Only a few more days till Christmas.

This morning, Dec 22 there were Christmas stockings hanging in the salon, although it’s only a few days till Christmas. Although we watched ELF on the computer last night, it does not seem real as we are sitting around in our bathing suits, snorkeling and going to the beach. Dec 23, Frosty the Snowman was the movie of choice and a few presents were wrapped, ginger bread cookies were made, and candy canes were revealed from their hiding places. With or without decorated trees, lots of presents, snow and all the commercial hype, it will be Christmas in 2 days! Christmas Eve Solange and Salt and Light arrived at White Cay. Denny and crew had landed a good sized blackfin tuna, and since we have the biggest bbq dinner was on High Five. We made the mistake of leaving the boats rafted together after dinner and at 3am, when the tide turned and a squall came through, the anchorage got too rolly for a raft. Fortunately the moon was full, so light was not a problem, and after a few tense moments the boats were apart and a bit more sleep was to be had before Santa arrived. Christmas day, Santa and his elves had found us and found a way to park the sleigh to deliver some boogie boards for the boys and some other presents. Dvd movies were a big gift on all the boats and before lunch 10 kids were hanging out on our boat watching the new Pirates of the Carribean movie. The adults took this opportunity for some exploring in the dinghys and some snorkeling. Hoffman’s Cay is home to a “Blue Hole.” A short walk from the beach, in the middle of the island the trail comes out onto a bluff overlooking the pool. Less than 100 yards across with 20’ vertical walls the water is over 600ft deep and a brilliant shade of blue. After an hour or so of swimming and jumping off the cliffs into the water it was back to the boats. All the boats brought their food to the beach in the anchorage for Christmas dinner. Ham, pork loin, tandori chicken, rice, bread, and of course the traditional Christmas s’mores, were enjoyed around a campfire. Losloper was the first to head the 7 miles south to Cabbage Cay, followed by Salt and Light, and High Five, and the day after by Solange. Dinner was at “Flo’s Conch Bar” a small family run restaurant. Alone at the top of the dock, surrounded with a midden of conch shells the family serves up a feast of conch fritters, cracked conch, lobster, fish, conch salad, and hamburgers. The beaches were popular spots the next day, the kids were practicing with their Christmas skim boards, everyone enjoyed snorkeling in the shallow water. Bands of coral contained dozens of brightly coloured fish, and the nearby grasses gave up 8 conch Some of which we butchered into our own conch salad. We were given some lobster from another cruiser, bbq’d up some steaks, and had a great dinner, for in the morning it was off to Nassau to pick up Granny……..but that will be another blog entry.