Hope Town

Hope Town   ...   Tuesday 8^th Jan 2013

This morning, we walked to the laundromat with our dirty washing. Called the Classic coin-op, it was quite an eye-opener.  It should be said that the shop has an impressive number of washers.  Of the twenty-five or so machines only about 6 are in working order.  Add in the fact that there is no hot water, bill changing machines that don’t function and 75% of the dryers being inoperative and you start to wonder about the place.  We did manage to get our laundry done, so we shouldn’t complain.  It made me think that washing machine repair might be a lucrative field in the Abacos. 

After the excitement of the laundry we returned to the boat for lunch and a rest.  After lunch we got ready to sail and pulled up the anchor.  Our destination was Hope Town, about eight miles away as the tern flies.  The forecast was for east southeast winds 15-20 mph. The general direction that we needed to travel was, of course, southeast. We tacked to windward keeping a sharp eye on the depth sounder.  We needed to pass to the north of a waymark near something called Point Set Rock.  Although the depths to the south were especially concerning, a couple of quick tacks got us past this pinch point.  Then we sailed southeasterly (as much as possible) toward Parrot Cays.  From there into Hope Town Harbor, the convoluted route should provide adequate water after about half tide.  We came in during the last hour before high and avoided anything other than worry. We negotiated the tightly packed mooring field to pick up a mooring ball in the southwest portion of the harbor.  The portion of Hope Town that can be seen from the harbor is made up of small, colorful cottages.  I imagine that we will enjoy exploring it tomorrow.

Having consumed “cocktails in the cockpit”, we are feeling pleased with our sailing and navigating and are contemplating dinner.     

26 32 12.8 N; 76 57 40.4 W

A working barge in Marsh Town Harbour - photo taken from the "Union Jack" dinghy dock

The mooring field in Hope Town Harbor - there is absolutely no room to anchor

Self portrait - the happy sailors reflected in the compass cover