Slow Down, You’re in Hope Town

After Treasure, we sailed down to Man-o-War and spent a rolly day and night at anchor as the large offshore swell wrapped around both sides of the island. We thought we’d be protected but there was no escaping it, so after work we headed for the lee of Elbow Cay. We found a good spot to anchor in front of Firefly – it was SO much calmer there, and we slept like babies.

We desperately needed to get rid of our trash and pick up some groceries, so we hopped in the dinghy on Tuesday morning (trash in Hope Town is Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) and made the run in. Moorings are always hard to find, so we agreed that if we found one open, we’d run back and get Windara, especially since it was high enough in the tide cycle that we could get in. We found two moorings open and high-tailed it back. I don’t think we’ve ever hauled anchor so fast, and the whole time I was worried someone else would get there before us. We lucked out and squeezed in between two catamarans (I think we made the cat in front of us a little nervous, but this, my friends, is not our first rodeo).

“Home” takes on a different meaning when you cruise. Your house comes with you everywhere, but “home” is both nowhere and anywhere. It’s a feeling rather than a location, and after three years, Hope Town truly feels like home. Tiny streets lined with bougainvillea and brightly colored homes, miles of “flesh sand beaches” – usually unoccupied (Chris came up with that one… I think he has a future in travel writing, don’t you?), the unique candy-striped Elbow Reef Lighthouse, not-so-secret gardens, a well-protected harbour, amazing views of the Atlantic and Sea of Abaco. Laid back beach bars, live music, bingo nights, trivia, farmers markets… there’s always something going on.

Fresh baked bread from Vernon’s, crack conch or chicken in da bag from Cap’n Jacks (complete with a perfect sunset view of the lighthouse), On Da Beach’s Turtle Racer (rum punch) and a fish melt (best enjoyed in one of the bright blue Adirondack chairs overlooking the ocean), cocktails and sushi night at Firefly, brunch at Hope Town Inn and Marina.

But none of that quite captures the essence of it… there’s just a feeling here. Locals, second home owners, and cruisers all come together to form a vibrant community. People dinghy over to say hi because they know the boat (either by name or by make)/are curious about it/know you through a mutual friend/are on a neighboring mooring. Strangers in their golf carts stop to offer you a ride. Friends show up and you find yourself heading off on adventures when you expected to be doing nothing.

There have been a bunch of dolphins in the harbor this year, and we’re constantly surrounded by turtles. Chris took his paddle board out but cut his time short when a curious lemon shark came to escort him back to the boat (yes, that was the first and last time he took the paddle board out here!).

No trip to Hope Town is complete for me without a visit to the lighthouse. I think this was my sixth visit, but there’s always something new to see, and the view from the top never gets old. This time, I noticed so many little details that I had never noticed before, but by far my favorite was the handle on the door to the outside of the top – a hand holding a scroll. They must have recently replaced it because I’m sure I would have noticed it before now.

I love sitting under that lighthouse, especially at night, and one night as we were relaxing on deck, we heard the local Junkanoo band practicing. If we hadn’t already put the dinghy up for the night, we’d have gone over to check it out in person. We wish we could have made it over to Marsh to see the Junkanoo itself – it’s such a fun celebration!

After months of having our old jib take up space in the cabin, we were finally able to drop it off at Hope Town Canvas in exchange for a beautiful new beach bag. They would have made me a bag from the sail if I wanted, but there was nothing particularly special about that sail, and I love the lighthouse bag I found in their stock. I’m also so happy to know my old sail won’t end up in a landfill.

Unfortunately Vernon hasn’t been well, and his stock wasn’t as good as years past, so we had to range farther afield for provisions a couple times. The LVA’s prices have gotten better since we were last here, and we loaded up with a pretty good amount of groceries including cat food for a lot less than we’d expected. Both times, people were kind enough to offer us a ride back to the dock, one of whom turned out to be the local nurse, who’s as nice as can be.

We got a chance to wander over to Sea Biscuit Bakery for breakfast a couple times, and everything we’ve had was so good. The guava danish, orange scone and cinnamon roll were all fantastic. And we finally made it to Oasis Juice Bar – I wish we’d discovered it sooner!

I’ve been working on my dinghy skills – I’m always a little afraid to run the dinghy myself because I’m not a great close-quarters boat handler, and I’m always embarrassed at my lack of finesse. But I read an article about getting comfortable with doing new things badly and realized that it’s a cruising skill I need to acquire. When you always let someone else do it, you never learn. I’m still not great at maneuvering in tight quarters, but I’m now pretty confident approaching a dock or the boat on my own.

Our fresh water pump started failing so we had a new one sent through Abaco Freight, which meant I needed to ferry over to Marsh to pick it up. I expected to have to take a huge chunk of my work day off, but I managed to catch the 11:30 ferry over, grab a taxi, get the part and be back in plenty of time to catch the 12:30 ferry back. I have ridiculous anxiety about doing new things by myself, so while it’s a small thing in the grand scheme, it was kind of a big deal for me.

Friends that we met in St. Augustine last year were in at the Hope Town Inn and Marina, so we caught up over Easter Brunch. Our good friends Katy and Phil finally made it down (they were delayed by boat work), so we helped them get a mooring and then headed down to Tahiti Beach (on a rather windy, choppy day… by dinghy, of course!) for the afternoon. We grabbed drinks at the Thirsty Cuda and stopped in at Sea Spray on the way back to visit with their friends Mike and MJ, who were also planning on coming in to Hope Town.

Mike and Emma on Endurance, who we’d met at the Conch Inn at the end of our first season, also came in, so we had a big group of friends to hang out with. We’ve always wanted to make it to Jack’s bingo and trivia nights, and this year we finally got a chance. Both were a lot of fun, even though we won at neither. Between dinners, drinks and beach days, we had a great time hanging out with everyone for a week or so before Katy and Phil had to head off to go back to Green Turtle and Mike and MJ sailed home. Mike and Emma were still there, so we weren’t left completely on our own, but as our group started to go our separate ways, I could feel the clock ticking.

We made new cruising friends too – Steve and Leslie on Falkor stopped by to chat about the boat one Saturday, and we ended up spending the afternoon hanging out at the Canadian pool (the name everyone gave to the unheated pool at Hope Town Inn).

Only a couple days before it was time to go, the owners of Decompression, one of the big cats that Windara was moored near, flew down. We chatted a bit back and forth, and we invited them to join us for drinks at On Da Beach. It was a fun afternoon and it quickly became apparent that they were also part of our tribe. They invited us over for drinks before we take off, and we chatted late into the night. They even stopped over to meet Jack, and Jenny gave him some treats, which won him over pretty fast.

We’re starting to get to know a lot of locals here, and it makes us feel that much more attached to this special little island. JR stopped by with some friends and family, and we spent a day hanging out and catching up. One of the women who came out with us is a lobsterman from Maine, and it turns out she’s from one of the towns we’re looking at bringing Windara for some work. We spent most of the day cruising around in the boat, then drove down to On Da Beach and finally to Sunrise, the new sports bar that recently opened. I wasn’t doing so hot the next day, but sometimes the misery is worth it.

We hung out again with JR and his friend Andrew a couple weeks later, and it was fun to have a chill day cruising around between Hope Town, Lubbers Quarters, and Marsh Harbour. We had lunch at recently-reopened Lubbers Landing (the pizza was actually pretty darned good!), and stopped in at the Abaco Beach Resort for a drink, then swung by the beach on the north end of Elbow Cay. JR introduced us to a bunch more people along the way, and it really made us feel like we’re becoming a part of the Hope Town community. Just before we left, we caught up with JR one last time as he was cleaning his catch for the day, and he gave us enough amazing fresh snapper for two nights’ worth of dinner.

We took a final walk ashore and stopped by Cap’n Jacks to say goodbye to Karen and Clarice who work their tails off and and remember us from one year to the next – they’re part of the wonderful community that makes Hope Town special.

We’ve been here for a month, and sitting here in the harbor I realized that I’m probably the happiest I’ve ever been. I’ve found my pace, my tribe, my vibe. But people are leaving, the mooring field feels pretty darned empty, and our time is growing short.

I’m feeling more than a little melancholy – it reminds me of the feeling I’d get back in New York when it was almost time to haul the boat for the season. It gets harder and harder to leave this place from year to year… but that’s how we know we’re doing it right. Dawn comes earlier and earlier, the lighthouse is lit later and later, Orion appears still lower in the sky, and soon this season will be just a collection of wonderful memories. Tomorrow we slip the lines and head out on anchor one more time, but tonight we’re taking it slow one more time.