Hope Town on Elbow Cay

 Today we moved Freedom over to Hopetown for the holidays. The crossing to Hope Town went very well even though we were heading into about 30 knots of wind. Because the wind was out of the East the water did not have sufficient fetch to roil up beyond a foot or two of chop. The Man Of War inlets allowed some swell through but all in all it went very well.
 We intend to stay here through New Years Eve and take in some of the festivities here. It's a great little harbour with plenty of folks we've met last year which makes it all that much better. We've also run into boaters that have seen us on the ICW or elsewhere but not had the chance to meet face to face. So life is good here with plenty of interest.
 Hope Town itself is an unusual place to walk around in. For me, it makes me feel like I'm in a Dr. Suess sort of place not unlike Whoville. The houses are small and almost on top of each other with narrow passages and roads between. All of them are brightly colored which makes the town that much more interesting to the eye. If I was shorter I would certainly fit in better.
 This morning the Crusier Net on channel 68 announced that Down Deep would have fresh fish at the dock today so after we tied up I launched the dink and set it up for the trip across the harbour. This is not a big deal since it's a very small harbour. Once on the town dock I realised that the town has decided to build a pavillion on the end of the dock to protect the folks waiting for the ferry or the Down Deep fish market. Cudos to the island for making this happen it's a welcome addition.
 Once back aboard after shopping Freedom got a long over due wash down. She had a very thick salt crust from all of the Sea of Abaco crossings that exposed us to weather.
 Once the engine room cools down I can start in on the repairs to various items of interest like the water maker. On an aside, folks nearby have a Spectra unit installed they claim produces water at 100 ppm of total dissolved solids. Given others claim to be able to hit 200 with Filmtec I'm interested to see what we wind up with. There are many testers over here since everyone is concerned with the quality of water they get.
 Since I went to the additional expense of locating and getting more hoses I think I can get an accurate measurement of the flow coming out of the regulator without over heating the boost pump. I'll probably perform one more test prior to ripping things up. PITA.

 Garmin data has been updated.

 PS Lani and Mads we're keeping your slip warm.