April 4-10, 2022- Hopetown.

April 4, 2022

6:00am-  Woke up this morning to the roosters singing.  The water is so calm and absolutely no wind. The water is so clear. 8:15am-  Listened to the net and then released our mooring and going to Hopetown. 

9:30am- After a 4.5 km crossing, we arrived at Hopetown and got a mooring. 

We dropped off our laundry at Andrew’s bike shop. It will be ready at 3:30pm. 

As we’re walking along, we immediately noticed big changes since Dorian. Many restaurant and home totally gone. 

This used to be a place where we would go to the restaurant and swim in their pool. The pool is full with dirt and grass. 

We went to the fuel dock and filled up our dinghy gas tank. 

12:00pm-  We met Sue and Gunter at the Hope Town Marina restaurant. 

The intention was to eat and then swim in their pool. Clouds formed and it got cooler. We went back to the boat until laundry was done. 

I had coconut fried chicken sandwich. Delicious! 

3:00pm- Went for a quick walk on the beach before picking the wash up at the Bike Store. It cost $45. 

We always get excited to come back with clean clothes and bedding. 

Steve read while I played my guitar. 

6:00-  We went for a dinghy ride to look around. So many changes. Hard to remember what it looked like before Dorian. 

7:30pm- Back to the boat to watch a series. Steve was able to use the Hopetown marina’s wifi to download a whole series. 

April 5, 2022

7:15am- We could hear fishing boats leaving the bay. 

7:30am- Had our coffee and breakfast and listened to the Cruiser’s net at 8:15am. It is nothing to compare to George Town net. 9:15am-  Went for a 4 km walk on the beach. 

We noticed a lot of changes here. Many beachfront homes were completely gone however the stairs have been rebuilt. I can’t imagine what that would be like to come to your property and your whole house is gone. We then went for a little dinghy ride. We were back at the boat by 11:00am. 

After lunch, we went up the Elbow Cay lighthouse. 

Standing at almost 90ft, with 101 steps to reach the top, we sure got our exercise. 

It is such a beautiful view. 

We could Sue waving from Sun Spirit. 

We then went for a lemonade at the marina pool. It looked like it was going to rain so we came back to the boat.

After an hour or so, the sun came out and it was hot. We decided to try out the other pool near the marina. 

We had the pool to ourselves for awhile. Another couple came over who we met in Georgetown. It was Kim and Dave from catamaran Beachscape   

You could actually see GaYa from the pool. It was so refreshing and we weren’t swimming in sea salt. 

After a couple of hours, we came back to the boat. 

Dinner tonight is, chicken, potatoes and a salad. 

Watched a couple of series before going to bed. 

April  6, 2022

4:30am-  Steve woke me up as he was going out of the boat with his flashlight. The boat on the other mooring hit us.  It hit the boater’s dinghy. Steve stayed out for a bit and then went to bed after a while. 

7:00am- As I was making coffee, I heard a bang and the boat hit us harder this time. As I was coming out of the boat, the owner was pushing us off. I noticed the dinghy was moved to the other side and we hit his boat. He said that happens once in a while with that wind direction.

The problem was he has a broken swim platform with a piece of steel hanging which directly hit GaYa.’s front starboard side.  Steve said he can fix it with rubbing compound however that is not the point. We called Andrew, the guy who owns the mooring, but he wasn’t there. His assistant said to take another mooring until we talked to Andrew. 

We took another mooring before more damage occurred. 

8:15am- As we were sipping our coffee and started listening to the net, another sailboat was going on the same mooring. Steve went on his dinghy and told them how we got hit and to take another mooring. They were very appreciative. 

9:15am- Gunter came to the boat to discuss whether we were staying or leaving tomorrow. It doesn’t look good for the weather. It is all over the place. We decided to stay another couple of nights. Gunter dropped off their propane tank at the dock 2 days ago, and it still hasn’t been filled. It seems around the Bahamas you never know when things will get done and you have to go with the flow. They are also waiting to get their bottom cleaned by someone and it still hasn’t been done. You definitely can’t be on a schedule if you want things done. 

Went for a walk on the Atlantic side today and walked another 4 km. 

Again we saw homes which have vanished or have been rebuilt. 

It is always nice to get exercise   

100pm-  On our way back on the dinghy, we met Steve and Karen from s/v Refuge. They are from Mississauga.  They were heading to Green Turtle. Went back to the boat and had lunch before going to the pool. If you are out of the wind, it is hot.

Sue and Gunter met us at the pool. 

3:00pm-  we went to the blue grocery store since it is only opened 4 hours a day. There wasn’t much at all. The shelves were empty so we went to Vernon ‘s grocery store and he had a lot more and yet a smaller store. We got a couple of bananas, strawberries, potatoes and cream cheese. No blueberries today. 

Dinner tonight is sausage on a bun with coleslaw and red pickle cabbage. 

Sue and Gunter dropped by in the dinghy as they were going by. Not much of a sunset tonight because of the clouds. 

We watched a few series before going to bed. 

April 7, 2022

7:30am-  Woke up to a beautiful calm morning. 

8:15am- We listened to the net while having our breakfast. Steve called the net to find out where we can rent a golf cart on the island. The number we call never answers. Guess we will have to go on shore to find out more information. 

8:30am- I was garbage disposal day and someone came around to collect our garbage. 

9:00am-  We went to Andrew’s bike shop and he gave us the number to call for cart rental. The reason the phone number which was displayed on the internet is because during Dorian, they lost their land number. 

We managed to reserve a cart for 10:30am.  On the meantime Steve and I walked a couple of  km and went in the art shop. 

10:30am- Met Sue and Gunter across from the used to be post office where you pick up the carts. You are only allowed to take the carts south side of Hope Town since there is too much construction going the other way. 

Sue and I were on the back of the cart so they had to warn us when there are bumps. 

First thing was stop for ice cream. 

We then went to Tahiti Beach. 

The unique thing was a floating pub showed up where you had to walk out to get a drink. It was hard for the men to walk back with 2 drinks in their hands and fight currents. 

We drove around and saw a lot of rebuilding. We then went to eat at ‘On Da Beach Bar & Grill’

We then sat on comfortable chairs overlooking the beach. 

3:00pm-  Came back to the boat land rested.

6:30pm- Met Sue and Gunter at the cart and drove to Firefly Restaurant for dinner

We really enjoyed our meal. Steve had stone  crab raviolis and I had fish. 

We didn’t make reservations so we had to eat inside. There was much of a sunset since it was cloudy. 

On our way back on the dinghy we could see lightning in the distance. 

We were back at the boat by 9pm. 

We watched a couple of series before going to bed. 

April 8, 2022

7:00am-  Woke up to a little drizzle and clouds in the sky. 

7:30am-  nice to have our stern enclosure so we can sit outside and have our coffee and breakfast outside no matter what the weather. 

8:15am- Listened to the net. 

10:30am- Steve went in town to deliver the key for the renter golf cart. In the meantime, since it was cloudy, I decided to repair a couple of stitches in our Bimini, scrub the back deck and cushions. They were so dirty from salt. 

I thought for sure we were going to get a downpour but just a few sprinkles. 

12:00pm-  It is funny because the church plays throughout the town a few hymns at noon. I like the chiming music however I don’t like the reminder that it might be lunchtime. It is like Pavlov dog, when I hear the chimes, I am hungry. 

I spent the afternoon playing ukulele, weaving and playing solitaire while Steve read. 

6:15pm- Dinner tonight is pork chops, noodles and broccoli. 

7:30pm- Watch a couple of series 

9:30pm-  It was calm in the anchorage tonight and we could hear in the distance karaoke echoing from Capt Jack’s. They have an opened restaurant and whether they have bingo or other events, you hear people enjoying themselves. 

10:30pm- Sue gave me a book to read “An Embarrassment of Mangoes’ which I will try to read. She knows I do not like reading but said I will enjoy this book. So I read a couple of pages before going to bed. 

April 9, 2022

7:15am-  Clouds are in the sky and the North wind is making it cooler and not humid. Yesterday was 85% humidity and today 35%. Much more comfortable. 

8:15am-  Listened to the net while having our coffee. At 8:30am, Steve dropped off our garbage. You can only drop it off at an assigned dock 3 times a week. 

We have a wifi booster on the boat which usually can pick up signals from a distance. For some reason it stopped working so Steve is on a mission this morning to see why. No luck though. 

10:00-  We went to pick up some fruits at the grocery store and after we dropped it off at the boat, we dinghied back to shore to go for a nice long walk. 

This bird

This bird intrigued us. 

They have quaint cemetery. We got a chuckle with this one.  The sign said “Rudy Malone is gone fishing.”  That gives you an idea of who she was and a great sense of humour. 

We noticed people playing pickle ball on the basketball court. We will have to bring our rackets next time. 

We noticed this cemetery stone  which is situated right on the waterfront was all broken. Shows you the power of the wind. 

We talk to a couple who were working on their son’s home. Their son inherited  the house one week before Dorian and the whole top of the house was gone from the storm. They told us that Hope Town didn’t get hit as bad as Marsh Harbour. People found sharks washed up on their properties there. Never thought about the fish.  They told us someone donated $30 million for cleaning up debris, rebuilding the school and assist small business in the area.  Very interesting how much money is out there and how people are resilient. We continued our walk. 

It felt good to get some exercise since I did not leave the boat yesterday. 

Had lunch and the later we went to the marina for another walk. 

There weren’t moorings for 3 huge catamarans yesterday so they anchored out in the open seas. They were bouncing around as we gazed over to look at them. 

We had a lemonade (they make good lemonade) at the bar. We noticed all the rebuilding they had to do here. It is just beautiful. 

3:00pm-  Came back to the boat and relaxed. Steve was still trying to figure out the issue with the wifi booster but no luck. I did some weaving. 

6:00pm- Dinner tonight is hamburger and chips. 

7:45- Watched a couple of series before bed. 

April 10, 2022

7:15am- It is a little chilly this morning. I looked at the weather and it said 72F. I actually had to wear a long sleeve top although we still wore shorts. It is actually refreshing. Funny to see Steve with his long sleeve. 

Interesting  how the wind turns the boat around. You never know which direction you will be facing. This morning our stern was almost on the renters dock. 

9:30am- We walked the north side of the island today. 

We came across this beautiful yellow bush which had pods hanging from it. We took some dried ones and will try to  grow them at home. 

There  was 2  huge houses on a large piece of property. They were laying sod. It did not fit the Bahamian decor. I think it is so sad. We believe they own Sandals and want to buy the Harbour Inn which was demolished and build a Sandals resort. The town is fighting since it would not fit in to Bahamian style. 

11:00am-  Back to the boat to read and play my ukulele. 

12:30pm- Met Sue and Gunter at the Captain Jack’s dock for lunch however our plans were changed when we found out they were closed on Sunday’s. So we went to Hopetown Marina for lunch. 

2:00pm- Back at the boat, as Steve read, I made chocolate chip muffins for tomorrow’s breakfast since we will be leaving early. 

6:00pm- Made a wonderful dinner of Mahi, rice and asparagus. Afterwards, we dinghied around the bay to see Hopetown for the last time this year. Who knows if we will be back. 

7:30pm-  We finished watching ‘The Last Kingdom’ series. It was cold enough that we wrapped ourselves in a blanket while watching it in the cockpit. 

We will definitely need our duvet tonight when we go to bed.