Christmas Day
Chiscos - Atlantic Cruise
John Simpson
Tue 27 Dec 2011 15:11
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13:51.391n
061:04.016w
Christmas Day dawned bright and sunny. We headed
up first thing in the morning to the Marina's cafe area where the WiFi signal is
best and made contact on skype with Alex in Gloucestershire, Tom and Gemma in
Bedford, and Helen, Dusty and Mother in Yorkshire. It was lovely to talk
to them and to share in their Christmas experiences, which all sounded so
familiar and yet slightly implausible in the Caribbean heat! On returning
to Chiscos for breakfast outdoors in the cockpit, we discovered Father Christmas
had found us after all!
 The skipper of one of the other boats had arranged
for a group of us to visit The Landings hotel along the beach in
Rodney Bay for lunch. We gathered for a dinghy convoy from the Marina out
into the bay, Santa hats at the ready. The combined crews of Chiscos,
Nyda, Matilda, Time Bandit, Kotari and Felicity J made up a group of
20.
 The Landings hotel was tucked into the corner of the bay
alongside a beautiful sandy beach. We were invited to moor our
dinghies in a private marina behind the hotel, which was accessed through a
floating bridge opened for us to enter. We thought the mechanism for
operating the bridge was very enterprising; an outboard engine pushed the bridge
to one side!
 The hotel staff had set up for us two large tables
shaded by parasols on a decking area next to the beach; it was an idyllic
setting and the weather was glorious - no rain squalls all day! There was
a huge buffet lunch with lots of local delicacies (tuna, seafood, spiced pork,
grilled plantain) alongside roast beef and roast potatoes and other more
European foods. No turkey though! We enjoyed a very pleasant day
getting to know the other crew members and tucking in to the delicious
food.
 Eventually we managed to stir ourselves into action and
spent the afternoon swimming and playing diving games until sunset.
  Father Christmas put in another appearance, arriving by
boat to give out presents to children on the beach. He must have been
roasting under that costume!
 Merry Christmas from Rodney Bay.
Susan and John
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