On Sunday morning, the 23rd of May we filled up our water tanks and said our goodbyes to Aaron & Robert at The Hope Town Inn and Marina, our friends Matt and Julie and set our sights on Fishers Bay. On our way out the channel in Hope Town our friend Brown Tip (singer and boat bottom scrubber) waved good bye to us as well.
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| Rhumbline out front |
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| See you next year Brown Tip! |
Once anchored in Fishers Bay, we got the dinghies in the water, loaded up the dogs and headed to shore. Grabbers, a local bayfront bar & restaurant was up and running and it was obvious they had rebuilt after Dorian. The bar was now much larger and located further to the right. The original pool was completely filled in and a new one is currently to the right of the bar. There is a covered picnic table area now instead of a few tables and there were mostly locals enjoying their Sunday afternoon there. All of the trees and foliage once surrounding Grabbers were gone.
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| Grabbers from the harbour |
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| Captain (Cappy) of the dinghy |
We walked down the street past buildings in ruins. It was barely recognizable. Up the hill to Nippers and to see the damage we had heard about. It was so sad to see what used to be a hopping place. Most of the vegetation had been blown down and the buildings were destroyed. We have heard that they will be coming back but it appears that it will be quite a while. Below are some of the pictures showing how Dorian turned this island into such a mess. We spent the night anchored there. All the mooring balls that used to dot the bay were gone. Hopefully Troy (Dive Guana) will have them available next year.
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| Heartbreaking to see |
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| Reflecting on the good times |
We walked further through town after leaving Nipper's remains and checked out Old Orchid Bay, a marina which is protected by a breakwater which survived the hurricane. Most of the docks were protected and the ones that needed repair have been rebuilt. The housing community was gated off so we walked back into town looking for the lone peacock who resides there. We spoke with a woman in town who said he visits her every evening around 5:00 looking for some handouts.
On the 24th, we hoisted the anchor and made our way to Green Turtle Cay, home of the Bluff House and the Green Turtle Club. Only the Green Turtle Club docks were open, as the docks at the Bluff House had been damaged in the storm as well as the restaurant and bar. The gift shop was open and Sharon & I talked with Molly who we knew from previous visits and happened to be doing some work there that day. She said that the owners were working to restore everything and they would be rebuilding the docks. We had just missed Jennifer and Michael (1/4 of the owners) and left a handwritten message for them. After catching up, we walked over the hill to the Tranquil Turtle Beach Bar and sat down for lunch and beverages, all of which were quite yummy. There's a nice beach in this protected cove and Dan was showing some local kids how Penny digs up crabs. They loved it!
After lunch, we continued our dinghy ride to New Plymouth and walked around what used to be such a thriving little town. As has been told too many times, there was evidence of the amount of hardship a category 5 hurricane can cause, especially if it stalls for hours upon end. Houses, stores, restaurants and businesses were partially or totally impacted.
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| Local feral cats hanging out together |
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| This was once the New Plymouth Customs office |
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| Relaxing at Pineapples, a local bar that survived although the docks in Black Sound did not |
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| Gus and Cappy wishing they could chase the roosters |
Back to the Green Turtle Club for a good night's sleep before heading off tomorrow mid-morning.
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