The photo is of our first Carribean sunset. Taken at "the Flats"anchorage area.
We were awakened to rain shortly after 5 a.m. Once we closed up hatches, which then the rain stopped just as soon as it started almost, we decided since it's so close to dawn, & we're able to start to see light, to get ready to pull up anchor & head to Shelter Bay Marina only about an hour away, to drop off our crew, top off our diesel & water & be on our way. Shouldn't take more than an hour right? We'll be heading out into the Carribean by 9 a.m. Wrong! Way wrong! It's Good Friday, so no diesel at the fuel barge in SB today. I just hung my head when Jesus, the Marina manager told us that. We are SO CLOSE! The Carribean outside the breakwalls is RIGHT THERE! Going home is just right over there to the E. of us! Had we had any idea we wouldn't be arriving here until today, we would have gotten diesel back on the other side, but we had never heard of any other yachts having to wait so long in the day on the second day of the transit to go through the final locks. But!, there is always an upside. When Jim went to check in at the office, Jorge, one of the SB employees said he would be hauling the trash away at noon and would take our jugs for us & return @ 2 w/ fuel for us! Thank God! So that just gives us more time to get some projects done. We topped off our water, put our hailing port letters, "Traverse City MI" finally on the stern, Jim worked on the cable for the backstay that he started y-day before Jose' came, got the mast for our wind generator installed, and a few other odds & ends. The fuel was returned at 2:45, by the time we filled our tank & returned the 2 borrowed diesel jugs to Claire de Lune so we could leave w/ all ours filled, then continued to pick up our projects, we didn't pull out of the marina until about 5:45, giving us only 45 minutes to clear through the break wall & stay out of the shipping traffic in daylight. As we left the marina, & headed down the channel toward the break wall, there were ominous rainy clouds all around us. This was not projected on the weather we just checked on earlier that afternoon. Now what?! Another delay! Surprised by this time? No. Upset? Yes! I want to get home to my kids!
So we think the better of it and pull off and anchor, wait out the rain, go to bed early & decide when we wake, we leave, providing the weather looks good.