Swift

A Boating Trash Run in Hope Town Harbour

We were anchored outside Hope Town, idly listening to the daily net (a radio broadcast to boats in the area) when they announced today was trash day. We could drop off our trash at a certain dock between 8:30AM and 9:30 AM, for free. We hadn't found a trash drop off since Long Island about 6 weeks ago.

The trash run was my new mission, my highest priority. I had to get to the trash drop! It was 8:30AM. All we had to do was launch the dinghy, walk the dog, get into the harbour, find the dock, and hoist it over. 1 hour. Totally doable.

Matt searches for shoes (a daily struggle). I ready the dinghy, knowing Matt will be surprised and delighted to find the task completed. The dinghy is so heavy I can feel the burn through my gloves. Matt's job sucks. Hastings and I are ready for Part 1 of the trash run adventure.
Matt appears and is surprised.....and not delighted.
"The dinghy is sinking".
"How about that".
Matt puts it back on the davits, hauls it (now full of water, much heavier), drains it and then inserts the drain plug. Handy how that works.

The clock ticks. Hastings wants to know why he is burdened with such fools. The dinghy is re-launched. We get to dog-walk dock. Walk the dog. He wants to linger. Doesn't this lane seem interesting? What about this bush? The trash run is not his priority. Finally get back to the boat. Grab the trash. Head towards the harbour.

The clock is really ticking now. 9:21. Will we make it? A loud water-shattering noise is heard behind us. It's the ferry, heading at full speed into the no wake channel. We move to the side, trying to get out of it's way. It pushes on. It's gigantic wake forces us out of the channel, hard aground, and then swamps us. The driver slows just enough to say "You should stay in the channel - there's no water where you are".
"How kind of you to mention it!".
We get out the oars and pole ourselves out of the mud and back into the channel.

9:27. It's all over for sure. We head into the harbour, dodging the ferry, which seems determined to run us down at every opportunity. We're looking for the dock. There! All the way accross! We make our way over, avoiding the boats at anchor, the boats underway, criss crossing the harbour, the boats not paying attention, the boats throwing beer at each other.

9:29. The dock is in sight. We ram into the dock's ladder. Heave the trash up. The trash truck is still there! Victory at 9:30!  

How much work is your trash run? How many curses do the Abaco ferries receive on a daily basis? 

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8 comments

  1. Stupid internet connection dropped and I lost the long comment I just tried to leave you. I bet I'll lose this one as well :-(

    Anyway...I had to read about the dinghy to Scott. He laughed. Exactly the type of thing I would do. We've been carrying garbage around for weeks. It's starting to smell. We couldn't bear to pay $5 to dump it at Highbourne Cay. We may be regretting our cheapskate decision now.

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    1. I hate it when that happens!
      There should be a site "what the ferry did to me today"- it would get 1,000 entries a day!
      We gave Highbourne way too much money for eggs and gas and diesel, so I'm glad you denied them your $5.

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  2. I laughed out loud reading this post. I could totally see you doing this epic errand. Ours (thanks to your advice) was happily unexciting.

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    1. And after all that drama, Matt left the plug out of the dinghy a few days later and we did "the dinghy is sinking part 2!"

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  3. What a funny story! I'm afraid our trash runs are pretty dull in comparison, though they do currently involve a slight balancing act and descending ladders.

    Stephanie @ SV CAMBRIA

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    1. Ladders are a precarious problem. I'm always amazed when we manage to get our gas cans and Hastings up and down without incident!

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  4. I am getting stressed just reading your trash dump story. I'm glad you made it just in time. Was it not possible to combine the walk and the trash drop-off? Nice initiative, though, free garbage pick-up! When you mentioned the dinghy was sinking, I had a sneaky suspicion you didn't put the plug in. Probably happened the first time I dropped it by myself as well.

    Getting rid of trash is easy peasy on land! The most difficult place we ever sailed, to "get rid" of garbage was in the San Blas. Well, I guess it depends how long you stay everywhere and how remote the islands are.

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    1. Hastings doesn't like long dinghy rides first thing, so we took him to the nearest dock vs making him wait for another mile.

      We've actually forgotten the plug a few more times since this- we might be getting worse at boating!

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