Monday, December 9

Hopetown Lighthouse

We arrived at Hopetown in the late afternoon, anchoring in our usual spot below the lighthouse.    The houses that we were use to seeing were badly damaged; roofs gone, walls blown in, rooms missing.  The next morning we dinghied into the harbor to walk around, get a feel for what was going on and see how to find ways to help.  The devastation is very widespread with virtually every building damaged in some way.  Many houses are gone and many more just need to be torn down.  We stopped by the “Command Center” and visited with Peter, the person in charge.  He tries to keep track of projects where volunteers can be used.  Tomorrow, he said, he wants some people to go to the “Straw Market” across from Vernon’s Grocery to get it cleaned out so they can further assess what will be needed to get that business up and running.

Hopetown Lodge

Wednesday morning we arrived at the store and shortly after were joined by our friends on Second Sojourn and also 3 people from the States who had come over for a week with the sole intention of helping with the clean-up/recovery effort.  They are staying on a boat in the harbor that is owned by a relief agency.  We spent about 4 hours pulling ruined furniture, fallen ceiling panels, and roof shingles out of the building and piling the debris at the side.  Eventually, a work crew will come by to pick up the debris and move it to someplace for permanent removal from the island.  Sheila, the owner of the business, worked along side us, letting us know what she might want to try and salvage and what could just be tossed out.  When we left, the building was cleaned out enough for repair workers to come in, reinforce/rebuild some of the rafters that had been damaged and get a new roof put on.  We don’t think it will happen very quickly.  We stopped back by the Command Center for an afternoon job but nobody was around so we went back to the boat for an afternoon snorkel.

Hopetown Lodge Pool

Successful Lobster Hunt

Gary and Mel from Second Sojourn joined us.  We went to our favorite spots and got lobster for tonights meal and a few extras for the freezer.

Our next job was to help at Vernon’s Grocery.  He is back up and running although with very little product to sell.  He is baking fresh bread everyday and it seems like everyone on the island stops by sometime during the day to buy a loaf or two.  We mainly helped spruce-up the place with painting and general clean-up.  Vernon had his 86th birthday yesterday.  He lost his house and almost everything in it to the storm.  He and his wife rode out the storm in the grocery store which survived intact although his bakery, in a small attached shed, was damaged.  

On the bright side, people seem to be in good spirit, a couple of businesses seem to reopen every week and the town is decorating for the holidays.

Bahamas Strong

On Friday, a group of 8 of us took Second Sojourn over to Marsh Harbor.  I’ve mentioned how poor the internet is here so I wanted to get a new phone or hotspot with a company called Aliv. We had heard that their system is working very well in the Bahamas.  We got a hotspot and it is working superbly, so we hope to be able to communicate now more easily.  Most of the group went to Maxwell’s supermarket to pick up some fresh items.  Maxwell’s is almost fully stocked with a great selection of food items.  Another couple on our trip to Marsh Harbor, Mike and Jan on Gorek Shep,  needed to clear through customs and immigration; more about them later.

Marsh Harbor, at least near the harbor, has very few building standing.  Maxwell’s grocery, about a half-mile from the harbor, is one of the few.  We didn’t get to walk around a lot, just within a 10 block radius or so; Kathi says they could film “The Zombie Apocalypse” movie here without a need for a movie set.  We saw lots of activity though.  Cars were going up and down the roads moving goods from the government dock to places they would be used; new refrigerators, microwaves, generators, other furniture.  At least some people are getting their lives put back together.

Mike and Jan on Gorek Shep sailed from Savannah, GA with the Virgin Islands as their destination.  After about a week of sailing their forestay broke.  The forestay is a key part of the standing rigging that keeps the mast upright.  They managed to get the sail cut away and keep the mast from toppling down.  The only direction they could safely sail was with the wind behind them; all of the wind pressure would be on the back stay and shrouds.  The wind was from the east so they set their course for the Bahamas, 700 miles away.  They arrived safely and we met them because they needed depth information for getting into Hopetown; their boat draws 7 feet which is a lot of draft for the Bahamas.  We have a handheld depth finder and helped guide them in.

The weather is projected to be bad for the next week or so, at least until Christmas.  Winds are projected to be around 30 knots with gusts up to 40 knots. We decided to stay in Hopetown since we can help out here and have protection from the winds as they clock around.  I stopped by the command center on Wednesday to see if they had any jobs.  Peter had a job of helping reinforce a porch and some stairs.  Gary, from Second Sojourn, and I went out to the house to evaluate what we might need.  The homeowner, Cha, welcomed us and also mentioned the need to reconnect the plumbing from the gutters to the cistern so they could have a source of water.  We evaluated what we could do and what we needed.  We recruited additional help from “Gorek Shep,” Mike and Jan.

Merry Christmas from Hopetown

On Thursday, Gary, Kathi, Mike, Jan and I went to Cha’s house and started working.  We repaired the stairs to the front door, jacked-up and reinforced 2 different sections of decking, and got a start at replacing the plumbing needed to get water to the cistern. The next day we tackled the back deck; badly twisted and detached from the house.  The owner was still using it to get from the back door to the back steps even though it was a 2 foot drop from the back door to the deck.  We jacked the deck up as best we could but because it was twisted it was catching on the plywood sheathing of the house.  We blocked it up to keep it stable.  At least now the step down is only about 8 inches.  The whole deck needs to be torn down and replaced but because of the logistics of getting materials and labor here the deck needs to be safe and semi-functional for the next 6 months to a year. We plan to finish the plumbing to the cistern on Monday.

Kathi and Santa (Will on sv Antares)

On Sunday we attended a church event and then went to a potluck hosted by ‘On da Beach’ a local restaurant and bar.  Everyone is in good spirits and looking forward to Christmas.  Kathi even got to visit with Santa!