Hopetown

We’ve spent the last few days soaking in the culture of Hopetown on Elbow Cay. Hopetown is somewhat of a destination in it’s own right. Quite a few people come here to spend the winter either on their boat or in one of the many quaint rentals or residences around the island.

 

The lighthouse here in Hopetown is the last hand-wound kerosene lighthouses in the world. It’s currently undergoing some much needed repair work. While we may love lighthouses, not everyone on the island was in favor of building it in the first place. Turns out a major source of income on the island was wrecking – the salvaging of goods from ships that wrecked on the reef just off the island.

Wrecking was a very serious pursuit. We were told one story that highlights that seriousness. The local Methodist church building is beautiful and is located on top of a small hill overlooking both the harbor and the ocean reef. One Sunday, during their worship service, the pastor asked the congregation to bow their heads for a few minutes of silent prayer. While heads were bowed and eyes closed, the pastor slipped out the door of the church and ran for the beach. He had seen a ship go on to the reef and wanted to be the first to reach it! The next week, the church members rearranged the building so the pastor was facing the harbor and the pews were facing the reef.

Shopping on the small islands is something of an adventure. Stores are small, stock just a few items and have to charge quite high prices to cover the cost of getting the goods here. Realizing that goods have to be shipped from the US or Europe to one of the major ports, then loaded onto small ferries and shipped again to the outer islands, it’s easy to see why the prices are what they are. We did most of our provisioning before leaving, but we have managed to find ice cream (a treat at only $9/ half-gl) and coconut bread (baked fresh daily).

Today we had a delightful lunch with some other cruisers we met here in Hopetown. He is an avid conch diver and they treated us to breaded, tenderized fresh conch. A great meal and great fellowship around the table!

 

But if not…