Several of the tiny islands in the Bahamas were hammered by a terrible cat 4 hurricane a couple of days ago. Crooked Island and Acklins were particularly hard hit as the hurricane stalled there for several hours. Communication is bad and the full extent of the damage is still not known but it can't be good. These islands are low lying and it's certain the flooding was substantial. Much help will be needed and relief efforts are underway. If you would like to contribute to the relief effort check this out this Facebook page Cruising for Relief - Bahamas Hurricane Joaquin
I was reminded of the time we spent there in June 2013 and how beautiful the islands and how friendly the people. Here's a section of our blog post from back then that illustrates the kind people
From June 2013 Crooked Island
We found Landrail Point to be a lovely little village, with colorful flowers, shrubs, palm trees, and even grass! Prince did not know what to make of grass as we haven’t seen grass since the States. We saw a tiny little store, which was closed, but through the window I saw a bin of large, fresh apples! We walked a few more minutes, through the deserted village, seeing a closed restaurant, another closed grocery, before we saw a gentleman riding a bike. I waved him down and asked what was up. He said the village was all Seventh Day Adventists and stores were not open on Saturday until after 6 p.m. Coleen did a quick check of the time and it was only 3 p.m. I thought to keep walking for a while and then wait it out until 6, as I really wanted some apples. I usually eat one a day and had been out for 3 weeks. I didn’t mind waiting 3 hours.
We walked a little farther and came across a store selling clothing. A peek in the window revealed mostly very fancy ladies suits and gowns. It seemed a bit odd, not sure where you would wear such outfits, but maybe those Seventh Day Adventist really dress up for church. Also, I might add this is the only clothing store we’ve seen anywhere in the Bahamas. A couple more blocks down the nicely paved road, lined by small neatly kept houses, with colorful flowers and shrubs, not a piece of litter anywhere, we came upon a fairly large grocery store, (about ½ the size of a QuickTrip or 7 Eleven). Of course, it too was closed. We walked up to the porch to inspect the hours sign, which was also unusual, as few Bahamian stores have an hours sign, or actually any kind of sign for that matter. A very tall, nicely dressed young Bahamian man appeared and asked if we needed food. We said yes and he said that everything was closed for the Sabbath but he would see what he could do. Within couple of minutes he had arranged it all. He had a cousin who had a store down the road (the one with the apples). He called him and pleaded to “Please, Please open the store for a few minutes for these tourists”. Then he went across the street and got us a ride in a pick up truck.
Soon we were back at the little store and a young man came out of a house across the street and opened up shop. Now this little store was about the size of your living room, but it had a lot of stuff. I was shocked to find bananas, green peppers, lettuce, very nice tomatoes, onions, and of course apples, fuji apples no less. Soon I was filling up bags and walked out with just about more than I could carry. (That’s where DJ comes in handy). We thanked everyone profusely and headed back to the dinghy. I decided to walk the mile and a half back down the beach, while DJ and Coleen took the dinghy. Partly because I didn’t want to go through that little pass again, partly because I was not anxious to get back on the rolling boat, but mostly because I needed the exercise.
I was reminded of the time we spent there in June 2013 and how beautiful the islands and how friendly the people. Here's a section of our blog post from back then that illustrates the kind people
From June 2013 Crooked Island
We found Landrail Point to be a lovely little village, with colorful flowers, shrubs, palm trees, and even grass! Prince did not know what to make of grass as we haven’t seen grass since the States. We saw a tiny little store, which was closed, but through the window I saw a bin of large, fresh apples! We walked a few more minutes, through the deserted village, seeing a closed restaurant, another closed grocery, before we saw a gentleman riding a bike. I waved him down and asked what was up. He said the village was all Seventh Day Adventists and stores were not open on Saturday until after 6 p.m. Coleen did a quick check of the time and it was only 3 p.m. I thought to keep walking for a while and then wait it out until 6, as I really wanted some apples. I usually eat one a day and had been out for 3 weeks. I didn’t mind waiting 3 hours.
We walked a little farther and came across a store selling clothing. A peek in the window revealed mostly very fancy ladies suits and gowns. It seemed a bit odd, not sure where you would wear such outfits, but maybe those Seventh Day Adventist really dress up for church. Also, I might add this is the only clothing store we’ve seen anywhere in the Bahamas. A couple more blocks down the nicely paved road, lined by small neatly kept houses, with colorful flowers and shrubs, not a piece of litter anywhere, we came upon a fairly large grocery store, (about ½ the size of a QuickTrip or 7 Eleven). Of course, it too was closed. We walked up to the porch to inspect the hours sign, which was also unusual, as few Bahamian stores have an hours sign, or actually any kind of sign for that matter. A very tall, nicely dressed young Bahamian man appeared and asked if we needed food. We said yes and he said that everything was closed for the Sabbath but he would see what he could do. Within couple of minutes he had arranged it all. He had a cousin who had a store down the road (the one with the apples). He called him and pleaded to “Please, Please open the store for a few minutes for these tourists”. Then he went across the street and got us a ride in a pick up truck.
Soon we were back at the little store and a young man came out of a house across the street and opened up shop. Now this little store was about the size of your living room, but it had a lot of stuff. I was shocked to find bananas, green peppers, lettuce, very nice tomatoes, onions, and of course apples, fuji apples no less. Soon I was filling up bags and walked out with just about more than I could carry. (That’s where DJ comes in handy). We thanked everyone profusely and headed back to the dinghy. I decided to walk the mile and a half back down the beach, while DJ and Coleen took the dinghy. Partly because I didn’t want to go through that little pass again, partly because I was not anxious to get back on the rolling boat, but mostly because I needed the exercise.
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