Merry Christmas!!

Despite an earlier attempt at Christmas shopping in Charleston, we hadn't really managed to achieve much and so we began in earnest this morning.  The first job was the customary trip to the supermarket.  Despite Pat's best efforts, there was nowhere suitable here for a traditional Christmas lunch so we are eating on board.  John and I had bought an emergency turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce in Charleston just in case, and it turned out to have been a good call!  Lunch was on our boat, I say lunch but it wasn't due until 5pm, with John and I in charge of turkey, veg and pudding, and Pat & Stuart of Brizo, providing roast potatoes and the starter.  

The town here was much like any other on Christmas Eve, crowded with last minute shoppers just like us.  There had been a radio announcement the day before stating that there was to be a special order of fruit and vegetables arriving late on 23 December which would be in the shops by early on 24th.  We were lucky to be here as the supermarket is by far the best we have seen since Nassau, and true to their word, there was a ton of fresh fruit and veg, everything you might need, even sprouts!  We also managed to get our empty propane tank filled so we had lots of propane as cooking turkey would certainly use quite a lot of gas!

Once we had the food sorted out, we had to shop for presents.  We had agreed with Pat & Stuart that we should have small presents, and that we had to stick to a budget of $25 per head - quite tricky, without resorting to naff souvenirs I can tell you!

After that, we all decided on a well earned trip to the beach.  We sat out enjoying the sun, and sipping cocktails until it was time to come home and get ready to go out.  As we are on board for the next 2 nights, Pat had booked us into the Bamboo Bistro.  The ride across the water to town has been a bit splashy and wet so we ordered the water taxi and got there nice and dry - lovely!  The restaurant was certainly interesting, the staff seemed a bit unsure of what they were doing.  The G&T's that we had pre-dinner were so strong, they nearly took your head off, so much so that we only managed 1 bottle of wine between the four of us with our meal! 

Christmas Day dawned a little cloudy, but soon got better.  We made an early(ish) start in the kitchen, baking an apple & mincemeat pie, and prepping all the veg before we had brunch, cooked by John, and opened our presents - you will notice that the tree this year was of a much better standard than last years effort although it was not lit.  We got it in the USA and due to voltage differences, we couldn't get lights, as 110v lights through our 220v electrical system would have been a disaster!!!  Maybe by next year we will be fully set up! 

When the clouds cleared we went to the beach - there is not much else to do here, as most places closed for Xmas.  There were 2 cruisers dinners ashore, where you each took a dish to the beach, but we had already planned our meal, and it wouldn't have travelled well.

I have never been to the beach on Christmas day before, so we went for a stroll on the beach and then a swim in the (really quite cold) sea.  That done it was time to head back and start cooking.  We had a fabulous time, the food was all ready at the same time, amazingly enough given the constraints of a boat oven, and made all the better by sharing it with good friends.  

On Boxing Day, after a relaxing trip to the beach bar for cocktails, we went to Brizo, for a truly delicious BBQ'd leg of lamb and a very rowdy card game which was great end to our Christmas festivities!  We are now getting ready to leave Georgetown to head further South and East to Providenciales in the Turks & Caicos for New Year.  This will take just under 2 days as it is about 243 miles, so we should be there by Saturday evening.

The funny thing here is that yesterday, the wind changed direction and all the boats anchored near to us moved to the other side of the bay - could you be bothered on Xmas Day?  We had been told that people anchoring here do this all the time, moving regularly, to be constantly sheltered from the wind - with a forecast of winds only up to 15k it seemed a bit unnecessary to say the least - our anchor is so well bedded in I am not sure it will ever come up - the ground here is like quick sand, even the chain is well buried most of the way along!  American cruisers are a funny lot!

  Christmas Eve, at the Chat 'n' Chill, on Volleyball Beach

  Christmas group pic - not a great one as I was struggling to balance the camera on anything, it fell in the sand at least twice!

 Landing the dinghies

 The 'girls'

  The 'boys'

 Pat & I having a Christmas swim

 Our gorgeous beach