The rain has continued: usually starting after a sunny afternoon and carrying on through the night until midmorning at varying intensities from drizzle to bucketing down. This is good as it keeps the cisterns that store the rainwater from the roof full.

However, the drizzly rain I awoke to yesterday almost caused me to bail on the boat trip but I decided “what the heck, let’s have an adventure”. The drizzle let up about the time Jason came with the boat at 7:30 and W and I headed into Placencia for his dentist’s appointment and the inevitable messages to be run when a trip into town is necessary. As we went along, dark clouds gathered and just before we headed into the storm, there was a glorious rainbow, at times a double rainbow, that hovered over the mangrove swamps below a cloudy blue sky. W got some great pictures before diving for the tarp he had brought. We held down one end of the tarp with our feet and held up the other as a shield in front of us. With the shade cover overhead and the tarp we managed to stay surprisingly dry. The table, going in for repairs, that was in the middle of the boat did not fare so well but the water was beading on the surface of it so it likely did okay. Before landing at Robert’s marina, we pulled into the airport canal where the table fixer came and loaded it up. The penny had not dropped and when we turned around to head out of the canal, we came face to face with a Tropic Air flight about to land on the other side of the canal – the landing strip of the airport! Jason had the boat at a crawl and slowed it even more and the plane landed safely without taking off the shade cover on the boat.

We then went on to the dock where W picked up the car and we quickly loaded it up with the empty water bottles, empty gas bottles and the cooler we had brought with us and headed in to town. We stopped en route at a property W and D have bought and checked out progress there. Once in to town, we stopped for breakfast (for W, second breakfast for me) at Da Tatch where he enjoyed a waffle and hash browns while I had a breakfast burrito, sans ham and bacon for this vegetarian. The burrito was more than I could eat but soooo good.

W then headed off to his dentist appointment and I to the Barefoot Bar on the lagoon beach where I had an ice tea. Then I took a walk on the beach while I tried to call Sahib but he did not pick up so I left him a message. D had advised a walk on the “sidewalk” that is about a mile long and runs parallel to the main road and the lagoon beach about equidistant from each. It was interesting, a few souvenir shops and clothing places. Just seeing the various guest houses and local homes and the differing architecture of each was pleasant. W then called the cell phone he had given me but, being the klutz I am with cell phones, there was some confusion. We did, eventually, meet up at the Barefoot Bar successfully.

Then W did a whirlwind of miscellaneous messages, errands and shopping while I tagged along picking up a few things for the rest of my stay at the grocery store. We then picked up a friend of D and W’s coming out for a few day’s visit and their handy man Sv prior to calling Jason and meeting him back at the dock. Boat loaded, we headed out in glorious sunshine and still seas for the ride back. Jason has hawk eyes and spotted a pod of at least 5 dolphins playing in the calm waters and W got great pics. I had left my camera behind as it really, really does not like to get wet and hoped my cell phone camera was still working, which it was not. Given that the phone has been back to the manufacturer several times for repair with very little success and has been nothing but frustration, I think I will pay off the small balance due for the phone itself, cancel the service contract since I have had not had satisfactory service and I am done trying for it, smash the phone, get a new phone and switch providers when I get back!

We arrived back at 3 pm having had a marvellous return trip. However, the early rising and day of fresh air and (mostly) sun had left me tired with drooping eyelids after supper and I turned in about 9 pm and slept very, very well.