We made it. Against all the odds after our malaise, Christmas Day would happen after all! Fantasia remained unfettered by festive garb as the prospect of expending our precious energy on Christmas decorations was outside of our remit. We had no Christmas tree! We had heard that the cruisers in Barra de Navidad had pulled together to put on an Christmas party and were so looking forward to attending but even at the 11th hour, thought we wouldn't make it. But we did!

With our families so close to our hearts but so far away, our cruising family is extra special. As ever, cruisers trust to luck and so Christmas Dinner was a Pot Luck. With the turkeys prepared by a of team trusty hard core Christmas chefs, all that was left was to bring along a side dish and a gift.
After an amazing Christmas lunch with minimal cooking and no washing up it was time to distribute the gifts. With a pair of elves in charge it soon became clear that the whole festive affair would be messy. Rather than distribute gifts in the usual fashion, there was a set of rules and exceptions. Allocated a number and waiting for their turn, each person could decide whether to choose a wrapped gift from the table or STEAL an opened gift already in someone's possession. We realised this would become a dirty enterprise and whilst I was prepared to stay back and keep my head down, Stuart got stuck in straight away by becoming the first 'gift stealer' of the afternoon. Top of the pops for gifts stolen multiple times were of bottles of rum and wine, lady's scarves, generally stolen from their male winners and a Donald Trump loo roll. I was surprised about the loo roll as I only expected around 45 % of people at most to wish to steal this gift but without a doubt every cruiser would have given anything to take this practical item back to their boat.
I returned to Fantasia with pretty, painted pottery box and Stuart a book, 'Alone around the Horn' written by Jeffrey. R. Hartley. Jeffrey, aboard his yacht, Sailors Run, turned out to be our neighbour in the Barra de Navidad lagoon. He kindly signed the book and told us a bit about his travels before we left the party. Not only has he sailed single handed around Cape Horn he has also sailed solo around the world. We have added him to the long list of solo, round the world sailors that we have met on our travels. Together with a significant number of round the world sailing couples and crews who have circumnavigated and told us their stories, we are amazed at the company we keep!