23rd to 24th May 2022
Stopped for the night at Livingston to make check-out and a final fresh-food shop (before the prices double in Belize) easier.
Theft has been a problem in the anchorage over the past year, so we anchored a reasonable distance offshore, cleared the decks of anything that looks remotely valuable, and made it look like all the lockers were locked – the lockers didn’t actually lock at this point. No problems, but then given the state of our decks at present and the newer boats anchored nearby we don’t look like much of a petty theft opportunity.
Saw a 23’ engineless sailing boat arrive, which we’d previously seen in Samana. I wonder if the rest of the small flotilla they were part of will be in the Rio this hurricane season? They were a fun group of mostly French young people- we ran into one of them who’d been left in a national park for a few days with his backpack (no tent) after his friends went to get groceries. He borrowed our paddleboard to carry his backpack to a cave that looked comfortable.
Check-out was facilitated by Raul, so easy and efficient. Although also expensive, as we had a considerable immigration fine to pay. COVID tests for the two eldest kids were carried out a short walk away. It was Hector’s 4th birthday morning, and the older kids hate testing, so ice creams were bought, and the playground visited. I think the kids all spent about 30 minutes swinging. Charlotte stocked up on as many vegetables as we could reasonably eat before they went off (which is a lot). And we were off, over the bar and across the bay, just about before the afternoon winds rolled in.
