Darkness overtook us on the way to Hopedale. We searched the charts for an anchorage and picked a likely spot on a small no name island. What looks good on a chart may not be so. When we edged our way through the narrow channel into the anchorage it was easy to see no anchoring here. Too rocky, too shallow, ah, too bad! On to Hopedale. Ken steered and I dropped the hook inside the harbor at 0200.
We awoke to a stiff wind coming down off the mountain guarding Hopedale from the Northwest winds. It seems the NW wind finds the harbor just fine, though.
Up the anchor and CAP’N LEM moved to the public pier. A few minutes tidying up the boat and then ashore. It was easy to see we weren’t locals and children came from every where to check out the strangers. They were friendly and the older ones wanted to know where we were from? “Washington State”. “No, no not were Obama lives, other side of the country”. Do we know any celebrities? “Yes, the LADY WASHINGTON”. And do you have any candy? “No comment.”
As we wandered the streets being careful not to be run over by 4wheelers, we came to the old church, with its bell tower. Two young women came running toward us asking all excited if we had come to see their museum. “Well, of course!” That’s the best place to start to get to know a community. The ladies, Hilda and Sybilla, were working at the museum for the summer and they introduced to us to Tyler. It was Tyler’s first day on the job.
Hilda was the keeper of the key and let us in to the beautiful old building that made up the display rooms. It was filled with wonderful things from Hopedale past and the ladies were eager and informative guides. Tyler was a bit reserved for fear we would ask him a question he didn’t know. There were many artifacts of Inuit life and the early European settlers. It was the photographs of the beautiful people of the past that touched my heart the most. Good people living in a harsh land
When you visit Hopedale on your Great Adventure, look for Hilda, Sybilla and Tyler. They were the best.
