10.00 a load, we don’t do small loads at the laundry. Also, we wear our outer clothing more than one day since going to the laundry in the Bahamas is a luxury. I really don’t know how the local people manage the cost of living in the Bahamas.

After the laundry was done, we had a light lunch at the Inn’s restaurant, and then exercised in the swimming pool before returning to the boat.

Viani and Sue, along with their cousins, Conchita and Marco, came to White Swan to join us during happy hour. We enjoyed the conversations as Viani and Conchita talked about growing up in Cuba, and Marco talked of his life in Costa Rica. Conchita and Marco have a home there, as well as one in Key Biscayne. It sounded as though their hearts were truly attached to Costa Rica as they passionately talked about their huge project of making a walking trail through the island. It will be an amazing accomplishment when it is completed, and something people from all over the world will go to. Viani shared about his experiences as a professional photographer. He used to work for the Miami Herald. Sue and I are kindred spirits. She was born, raised, and went to college (where she met Viani) in Ohio, U.S.A. Our mid-west connection helped us feel like we’d known each other forever. We plan on reuniting with Viani and Sue in Coconut Grove some day, and maybe we will get to see Conchita and Marco as well.

 

Hope Town
Day 6

The scene of Hope Town harbor has changed since the opening of the Hope Town Inn and Marina in 2012. Now mega yachts frequent the harbor since there is a marina with large enough docks to accommodate them.

The morning’s excitement was watching a mega yacht leave the dock at the Hope Town Inn and Marina, and work its way through the mooring field to leave the harbor. All hands were on deck on every inhabited boat throughout the mooring field to watch the show. Someone once said, “If you’re not watching the show, you are the show.” So true in the boating world. Spectators surface whenever a new arrival comes into or departs a harbor. The “show” is watching the anchoring dance, the technique used to pick up the mooring ball, or how well the captain dock’s the boat or departs from the boat slip. Yep, if you’re not watching the show, you are the show. (My apologies for not providing credit to the unknown originator of this great line.)

Gary took the dinghy to shore before breakfast, to go for a brisk walk. I stayed on the boat to write for our blog. After breakfast, we visited the lighthouse. We had walked the 101 stairs to the top once before in 2011. The courageous thing about the Glenn’s doing such a feat, twice no less, is both of us are afraid of heights. The narrow spiraling staircase seemed steeper to me this second climb. Knowing I must write about our experience motivated me to climb to the top. We managed to get through the small opening that allows visitors to exit to the balcony at the top of the lighthouse. I sat and rested in the brisk breeze, while Gary stood, braced against the outside wall of the lighthouse, and took pictures of the town, harbor, Sea of Abaco, and the ocean.

A dip in the pool was refreshing before we went back to the boat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we were relaxing, after having dinner on the boat, we heard Gary’s name being called out from someone on the water taxi. New acquaintances, whom we first met on Mother’s Day, were on their way over to the Inn for dinner. Gary and I hopped in the dinghy and went to say goodbye to Jack and Anita, who had spent almost a week on the island celebrating their anniversary, and were flying out the next day to go back to their home in Georgia. Jack had flown the two of them to Marsh Harbor in his two-seater plane, which he had built himself. They are plane fanatics like we are sailing fanatics.

 

 

Hope Town
May 16, 2014 Day 7

Rain came intermittently all day. We managed short stints to shore to go to the grocery and the H. T. Inn and Marina. This was our first somewhat boring day. Dark skies, with not a glimmer of sunshine. A good day to batten down the hatches and hope for a sunny tomorrow.

Hope Town
May 17, 2014 Day 8, Last Day

It was still overcast most of the day the last day we were at Hope Town. The sun didn’t come out until late afternoon, but it did come out.

We spent the morning at the beach. The northeast wind really kicked up the ocean. Regardless, there were a few snorkelers, three kite-surfers, and a few swimmers. Gary and I participated by watching all the activity from the lodge’s lounging chairs under an umbrella. While relaxing on the lounge chairs, we met a couple from Texas who were lounging on chairs next to us. Fred and Caroline are also retired, and cruising on their M/V (motor vessel), a Kadey Krogen 44. It always amazes us that strangers talk to us like they’ve always known us.

On our walk back to the dinghy dock, we stopped at a new art centre in the newly renovated Hummingbird Cottage. My favorite piece in the lovely gallery was a watercolor with the prominent focus on a brilliant colored lobster. While talking to the artist we found out the interesting frame for her fascinating art was made by a man in Man-O-War. He had used old drift wood which had been ravaged by worms and it was covered with worm holes. I complimented the artist on the whole piece. The watercolor was vivacious and the frame choice could not have been more perfect. However, the price for the stunning artwork was way out of our league. Even though we were not there to make a purchase, we had great pleasure looking at all the artist’s creations which were on display.

At 5:00 we went to the St. James Methodist Church to a recital of the local children who had taken music lessons from the youth pastor’s wife. All ages of children and teens participated in the hour long recital. Some sang, and some played the piano, guitar, or bongo drums. They all did a great job of entertaining the audience in the small packed church. Gary and I found the dynamics of the congregation interesting after seeing a lot of them working in various businesses throughout the island during our stay in Hope Town.

That evening we had to say goodbye to Viani, Sue, and their crew. We met their third crew member, Mike, who had just flown in from Key West. The next morning they started their sail south to the Bimini Islands where they will wait for their weather window to cross over to Miami.

Oh yeah…. we celebrated the return of the sun that day by treating ourselves to an ice cream.

May 18, 2014
10:15 AM
Right before we left Hope Town, a young man and his daughter came by White Swan in a kayak. We had previously met this nice man, his wife, and three children at the swimming pool. They had lived in Carmel, Indiana (a town just north of Indianapolis, where we previously lived before moving to Florida) before they began living on their boat and joining the cruiser’s world. The two kayakers stopped by our boat to talk to Gary. During the conversation, we found out the young man is the brother to one of Gary’s former patients. It’s a small world.