A Mixture Of Clouds And Sunshine

George Town 

Wouldn't you know it? The morning after I posted about our fortunate string of colorful sunrises, the string ended. Heavy gray clouds hung over the harbor. The sky lightened, but never brightened. Storm clouds approached from the west. My mood was matching the weather. I was feeling pretty gloomy too, for today we officially (and once again on this trip) abandoned our Plan A. Our latest Plan was to continue south to the Jumentos and Raggeds for a couple of weeks with Paradigm Shift. A troublesome stabilizer fin led Barry to pull the plug on our traveling deeper into areas with limited services. Needless to say, I'm very disappointed with another "little black rain cloud" event on this trip. Several rain squalls blew through, but rainbows popped up after each passed. One was short and vibrant. One a long arch with a faint double beam above it. The final rainbow was combination of length and color.     

Paradigm Shift raised their anchor and turned south. Safe travels, friends. Enjoy every moment. I hope our paths cross again soon. Once their silhouette faded into the horizon, it was time to refocus on our latest Plan B. Following our personal storm, our rainbow has appeared. We will join with a group of boats, including Joanne and John on No Limits, and head to Cat Island tomorrow. By the time we loaded into our dinghy for a run into town, the sky was clearing, the sun was shining, and we were ready for final preparations. We disposed of a last bag of trash and picked up a loaf of bread plus a few other things at the market. Back to Crossroads we went for lunch and a final afternoon in Elizabeth Harbor. 

Time to break out the paddleboard for run No. 2. Barry and I hopped in the dinghy and towed the board to Sand Dollar Beach in hopes of minimizing some of the chop around the boats. I started in the thigh-high crystal clear water and paddled downwind to Chat N Chill beach, staying upright and dry. A highlight was moving along with a giant ray as it glided along the sandy bottom beneath me. Barry was waiting for me on the beach in the dinghy. After a short stay we headed back to the mothership. 

A group of cruisers gathered on the Sand Dollar Beach at 4:00 for happy hour. We got to meet several other couples who will join us on the trip to Cat Island tomorrow. It will be a new destination for us and we'll look on the bright side that we can still explore, even if not as originally planned. The sun sank quickly. We raced into the sunsplash back to Crossroads in time to raise the dinghy to the upper deck just as the sun sank below the clouds on the horizon. Great memories were made here in George Town. It is now time to move on.