Many people have been asking us what Christmas was like on the boat. This was one of the things I had wondered about while packing up 1106 Newport Ave. What WAS Christmas going to be like on the boat? How were the kids going to feel? Would they miss home? Would it still be Christmas without all of the Christmas hype, the Christmas school events and crafts, the Christmas socials, the Christmas lights and weather? Would there be a tree? Would there be turkey? And, of course, the kid’s most important question, would Santa find us?!!
We are grateful that our kids seem to feel very strongly about family traditions so for them there were several Christmas traditions that we could not give up. Three stand out in particular. Luckily only one of those required thinking and planning ahead – their Christmas ornaments. Every year since they were born, there has been a new ornament under the tree for each of them symbolizing a first for that year. They range from “First words” to “First year skiing”. Every year my favourite part of Christmas is watching them unwrap their own box of ornaments, one by one, because they reminisce about that particular “First” as they walk up to the tree to hang it. So, despite having very little space for packing things from the house to the boat, these were something that could not be left behind. With these little gems secretly tucked away on the boat, we bought a small three foot tree which fit perfectly on our navigation station. The kids were thrilled when we pulled out the decorations and we all enjoyed that first tradition of decorating the tree together. By the time they were done, and since they only decorated the front half, the tree had a definite lean forward. We weren’t sure if it was going to make it through the season without toppling over but with a bit of Christmas magic, it survived. Tradition number one – check!
The next tradition came on Christmas Eve. Every year sometime in the evening before going to bed, the kids get to open one gift. Every year it is the same thing and the kids talk about that one special Christmas Eve gift for weeks ahead of time in eager anticipation. This year Millie was pretty sure it wasn’t going to happen so when it did, it was even sweeter than usual. At bedtime on Christmas Eve, they found that gift on their beds – a cozy new pair of “Christmas pyjamas” all washed and soft and ready for that first wear. Tradition number two – check.
The third “must do” tradition was out of my hands. All we could do was provide the vehicle for this tradition to happen and hope. You see, every year Santa puts a Christmas orange and a Christmas banana into all of our stockings. But, what if Santa didn’t find us? So, in order to summon Santa the only way we know how, on Christmas Eve, we did what we usually do – we hung out our stockings and set out some gingerbread cookies (minus the molasses because I couldn’t find any at the grocery stores) and milk for Santa and some carrots for the reindeer. This Christmas banana was also brought up several times in the weeks leading up to Christmas with some major cases of the “can’t hardlies”. “I can’t hardly wait for my Christmas banana!!!”. You can imagine our delight when we came up from our hulls and saw the bananas sticking out of our stockings. Tradition number three – check!!!
So, those were the major things that we were glad were similar this Christmas. A few of the differences didn’t really have much of an impact and some were very welcomed! The first one that comes to mind that I think the kids enjoyed most was Christmas Breakfast. Instead of the usual make ahead breakfast casserole which, because of our bar sized fridge was not an option, and in order to take in the full French culture, we had pain au chocolat (chocolate croissants) and saucissons (sausages) for breakfast. Vive la France!! Other differences included a Christmas Eve potluck on the beach, Christmas afternoon knee boarding, prawn scampi instead of the usual stuffed turkey dinner and, instead of Bing Crosby’s Christmas album, we had Jimmy Buffet’s – all fairly inconsequential…except for maybe Jimmy Buffet. The one tradition that we did all miss very much was Grandad’s reading of The Night Before Christmas to the kids right before bedtime on Christmas Eve. But, just as everything that you have to wait for, when we return home and get to renew this special tradition, it will be even sweeter.
So, to answer the original question of what Christmas was like on the boat, it was kind of similar but kind of different from the Christmases we are used to but the four of us were all together and in the end that was all that really mattered.
All the best for a New Year filled with love, laughter, family and friends!!!
‘Till next time!
Sailing Trismic 