Boats Are In!

Both Safari and Walkabout have been launched and are at the back dock in their usual spots. Now we can go a bit further than Dory allowed.

We can't go too far though because the fuel dock still isn't open. Here is what is left of the old dock...

At least we did leave the boat tanks full though so we are set for awhile...hopefully!

Halloween in Hope Town

This was a first for us, and we were so glad to be here to partake in Trick or Treating through the streets of Hope Town. The kids all line up at the post office ferry dock and mender though town while people come out of the houses and stand in the street to give away their treats to the kids (and young at heart too). Some of the businesses were decked out and ready to party, which added to the festivities. We stood at the sailing club and gave away the candy we had brought in our luggage. These kids were so polite that some didn't even take more when offered. The costumes were fantastic and now there are inflatable ones too. It must have been difficult and expensive to get these items here to the Bahamas. Earlier in the day there was a school parade where the kids dressed up as their favorite storybook characters, so Halloween is a whole day event here. Enjoy the photos!

Finding (the) Dory

Leave it to Dave to think ahead. Last year he discovered an old abandoned small boat that looks like a dory on the Sailing Club's beach, here in the harbor. It was filled with garbage, didn't have an engine, but it did float, so he dragged it back to our 'pond' and hauled away all the garbage to the dumpster. Then he hauled it out and hid it securely away on land, just in case we needed it sometime. Well, that time has already come! Our skiff's outboard motor needs a new impeller and some gaskets replaced, and Walkabout is till hauled out, so we need 'wheels' to get to the other side of the harbor, while we wait for parts to arrive. Dave put an engine that was given to him last season on it (it needed repair at the time and he fixed it) and we are set. Well almost, anyway. He had a spare gas can to use, but no gas, and of course our fuel dock is closed. He ended up siphoning the gas out of the skiff by mouth (needless to say, he went through a lot of Listerine afterwards). As he was waiting for the can to fill up, he mentioned that it was good that the gas is already mixed with oil. So off we went for a harbor tour and test drive. The engine sounded a little loud and I asked Dave if that was normal. He acted offended until he suddenly realized that we don't mix the skiff's gas with oil because it is oil injected...oops! No wonder it rattled. We stopped at Hope Town Inn and Marina and he walked back to the boatyard and got some oil, and added a little more than needed to compensate for the lack-there-of.

Every time we mention the boat we call it the dory, so how could we not name this boat Dory from the Nemo movie? It is especially appropriate since Dory was found...😉 She's pretty ratty looking but gets us around just fine for now. I guess that really qualifies us as Harbour Rats!

Dockless

Thank goodness we have access to our back dock, because the main fuel dock is being replaced here at Lighthouse Marina.

They hope to at least have some sort of fuel docking area by November 1st, but things are moving slowly. The whole little house that was out on the end is gone and the ice machine is under our porch.

All the power cables and lines have been removed also and are spread out in the boatyard.

The fuel delivery pipes that were replaced last spring are now dug up again so no one can get from the lighthouse dock to the boatyard without going through that broken section of fence like we did when we arrived.

The funniest photo is the one below. The workers borrowed the sawhorse from "Dave's World" to block where the entrance to the old dock was, so that no one falls in the water....

Although a noisy project, it certainly has given us more to watch from the Treehouse. When it is all done though, it will be a nice improvement. Hopefully the fuel tanker, ferries, and other boats won't plow into it too hard! 

We've Changed!

We have changed in more ways than one, but the main one is that we are in Hope Town and aren't cold anymore! We were scheduled to fly out at 6:20 yesterday, which is when the nor'easter was going to arrive bringing snow and rain. We beat it with just a few sprinkles on the plane's windows as we taxied down the runway. It was quite a day though, and I am going to copy and paste last night's email written to my sister and brother, to share the details. It may sound like complaints at times but now, after a good night's sleep on last spring's new mattress, it's all dream. Plus I woke up to our first gorgeous sunrise as the first ferry of the day arrived. The birds are singing, the roosters are crowing, and the woodpecker was already here to "say hello." 😉

Here's my letter:

We have arrived after a very long interesting day. I awoke at 1:30 and we had the house winterized early. Got to the airport early and had to wait, even once we were onboard. The toilet didn't work and maintenance had to come and fix it before we took off. Then with the storm it was so rough at first, I shut my eyes because we were in the back and I didn't want to see the plane shaking and flexing. Plus it was a noisy plane with a vibration by my head (the gigantic engines were right behind us). Got off in Atlanta and had something to eat and saw there was another earlier flight to Marsh Harbor at 11 AM, so we ran to the gate, but they said we couldn't get on even though there were seats, because our luggage had to go with us. So we waited until boarding at 2 PM...at least there was an Arby's for Dave. LOL. We were freezing in the airport all day, even Dave, so that's how cold it was. Once we boarded we had to wait again because a toilet wouldn't flush! Late start but they made up time. This plane was smoother and quieter except there were really noisy people speaking Russian (I think) behind us talking loudly the whole time and he had his knees in my seat back bumping me for 2 hours. After landing at 4:35 we wanted to rush through immigration and customs and out to a taxi to get to the auto part store for a boat battery and the market for some food, in order to get on the 5:45 ferry. Of course this is Bahamas time mon and we were still in fast American mode. No one moves fast (and the line was long), but we rushed as much as possible, got a 90 year old taxi driver who was ready to assist, and he took us to both places, so we made it on time to the ferry...thankfully because the next one was at 7:15. There was no cart to get our stuff down to the ferry dock so I sent Dave into the office to get tickets before we hauled it all down there. A ferry crewmember came out and asked if we were going to HT and grabs all our stuff in 2 trips (including the battery) and brings it down. I told Dave to tip him and he said that while he was getting our tickets the same guy was picking out snacks to eat but ended up not having any money. Dave told him that if he brought our stuff to the boat he would buy his lunch snacks! Problem solved. When we got to HT we asked the crew to drop us off at our marina dock, but when they got there the dock was gone! We knew they were rebuilding it, but our manager said there would be a pier left for us to get off (and the employees to get to work). No one knew that today they would strip down the whole thing! So they dropped us off at a neighboring dock on this side of the harbor, running aground, and we had to lug all our stuff past the lighthouse, through a broken fence, and over to our apartment. By this time we sure weren't cold anymore and ran in and put on a sundress and shorts. I came in and even though the windows were open, there was no air moving, so I tried the air conditioners and thankfully they work better than they ever have. The apartment is pretty dirty from sitting all summer with very gritty floors, but tomorrow I will tackle all that. I am almost unpacked, but now I feel like I want to get everything done at once, as usual. All dishes, glasses and silverware have to be washed because they sprayed for bugs and there a few dead ones in the drawers. The phone wasn't here like I thought it was, and we just could not figure out where it went. We were really bumming. That is not like us because we are pretty organized. As I went to turn on my computer, Dave asked if the phone might be in the computer case by some chance and , after me insisting that it wasn't, by golly it was in a small pocket hidden away from when we left last spring! Whew!

Since I wrote that letter I vacuumed and Swiffer dusted the floors (quick job so we don’t track grit around), washed most dishes and glasses, and even got the TV up and going (didn’t even have to reset it). We will get things back in shape and boats in the water as soon as possible. It’s great to be back! Plus we made it for Dave's 62nd birthday!

Eerie Sight

We took a ride up through Speculator and then back through Caroga Lake a few days ago. It brought back memories for both of us. Speculator is where I went to church camp at Camp Fowler when I was a kid. My parents also used to take us to both Pine Lake and Caroga Lake. The amusement area, especially the carousel, really made quite an impression on us kids. Our most recent memories (recent as in 40 years ago 😉) were from when Dave and my brother Rick ice raced dirt bikes on the lake. They were family affairs as we huddled together in vans to try and stay warm between races. It was still tons of fun though! Now all that is left of this once thriving area is the eerily abandoned amusement area. It was so sad to see. We didn't get close enough to look in the carosel building, but I have to wonder, is that classic old carousel still hiding in there?

Changes

We are biding our time here in the Northeast, with a little over a week to go before we fly to Abaco. We are ready for the change, although it will be a shock to our system leaving in the cold and arriving the same day where everyone is in shorts and swimsuits (last night our birdbath froze solid and still had ice at 11 AM).

The leaves are really changing colors now, although it was literally breathtaking walking in the woods this morning.

Hopefully we will be gone before we see any snow this year. That's a change neither of us wants to see.