It’s a funny thing. I wrote the posting on Placentia being the land of conveniences just as we were leaving Placencia on Feb 23rd but didn’t have time to post it. And now here we are back again!

We left Pelican Cays on Sunday (March 1) after a 4-night stay, intending to go north about 18 nautical miles to Garbutt Cay. But the gusty wind of the last couple of days was still blowing 10 – 14 knots and had been kicking up the seas, and it didn’t take long for us to decide it was a bad idea to go in that direction. We were pounding into 2-3 foot swells and making 4 knots under engine power. It wasn’t at all dangerous, just uncomfortable – and unnecessary. So we altered course for Sapodilla Lagoon, just 5 miles almost due west, and a much better angle for wind and waves.

This time Madcap was the only boat in there – a much different feeling from our last visit. I took advantage of the breeze to wash and dry some laundry and we both got the last of the salt washed off our bodies. We read in the cockpit and watched the glorious sunset and said, “No hay problemo! We’ll go to Garbutt tomorrow!”

But when tomorrow came, that NE wind still had some strength in it, and the whitecaps on the nose were still discouraging an intention to go north. So what did we do? We did what we always say we will do (but sometimes fuss about it) – we let the wind blow us. We turned south toward Placencia once more and enjoyed a delightful sail all the way. We listened to CBC podcasts of The Next Chapter, munched on tostadas with black beans and cheese and tomatoes, and relaxed into sailing mode – putting the notion that we were not going where we planned to go, firmly aside.

So here we are in Placencia – land of conveniences. Jim can download the weather files. (We have decided that next year we really do need to get a data plan for our cell phone.) I can make blog postings. We can connect with friends. We will do some more provisioning. And maybe, on Wednesday, we will go North again – even if it is just as far as Sapodilla to wait out another strong wind that will go from SE to E to NE before we can continue on our way to explore more cays. We have just a few more weeks before we head back to the Rio, and it really would be nice to get more than 20 miles from Placencia. But – we will go where the wind blows us!

This pic is of one of the Belize fishing boats that go out in all sorts of weather! This one was in Placencia, but we bought fish from one just like it at Turneffe 3 years ago. Remember, Mary Beth?