HopeTown Ruminations

The living in Hopetown is easy on a mooring ball. We are not doing much. Just reading books from the library, cleaning the boat as needed, playing with the electronics -- but not much since we are on a tight energy budget, and just roaming the town and Elbow Cay by bicycle. I don't write more or post more pictures because of the limited energy available on a boat on the mooring. We are not plugged in and all our power comes from a 500 AMP Hour battery bank which is charged by solar panels and a wind generator and if they can't keep up -- then an 8KW genset but it burns a 1/2 gallon of diesel an hour. Gosh it has been a month since we were tied up at a marina and plugged in.

Living is simple here and that was emphasized the other night when we watched part of the Super Bowl. WOW the excesses we saw on the Super Bowl and commercials really hit home after living 6 weeks here in the Bahamas with the limited shopping choices available too us and what we did buy was 3 times what we pay at home.

We watched part of the game at the Hopetown Inn and lodge at their beach bar. It was a bright moon and quite windy which made it COLD for us but the temp was really only 66 degrees. Cold after what we have been experiencing here. What a contrast to the my most memorable Super Bowl -- Super Bowl 3 back in 1967 and watched in Akron Ohio at a friends house -- Bob Hunt -- it was 17 degrees that day and lots of snow and ice on the ground.

Back to Hopetown ruminations. I was just thinking what is was like here say just 50 years ago. No doctor, no hospital -- still no hospital or doctor here but a clinic one day a week. Think of all the babies that born without access to doctor or hospital?! Hell 100 years ago that is the way most babies were born except in the largest of cities. WOW -- hard to imagine today.

Well the whole Carolina contingent is here in Hopetown tonight. Victoria Gaye is here, Bubbles, and Skat came in today and we are all moored on adjacent moorings. I invited all over tonight so we can share stories and commiserate over the weather. These multiple cold fronts a week are now keeping all of us here in the Abacos. Not conducive to heading further south but from our perspective that is okay since we do enjoy the Abacos and there is lot to look forward to over the next several weeks.

Got to o to prepare for visitors tonight and I've got some Goombay Smash to prepare.