Hope Town – The Sights and Storm

Pekabu sitting in the harbor.

       Midmorning, our fleet of dinghies headed in to the Hope Town Yacht Club dock, where Dan dropped a stern anchor per the request here in this harbor, before tying up to the dock. Andiamo and we rafted to his dinghy.

     The eight of us strolled the narrow streets of colorful cottages, shops and restaurants that ring the north side of the harbor, and then used the sidewalk that connects to other street. The one we chose is probably the prettiest.  Flamingo Cottage Inn lies on the point where boats enter the harbor.  The street we walked up ran alongside and the cottages lining this walk were some of the prettiest in the area and lots of flowers and greenery. Between the two grocery stores, Martha was able to pick up the few items she needed.


     Capt’n Jacks is a restaurant overlooking the harbor not far from where Pekabu is moored.  In fact, our first night on the mooring there was a very lively game of Bingo that was being played. We all had delicious meals before heading back towards the dinghies. Brunelle’s crew and Pete decided to head back while John, Betty and I explored a little bit more.

     The clouds have been gathering to our west all day and the winds are still with us.  The forecasters have been predicting some strong storms for later today.  Once everyone was back on their boats, John checked the Sirus weather imaging and reports.  We were going to be getting some thunderstorms in the next hour or so, but the heavy stuff would come later if it didn’t dissipate, so we finished securing for the storms.

    We were able to read for a while until we heard the thunder get louder and the clouds get darker. Many people were dinghying toward their boats. The boats started to swing on the moorings, changing their directions.  Then the winds came followed by the rain, lightning and thunder. With boats so close to one another here in the harbor, everyone was keeping an eye on each other.  One of the Sunsail rental boats was unmanned during the storm.  Her wheel was unlocked and she skated back and forth with the wind; her wheel spinning furiously.  We were glad we were not close to her.  As the storm broke and the winds died, the boats drifted on the currents here in the harbor.  The beautiful 45 foot Saber cruiser (we think) and we passed safely as we danced stern to stern, but the 37 foot carver on the next mooring quickly became a problem and they had to fend off.  We noticed a current in the harbor, which affected the boats in our area.  It took Pete a while before he realized that the wind had pushed the water out of the harbor and once it had ceased, the tide was low so it allowed it to rush back in.  Thankfully, the larger, later storms dissipated.

As I was framing this picture, these two gentlemen walk right by and sat in the empty chairs. Only later did I realize that when the older gentlemen requested that I take his picture as he looked out at his catamaran, it was HIS catamaran!

    As darkness came, Pete drew my attention to the light house.  He had noticed last night that the beacon did not come on until it became dark. As we watched, the light inside the Frenzel glass became brighter.  It took about 2 -3 minutes for the flame to heat the element, then the lamp began to rotate. It gave 5 -1 second flashes followed a 3-second pause caused by blanks on the rotation.  Pete reminded me that we had seen kerosene tanks and a pulley system inside the light house during our tour.  It is incredible that it is still a manned lighthouse using 19^th century technology.

    We ate a light dinner, charged the batteries,  read, and then called it a night.  For the first time in a long time we heard the shrimp tapping on the bottom of the boat as we went to sleep.

~  ~ (\_~ ~ ~     Kathy and Pete