By early afternoon we were anchored off the dilapidated commercial dock of this very dilapidated little town. A little worm of worry stirred in my belly. We bought a few groceries and arranged for a visit from the immigration officer. We had cleared out of the Turks and Caicos at Providenciales, not intending to go ashore again in the country, but now we had to clear in again before setting off to explore the town. The houses are stone shanties with rusted iron roofs, and the streets are unpaved.
Local industry is centered on the fish factory, conch farming, and spiny lobster catching.
The young men free dive a hundred feet to pluck lobster from the rocks and gather conch from the bottom. They make a decent living for a while, but by 35 or so they are spent and retire to idle away their lives, many taking to the rum bottle. The population of South Caicos has fallen from four thousand to just a thousand in less than ten years, and there seems little hope of halting the decline. It must have been a wild place in those days with rum flowing like water and parties going on for days. Now, the inn is a field study center for American college kids, and Carol was able to call our daughter Melinda, on their direct phone line to the states.