Christmas in St. Croix

December 24-30

After picking up our Christmas dinner and our tiny little tree, we left our anchorage in Christiansted and motored a mile over to Green Cay Marina. We were greeted by Patty (I think that is her name), who helped us dock and greeted us enthusiastically. She invited us to the office, where they were having their annual Christmas party. We headed over while visions of authentic Caribbean holiday foods danced in our heads, and enjoyed a fabulous lunch of local cuisine. After we checked in and asked our typical questions (WHAT IS YOUR WIFI PASSWORD?!!!!!), we were given two loaves of banana bread, homemade by the other woman in the office. “I think I’m going to like it here,” I thought to myself!

As we mingled, we met a wonderful family of 5 who are also living aboard their boat and cruising. Erica, Matthew and their three little girls own a beautiful motorcruiser and have been living aboard on and off for a number of years. They are taking their time as they explore the east coast and the Caribbean, stopping for good surfing and good fishing along the way. Erica and Matthew are upbeat, positive, enthusiastic, and adventurous people and seem to be wonderful parents. You can tell that their children have lived aboard a boat most of their lives from a mile away. They are sociable, outgoing, confident, and fearless. We looked forward to spending time with this fun family during our stay.

We quickly settled in at our slip. When we stay at a marina, we plug our powercords into the electric supply outlets that are right on the dock. Once we switch over to “shore power”, we can give our batteries, generator, and engine the rest they deserve. It is especially good for the batteries to get a strong and solid charge from time to time. We also usually use the water that is available, but now that our watermaker is installed, we hope that those days are numbered. Since we have not yet ironed out all the wrinkles, we continue to use the water stored in our freshwater tanks and then fill the tanks with water from the dock when they are depleted. In the Caribbean, the marinas charge for the electric and water usage, so there is a meter on the dock to measure how much power we eat up. Nevertheless, it is heaven to treat ourselves to air conditioning at least one night while at a marina.

Once we were set up with water, electric, and wifi, we set off to find the laundry room, the showers, and the pool. I started some laundry and looked forward to some nice, long, hot showers while we stayed. At the pool, we sat down next to a couple who were on vacation, visiting their daughter, who lives in St. Croix. Image my surprise when they told us they are from New Bern, North Carolina! My mother lives very close to New Bern, in a very remote part of NC, so it was quite a coincidence!

The kids played with the kids from Sea Schelle and I swam 20 yummy laps in the pool, which was so clean, clear, and CALM! I was so surprised at how far I could swim after swimming in open water for so long.  The harbors, coves and seas tend to be rough and wavy. I guess my stamina continues to improve, which is exciting.

Before long, it was time to head back to Patronus for our Christmas Eve dinner. We were excited and nostalgic as we began our traditions. The kids left treats for Santa and got into their pajamas. They all climbed into bed with Chris, who was excited, as always, to read “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” to them. This year, he added a fun twist to the story by rewriting it with a Caribbean Sailing theme, which was a HUGE hit for all of us. After the full day, we all fell asleep early and, because of our “simple” Christmas, Chris and I were relieved not to have that typical Christmas Eve exhaustion of having to stay up way too late.

 ‘Twas the night before Christmas – Island Time

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the bay
Not a creature was stirring, not even a ray.
The stockings were hung by the mast step with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of rum cakes danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘T-shirt, and I with bare chest,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s rest.

When out in the harbor there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the companionway I streaked like a flare,
Threw open the hatch and put my head in the air.

The moon on the foam of the wind-driven wave

Lit up the water like a torch in a cave.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
 I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

“Now Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen!
 On, Comet! On, Cupid! On Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
 So up to the foredeck the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas, too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the deck
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the hatch St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed for the tropics, in a red bathing suit,
 And his sandals were garnished with pirate loot.
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a beach bum, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
 His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
 That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up through the hatch he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!”

The next morning, we covered the kids’ eyes and got them all into our cabin. I snuck into the saloon (main living area) and got my camera ready to capture their faces when they looked to see if Santa had come. They looked absolutely precious, as always, and were thrilled to see all the gifts and special decorations that Santa had brought. It is always sweet to see them opening and giving each other presents, but this year, a few moments really stood out.

During the weeks leading up to Christmas, each of the children had used their own money to find gifts for each other as well as mommy and daddy. It was not easy without the great “Holiday Bazaar” that our school puts on each year. Also, our explorations of each island are focused on seeing the natural landscapes of the islands and visiting historical and cultural points of interest. We don’t go to many stores outside of the food markets. Nevertheless, they had all managed to get gifts for everyone on their lists with one exception. As of Christmas Eve, Porter had not found something for Reese.

Before bed, Porter handed Chris a handmade and decorated envelope made out to Reese. It said, “To Reese, You can use this on the town. Ho! Ho! Ho! Love, Porter”. Chris asked Porter what was inside and learned that he had wrapped up his prized one hundred-dollar bill that he had gotten for Christmas last year as well as his gold one dollar coin – a gift from the Tooth Fairy. Chris tried to explain to Porter that this was too much for a gift, but Porter started crying and said that he wanted to give Reese something really special. Because it was time for bed, Chris let it go and we discussed it at length that night.

The next morning, we tried once more to talk to Porter, but he was not willing to change his mind. At six, he does not yet have a concept of the value of money. Or maybe he has an amazing concept of the value of money? How wonderful that he wants to give away what he has in an attempt to bring joy to another. How wonderful that he has not yet “learned” the concept of holding on tight to our possessions. The more I thought about it, the more I decided that the message this gift would send to all five of us would be an important and lasting one.

Before Porter gave Reese his gift, I pulled her to the side and told her that Porter’s gift was an extremely generous one and might surprise her a little. I also explained that Porter’s intent was to give her something special. I told her that we would talk about the gift as a family later on. She was a little confused, but I thought it would help to prepare her a bit. I watched Porter’s face when he handed Reese his gift, and I was already crying. His face was full of Innocence, Excitement, and Generosity. He had that look of Hope that we have all felt when waiting to see if some gesture, word, or gift we have given will bring Happiness to another soul.

Reese started out graciously, but was visibly shaken when she saw Porter’s gift. She held it at an arm’s length and said, “Porter! I can’t accept this! It’s too much.” Porter was crestfallen and started to cry. At this point, I was crying silently and didn’t quite know what to do. Reese gathered herself and remembered what I had said.  She hugged Porter and thanked him. She tried to console him and suggested that perhaps she could take five dollars and give the rest back to him. She told him that that would make her very happy and would be more than enough. She also told him that there was no way she could keep his special coin from the Tooth Fairy. Porter agreed to take his coin back, but wouldn’t budge on the money. Eventually, I suggested that Reese would keep the money and she could spend it on some things that she and Porter could enjoy together. They all liked that idea. Whew. One dramatic scene down. One to go.

I had a special gift for Reese just from me. The day that she and I had gone to customs together, we did a little gift shopping. She had picked out a new pair of flip flops for me and had me try them on before she bought them. And I picked out a little romper for her and had her try it on as well. Later that day, while we shared an orange soda in a stationary store (super special treat! Don’t worry. We don’t allow our kids to drink soda like their caffeine-addicted parents do.) I saw a greeting card whose cover said, “For My Beautiful Daughter”. It had an amazing message inside so I bought it, even though we normally only make cards for each other in our family.

I put the card in with the romper and waited to see if she liked it. I had added my own message inside as well. The room fell silent as she read it and when she looked up, I saw that her eyes were full of tears. Then she BURST into tears and got completely hysterical. Chris, who hadn’t read the card beforehand, looked at me and asked, “What did you do?!” I was dumbfounded and just handed him the card as she ran off into our room and closed the door. Chris got halfway through the card and started crying himself. Oh boy. What did I do?

I went to Reese and tried to talk to her but she couldn’t stop crying. You know when a child is cry-talking to you and you have no idea what they are saying? This went on for a while. We finally got out of her that she loved the card and everything it said but she couldn’t understand why she was crying. She was so confused as to why she would cry if she wasn’t upset. I tried to explain that any overwhelming emotions can elicit crying, and that crying, no matter what the reason, is a wonderful and cleansing release to the world.

 

 

She sat on my lap and we hugged for a long time. Then Reese and I had to go and deal with Chris, who was still crying and would continue to cry throughout the rest of the day anytime he looked at Reese and I together. We weren’t sure how much more “specialness” we could take before breakfast, so we opened the rest of our presents without further commotion and then had chocolate chip pancakes while watching A Christmas Story (both big traditions for us on Christmas morning).

After getting dressed and putting everything away, we pulled out of the marina and sailed a short distance to Buck island, where we met several of our Salty Dawg friends, who had sailed over on s/v Flight Plan. We had planned a fun and casual potluck lunch, anchored off of Buck Island Reef National Monument.  I sat on the bow as we approached this beautiful, lone island and couldn’t believe that we were spending Christmas Day in such a magical place, with such lovely people. I felt lucky and happy. I took the view in and tried to burn it into my memory, along with the strong familial emotions of the day. I reminded myself that, while this moment was very obviously unique and special, every moment of my life is unique and special and, as they occur, each of those moments is all that matters.

 

We enjoyed a truly magical day aboard Flight Plan, with great friends and lots of great food. We swam, talked, ate, drank, explored, laughed, and took lots of pictures. We even did some yoga (an attempt to keep everyone assembled for a group photo while the cameras were being set up)! The sun started its downward journey much too quickly and we all had to sail back to safe harbor before dark. I am sure that none of us will ever forget our Christmas in St. Croix.