74° is… Freezing? 
Friends and family,
Thanksgiving: Charlie and Ryan started out the day running a cruisers’ 5k turkey trot where Charlie proudly placed third. Not bad for your first race and longest distance ever run. Directly afterwards, all the boat kids did an obstacle course on beach and had a fun time racing through the sand. Later in the afternoon, we hosted 2 other families (as well as a British friend who had never celebrated the holiday) on Sea School for an amazing feast followed by sunset on the beach with more desserts. Thankfully, I planned ahead and found some holiday ingredients back in Grenada so we could still have things like pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, and Rice Krispie treats. There was no turkey though. Sniff.
On Dec 1st, we sailed from Bequia to St Lucia and grabbed “the last” mooring ball in the anchorage just north of the magnificent Pitons. It was very tight next to the other boats and we could’ve nearly stepped right onto the boats if we’d swung around just right. The view was beautiful, but then we were ambushed by gnats as soon as the sun set and we had to turn off all lights just as soon as possible since they were attracted to any light source. In the morning, we had thousands of them stuck to the boat, but I was able to sweep them off during our sail up to Martinique. The boys woke up in St Lucia and proclaimed that they’d been “freezing” during the night. I checked the temp and it had dropped to 74… we’ve been used to a low of 82, so yeah I suppose it’s been much nicer sleeping lately. I did pull out some covers for the first time since the spring. That’s a much welcomed milestone! And also, Joshie has largely been staying the night with Raleigh in her cabin, so our sleep on the port side had dramatically improved. I asked her how she gets him to sleep so well and she admitted to feeding him butter before bed. Level: Expert.
We arrived in Sainte-Anne/Le Marin, Martinique earlier this week on Dec 2nd, and although it’s been quite rainy, we have been going hog wild provisioning at some great French grocery stores. The quality is better than what we’ve seen the last few months, and the prices are much more reasonable. The kids are no longer rationed to a single cutie, apple, banana, etc per day … it’s no limits for now. I’ve filled 5 grocery carts so far and hope not to do this much shopping again until Costco in Puerto Rico. We’ve got cream back onboard (although it’s shelf stable), so the coffee is delicious once again. It’s a fun way to learn French, going through the aisles and reading the labels and translating to English. Rabbit liver Pâté anyone?
We had our small galley refrigerator serviced with Freon, so it’s in fair working order for now. We dropped into our deepest anchorage yet in Le Marin at 60 ft and had to put out 240 feet of chain. Typically, the depths vary from 15-30 feet. We awoke the following morning in water so calm, I thought, “are we on the hard?” So still, felt not a ripple, like being deep up a calm creek in the Chesapeake.
I believe we have another few days here and then maybe we’ll sail around the corner up to Fort de France. There is a big sports store in town there that the kids are dying to get to for new swimsuits, a wakeboard, and maybe a small wing for Charlie to begin learning how to wing board.
I close with a picture of Joshie and our advent spiral. Sweetest little cherub there ever was.
Wishing you all a great week ahead! 💕
Thanks for another terrific chapter, Leah! Where do you reckon you'll be spending Christmas? All is mostly well here but I do have a surgery planned for the 29th so I will be in hospital for New Years. Mary Lou and I will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary on the 20th! Who knew lol? Teddy is such a ham and Everyone loves him. He's quite a chick magnet too and a hit wherever we go. We meet up with a nice doggo group at the park for afternoon play and it's always a hoot. The weather here is predictably fabulous. I'll be making jalapeno poppers today for our Park Pals Christmas party tonight. Merry Christmas to you and our favorite Capt and crew. May the Force be with you always 🌲