We decided to celebrate the arrival of Ted and Shana Woods
by enjoying dinner at ‘Snappas’, a local restaurant just down from The Marsh
Harbor dingy dock. Locally caught fish
was just what the crew was craving. As I
walked up to the bar collect the tab I heard my name from an unfamiliar
direction. As I turned around I was welcomed
with a huge smile and open arms from Brian Higgs, a former Island School
student. He joined us at our table, met
the crew and offered a wealth of information about fishing and snorkeling
spots. We took his advice and made plans
to snorkel at The Land and Sea Park near Fowl Cay the following day. … which
turned out to be one of the most beautiful snorkeling spots I’ve seen in The Bahamas.
(Ted and Shana in Hope Town)
A cold front of SSE 15-20 knots followed by 20-25 knots was on its way. With this weather forecast
we decided to seek a protection in Hope Town Harbor. We made an early trip into Marsh Harbor to
collect some last minute supplies such as propane, water, compressed air (for
inflating the dingy)
The strong winds blew us approximately 4.5 knots across the
passage and we arrived in Hope Town at 11:30, just in time for high tide which
is what The Fishers Hornpipe needed to navigate through the 1.7 meter deep
channel into the harbor. We turned on ‘Twinkie’
to increase our accuracy and Virginia, Curtis and I retrieved our cameras and
shot photos like we were the paparazzi.
Pastel painted shabby-chic cottages whose colors are borrowed from the
environment speckled the hillsides. According to Curtris “just pick up a shell or
look at a sunset and take any two colors out of it and you’ll see Hope Town”
The shallow narrow entry opens up to a wide calm harbor filled with boats
seeking shelter from the storm.
Little did we know that The Fishers Hornpipe was a ‘world class vessel’
according to our unexpected visitors….
Upon arrival into Hope Town Harbor Rob grilled cheese
sandwiches and we ate lunch in the spacious center cockpit. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a dingy
motoring towards our ship. As the
inflatable motor boat got closer Brad Gunn greeted us with a smile and told us
he is a former crew member of The Fishers Hornpipe and long-time friend of
Reuel Parker, the builder of this ferro cement vessel. ‘This is a flash back from the past’ he
explained and continued to talk about his experience on the FHP in Norfolk, VA
in 1979. Brad now splits his time
between living on his boat, Mothra in The Bahamas and Maine. We were all eager to hear the early stories
of the ‘Horny Piper’ as told in the book ‘Voyages of The Fishers Hornpipe’
(Brad Gunn in the aft cabin)
Later in the afternoon we were greeted again by some old
friends of Reuel. Rob and I heard some
chatter above deck and were surprised to see three people snapping photos of
the FHP on their I Phones. They said
they could identify The Fishers Hornpipe by it’s shape from across the harbor
and needed to see if it was the real deal (we began to feel like celebrities’
in the harbor). Ryan is a boat builder
who worked under Reuel for many years.
Wayne owns two of Reuel’s boats and Jamie is a long-time friend. They were anxious to see the boat the Reuel
Parker has talked so much about, his first hand crafted sailboat.
(Wayne, Jamie and Ryan on the bow of the FHP)
We set sail back towards Marsh Harbor and anchored on the
western edge of the harbor. We looked around
to admire our surroundings when Rob noticed a familiar looking boat anchored to
our starboard side. Island Girl, another
Reuel Parker design…. what another unusual coincidence!
(Island Girl)
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