Pam and I thought long and hard about buying a boat when we arrived in the Cayman. It seemed a natural: we lived right on the longest canal on the island, the waters were crystal clear, and the breezes were mild. All our neighbours seemed to have boats, and we had visions of taking our grandchildren out across the North Sound when they came to visit.

Sadly, that dream had to die. The cost for even a small runabout was exorbitant, and apparently the boat maintenance here is astronomical.  Then too we noticed that our neighbours never actually seemed to use their boats. The workdays are long here, so there is only the weekend. Besides, snorkeling had taken over our interest in the water and we were developing a nice group of older people who like to snorkel and were good company at the pub afterwards.

So we moderated our passion for boating and took whatever opportunities availed themselves to us to get out on the water through staff cruises or trips across the North Sound to the restaurant at Rum Point. However, there was one cruise that we had not taken in our three years on the island, and that was the Sunset Cruise off Seven Mile Beach. The reason was obvious, it cost more than we felt comfortable paying to see a sunset we could sit on the beach to see for nothing.

But for our anniversary, a young couple in our community group gave us the gift of a Sunset Cruise. We tried in vain to fit it in before the summer break, but the weather refused to cooperate. Finally, once we returned to Cayman, we got a chance to go sailing, and it turned out to be well worth the wait. Since we moved to the Caribbean, we have become sunset connoisseurs. There are sunsets too dull to even matter, sunsets that promise much, then just peter out, and sunsets that go out in a brief blaze of glory. However, our favourites are the ones that linger in the clouds for nearly two hours. We had one of those on the night of our cruise.  

The breezes were delicious, warm and fragrant. There was no sound but the gentle muted conversations on the deck and the flutter of the sails in the breeze. As the glow from the sunset faded, the stars came out as clear as diamonds on black felt. We had Cayman lemonade, and some chicken wings and just soaked up the great privilege of being allowed to be here at this point in our lives. It was a beautiful evening.