In Jolly Harbour, the Xmas parties are in full swing. There’s a big house at the entrance to the marina and two nights ago it was lit up like a green and red runway. Music started playing at nine pm. They started letting off fireworks about eleven. Uh-oh. Straight away a scramble of nails came from the bow down to the companion way stairs. Then panting, lots of panting. Fin and fireworks. About as complimentary as kissing a tiger shark. We petted her, told her it would be ok and she looked at us, wild-eyed and unseeing. Not long after, the fireworks stopped. Ok, we thought, drama’s over. Time to go to bed. 

I woke up after a strangely heavy sleep. I'd ended up alone in Lulu’s little cabin, children and husband dotted around the boat. This is not unusual after the wandering, night-time heat of Grenada. I stared through the porthole at the dawn light and rolled over. Right into a wet patch. Half of the bed was wet. Really wet. I felt like I’d just woken in a parallel world. Did I piss the bed? I handled my own pyjama bottoms. Pyjamas dry.. I didn’t piss the bed… The kids? I got up and checked. It’s not that often but, if they have that sort of accident, pyjama bottoms invariably end up on the bathroom floor. No, their pyjamas were intact too. Husband? Husband never pisses the bed (yet..). So, what on Earth is going on? I passed the companion way stairs. At the top, Fin was splayed out on her back, her legs doing an impression of a very large black rabbit. Hold on.. I went up to the top of the stairs and sniffed. Her body tensed a little. I got closer, sniffed again. You’re kidding??!! Firework Fin must have got into bed next to me, still scared and well… the results were there to be smelled. I looked down at her. She popped one eye open. Man.. I couldn’t even shout at her!

The truth was, this was our fault. We had a water pipe leak at the back of Quest yesterday and a ten-minute job turned into a ten-hour job with the Cap juggling his work before everything breaks up for Xmas at the same time. In the end, it got so crazy that Fin missed her evening wee. We hardly ever do it, but after crossing the Atlantic, we know that Fin can cross her legs until morning. Unless it seems, if fireworks are involved. 

Anyway, the bed was stripped, the amazing Urine Eliminator spray applied. It’s enzymic power has got me out of a few holes so far and this time was no exception. The rest of the bedding was put into a bag and at ten am, I turned up at the door of Jolly Harbour’s trusty laundry lady (no self-serving laundromat in Jolly Harbour's world). We already had a bag waiting for us. A strikingly tall, gold-toothed lady was in fact folding my socks when I turned up. ‘These your socks?’ she said. ‘Yeah,’ I said and pointed at my feet, ‘and I have these bags too.’ She gave a single nod and I took a deep breath. I couldn’t tell her the dog had pissed the bed. ‘One of my girls had an accident.’ She looked up then. ‘Was it the pee-pee?’ I swallowed. ‘Yeah, it was the pee-pee.’ Her gold tooth flashed and her eyes softened. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll clean it all up.’ 

Merry Christmas, everyone. With all our love from Quest and her crew xx