Duncan Town, Ragged Island, Bahamas

 We visited the small settlement on Ragged Island today.  There is a small boat channel that was dredged thru the mangroves.  Pretty little 2 mile canal.  Saw a few sharks on the way!

The town was devastated by Hurricane Irma two years ago.

Walking up the steep hill you can start to see the damage that is still un-repaired.  This pink building is the water treatment plant with no roof.  There used to be a hundred or more residents, now there are only 40.  No children live on the island because the school was damaged.

This is what used to be the government clinic.  The shingles are all missing - you can still see all nails.  The windows are blown in even though they had storm shutters.

Peeking inside the clinic.  Very sad.  The government simply walked away from the town and declared it un-inhabitable.

But a few hardy folk are still calling it home.  Maxine (who brought all the food to the cruiser's party) is one of them.  She runs a small store with mostly dry/canned goods.  No fresh food until the mail boat arrives, of course.

Another example of the government desertion - the police station is heavily damaged - and the goats have taken up residence!

But Maxine's daughter-in-law, Jolly, opened up the only bar for us and was a joy to talk with!

The bar building used to be two stories, but the upper wooden level was blown away.  They simply patched the "new" roof with what looks like tar paper.  Evidence of the storm's fury in this blown out window.  There was plywood siding that was broken and the force pushed the window in.

Walking around the island, we could see the old "salt ponds".  They let the water evaporate during the dry season and simply rake up the salt.  There used to be a big industry for salt here, but it isn't really operational much anymore.

Maxine gave us all a bag of sea salt at the cruiser's picnic.  (I forgot to mention it before but now that I've seen the ponds, it's pretty cool). 

Wandering around the town, the ruins are all around.

This is the "All Age School".  Understandable why the children have to be on another island during the school year!

And this is a foundation - the only thing left from a house.

That's about it for the sad walk around town.....but the water is lovely- on our way back to the boats.