The day before Christmas Eve 2017

We are here in Antigua waiting for Santa to land his sled on the water so that he can deliver our presents on board Tumi. We have had our Christmas lights up decorating the boat for weeks now to make things more festive, the supermarkets and stores have been playing carols in reggae (something you really need to experience first hand to appreciate) but somehow the warm weather just doesn't make it feel Christmassy. Never mind, we will enjoy ourselves anyway: Joan made a pudding and a cake for us which will go down very well, and we are dining out at the local restaurant to get our turkey and stuffing fix.

During the week we have been sailing round the island with lots of shore time to explore the hinterland and swim off the beaches.

The other day, I was in the shallows with a fish around me, swimming through my legs and suddenly it darted into my side and bit me. I have a raised mole on my side which obviously looked like food and the fish clearly wanted to eat it. Their teeth hurt when they bite! Needless to say, I shooed it away and it swam off but I was quite affronted. It was a first experience like that for me, and no sympathy was forthcoming from Debra either.

The Christmas winds have arrived just in time, blowing at a steady 20-25 knots. Getting into the tight marina tomorrow will be a challenge. Great!

Merry Christmas to all our readers and we hope you continue to visit our blog in 2018.