(Photo: Mya 1 under sail, Christmas Eve morning)

We woke before sunrise to discover that two of our gang of five were missing from the immediate area. Mya 1 was half a mile south of her original anchorage position, and a sweep with the binoculars revealed Sea Fox X had dragged a mile and a half south! It had been another rolly night, and after we helped Mya 1 weigh anchor we flashed out our sails and continued eastwards, having decided that we would go to Chub Cay, clear customs and spend Christmas there. As we entered the Northwest Channel shortly before arriving at Chub Cay, the water depth dropped abruptly from 15 to 1,500 feet, and the water changed colour from a light turquoise to a deep blue. We towed Mya 1 into the marina at Chub Cay, where George's daughter and grand-daughter were waiting for a happy reunion, just in time for Christmas. After a few hours' wait baking in the 32C heat at the fuel dock, we cleared customs, and proceeded to anchor. Chub Cay Marina is privately owned, and despite being near empty, the management was not open to cutting a deal for the small fleet of sailboats arriving that day, and so the anchorage quickly filled up. The marina is owned by Floridians, and has apparently gone from being a location that was open to transients, to one that charges $100 for merely tying up one's dinghy. Fortunately, it being Christmas, management relaxed their enforcement of marina fees, and contented themselves with ensuring that the cruisers anchored in the small bay did not land on the beach after several members complained that their beach was being cluttered by non-members. Our already jaded view of the The Rich Floridian Power Boat Owner was only reinforced.
Still, we contented ourselves with snorkelling around our own boats, discovering more starfish, conch, and other fish swimming around our keel, and while the girls swam, Judy prepared for Santa's arrival, with Christmas lights hung in the main cabin, and stocking hung from the deckhead near the main companionway (no chimney entrance for Santa this year!).
On our second day sailing across the Grand Bahamas Bank, we noticed a large plume of smoke coming from the Biminis Islands. When we had sailed out of No Name Harbour a few days earlier, the twenty-odd boats making the Gulf Stream crossing split into two groups; those who went to North Cat and Gun Cays, and those who went to Bimini. When the two groups came together again at Chub Cay, we found out what the source of the smoke was. There had been an altercation between the police and some locals at a bar, and in the ensuing fracas, the police officer shot and killed a man. Rioting followed, and the police station and the police boat were torched. The Police Station didn't burn too well, but he police boat did, and the smoke was visible for miles. A detachment of Marines was dispatched to restore order, and later we learned that the police officer involved faces charges for the shooting. We were happy that our excitement was limited to towing Mya 1 off the rocks!
Later in the evening we visited George and family aboard Mya 1 who had invited the group that escorted him across the Grand Bahamas Bank for drinks and nibblies. The kids quickly locked onto the computer and visited the NORAD website where Santa was being tracked...we beetled back to our boat when Santa was reported on his way across the Atlantic towards our bit of ocean! The customary snack for Santa and his reindeer was prepared by Marine, who left a polished seashell for Mrs. Claus as well.