Back to Hope Town
… Monday 28th January
During the night the wind really started to pipe up and by
5.30 am we were bouncing around a fair bit on the anchorage despite being
behind the shelter of Man of War Cay. We got up around 6.30 and prepared for an
early departure with the intention of navigating the shallow channel into Hope
town on the last hour of the rising tide. We left our anchorage shortly after
7am under motor (to charge batteries and run the refrigeration). We raised the
genoa to help us along but soon decided to partly furl it. We estimate the wind
was approaching 25 knots as we covered the 5 miles to the entry of Hope Town
Harbor, with spray breaking over the boat. Having had the experience of running
aground yesterday it was somewhat nerve-wracking to negotiate the shallow
approach and channel – particularly as the bumpy waters could mean that trough
levels might approach the draft of our boat. In practice we were able to use
our previous track to help guide us in and we never saw depths of less than
7ft. It’s worth noting that later in the day we saw another boat aground in the
harbor entrance in pretty much the same place we saw a boat aground the last
time we were here. This area is not a cruising ground for the faint hearted! Many of the harbor entrances are only passable with the assistance of tide for a boat of our draft. Once we picked up a mooring we retired indoors to eat a fine breakfast of
bacon, eggs and bagels. We then visited the lighthouse and walked around town,
stopping for fine lunch of quiche and coffee at the local coffee house. Later
in the afternoon Dave enthusiastically dived under the boat to check the
keel - which seems to be just fine. (I
should say at this point that Dave does everything with great enthusiasm and he
didn’t bother with a wet suit so that the additional bouyency wouldn’t interfere
with getting down to the keel!). Dave and I then headed out in the dinghy to do
some fishing and caught a number of small fish – but nothing worth keeping.
26 32 29.4 N, 76 57 33.9 W
Abstract - rusty boat fittings
Gears on the lighthouse mechanism
Gears on the lighthouse mechanism _ 2
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