When in doubt, watch the Signs !! Or the story of how, on a day that happens only
once every 4 years, we managed to somehow gain an extra
hour.
****
We left Sapodilla Bay with 24
hours before our expired time was up, and we hailed the very active and persistent Provo Radio, as required, to announce our departure at the bright and early
hour of 07:30 a.m., coffee in hand, but of course. He wished us a pleasant voyage.
As we were navigating our way out, we got in turn hailed by some longtime Banyan Blog Readers, who were at one of the marinas we had just visited the other day.
"Just wanted to say hi, we've been following your blog..." said the friendly voice on VHF 16 (and for the squelch on the radio, we sadly, never caught their name!)
Whoa !! What a great way to start the day!! And what a fantastic comment to hear, anytime !! Thanks for the Shout Out, thanks for following, thanks for reading !! Too bad we hadn't connected just
one day earlier and it might've been over Happy
Hour... bad timing !!
And then we sailed, and sailed, and sailed some more and 61 nautical miles later, that's a scant 9
hours later, we arrived in Abrahamas Bay, Mayaguana.
"We're back in the Bahamas" we both toasted with an arrival beer.
We noted that it was getting colder out, and after our pre-sundowner showers, it was leggings and a long sleeved top that I needed to dig out from the depths of the closets. Damn... not sure we like this going North bit.
"And look, the sun is setting much later than usual!" noted Dave.
"It's just half past 7" I replied in agreement as we watched the shades of orange set in the haze of the horizon.
"I didn't think we were that far North" said the Capt'N, checking the time again. Caribbean Sunsets usually happen shortly after 6 p.m.
Monday was calm(er) and we got up much before the sun, had a quick breakfast and made our way ashore,
the very very shallow entrance into Abrahamas Bay a little hard to maneuver and we may have skimmed the bottom as we tried to find the entrance. The Active Captain reviews noted to follow the stakes, and when we eventually noticed the, we made our way in, tied up and got ashore.
It was a short walk up the road,
to the open Customs Office, the kind lady a little concerned with getting herself organized, before helping us out.
We filled out the required paperwork, and at the end, paid our $300 Bahamas C&I fees.
"Ouch" I winced as the Capt'n handed over the dollars.
Right next door was the BTC office, and we had our devices in hand to get a SimCard and Data plan. The Sign on the door "Closed" and the opening hours noted 09:30 - 04:30 Monday to Friday.
"It's 09:15, they're almost open" we both said. How excellent timing was that??
We waited, and meandered around the parking lot, and waited. And waited. And waited some more, trying not to check the time every second of every minute that lapsed slowly by. As it always does, when watching time!
The sun was rising and it was starting to get hot. A few roosters crossed the road. The roads were empty and it felt like a Sunday.
We kept eyeing the Door with it's Closed Sign hanging under the handle.
A few moments later, we tried the Closed door, and sure enough it was locked. We checked the time...again.
"Today is Monday, right?" asked the Capt'N, and I confirmed, after I checked the calendar on the iPad, that indeed it was, and then exclaimed impatiently, "It's almost quarter to ten!"
We heard voices inside... there was hope, the staff has arrived, on island time no less. We waited, and waited. At 09:50 our patience limits were exceeded, so we knocked.
A friendly BTC agent appeared, unlocked the door, and with a smile, said "But we're not open yet".
"Oh?" we answered in surprise. "We thought you opened at 09:30?"
He glanced at his wrist and said, with surprise.
"It's not even 9?"
And for the next half
hour, as we walked the empty streets of town waiting for that Closed Sign to be turned around, we wondered how on this Connected Earth that we live in, in this Cruising type of Lifestyle where we oft don't know what time it is, what day it is, what month it is, (or sometimes even what Season it is), that we had somehow lost track of an
hour.
And even with three devices that are checked many times during the day, we had somehow managed to cross a time zone during our passages, and our devices had failed to inform us of that little tiny fact.
"No wonder the Customs lady seemed a little unprepared as we were checking in..." I laughed out loud,
"She was just getting to work and there we were at the bright hour of 08:00 a.m. Monday morning!" laughed Dave.
We got back to Banyan, raised Dinghy on deck, and by 11:00 a.m. (correct time, by the way) we started our passaging.
We wanted to do this last long jump to get past Long Island, and into the protected anchorage for the next few days. It's all about timing friends !!