A Trip to Duncan Town

There is no trip to the Raggeds without a trip into “town”. Ducan Town was hit hard by hurricane Dorian but we have heard they are rebuilding and we are excited to have a look. We were told that the restaurant that we would normally stop by for a drink of some sorts was closed to the public as they have been contracted to provide meals for the extra workers on the island. So with that we carried our water and got the boys in the dinghy for a long dinghy ride from Hog Cay to Duncan Town. As usual Cooper is our scout! I sure hope he has his eye on the shallows as there are many along the way.

On the horizon we can see town and are thankful we got this far without going aground. Must have been Coopers keen eye. The first thing we see is the land moving equipment working right along the steep hill we have to climb from the dinghy dock. The building structures are cinderblock and cement, nothing fancy…..just durable. They have a new school that is just about complete which has been the desire for many years here. Maxine, the owner of the grocery store in town and kind of the spokesperson for the island has every year held a cruisers fund raiser on Valentines Day to help fund the school. We missed the event this year because of our delay in getting into the Bahamas but we heard it was well attended. Anyhow, there is construction all around and it warms the heart to see the resilience of the native folks here. They are a strong and determined group after losing so many in the hurricane, but those that remain have no thoughts of leaving. Instead…..they rebuild.

Our trip back to the anchorage at Hog Cay would not be as easy as the trip in as our scout was tired and not doing his job. We did go aground (in the dinghy) coming out of the channel into what you would think were open waters but it is very tricky here. With a little help from a local who watched as we pulled the boat into deeper water, we were back on the right track. We retired for the night at the Hog Cay Yacht Club meeting some new folks that had come in waiting for the inclement weather to begin. We will sit here for about a week as the weather passes through and then move on a little further south to Southside Bay.