Janurary 31, 2016 Methodist and Catholic chursh in Hopetown, Elbow Cay

On the cruiser’s net this morning, I asked whether the Catholic Church still held mass in Hopetown about 12:30 in the park.  A couple people said they thought they did.  Another lady came spoke up and said the Methodist church held their service at 11:00, they had a beautiful choir, and Catholics were welcome.  So I thanked her and said I may be there.  I had to get ready a little sooner than I had planned, but it worked out and I attended both the Methodist church and the Catholic church today.  She was right, the Methodist church really did have a nice choir.  They asked if there were any visitors attending the service for the first time.  There were at least a dozen out of the 50 people in attendance.  I explained how I was invited, even though I was Catholic.  The lady that invited me raised her hand.  So we visited afterwards.  Then another lady come up to me and said she was heading to the Catholic mass next, too.  She just liked singing with their choir. 

choir in front of congregation at Methodist church

Methodist church

She and I visited before mass and she gave me some great info about the island.  The Catholic mass is held outside in a row of benches under a tree right by the library.  That’s the back up location if it’s raining.  There were probably about 20 people there.  The priest comes from Marsh Harbor on the ferry and heads back right afterwards.  We just sing our hymns a cappella.  2 ladies sat and picked out the songs ahead of time.  The one that sang in the Methodist choir was one of them.  She said they don’t sing all the verses like the Methodists because the priest has to catch the next ferry back to Marsh Harbor.

after mass outdoors in Hopetown

Today Dave lubed the pelican hooks on the gates of our life lines.  They are special hooks with a secure latch.  But over time, they get harder to open and have to be lubricated. 

Dave wanted to change filters in the water maker.  So he had to pickle the water maker to be able to close the system.  The pickling slows down the growth of critters in the lines.  Removing and replacing the filters is a challenge because they are tucked into some tight quarters.  It is amazing to see how black they get. 

water maker filters-old and new

I finished cleaning the heads and floors to prepare our boat for guests.  My family isn’t staying on the boat, but we’ll take them out for a sail at least one day.  

dinghy race-small sailboats different than our dinghy