Joanna - Blog update Joanna - Its begining to look a lot like Christmas

It's December which means it's now officially okay to play Christmas music and put up decorations. Anyone who suggests doing this before is criminal and should have to walk the plank.

December also means the start of advent and the period of waiting until Christmas. Day one of our advent gave us a special treat…not a chocolate but an almighty squall at 8am - the first for Joanna. Within seconds the wind increased from a relaxing 15 knots to an outrageous 40 knots. The heavens opened and it felt like there was more rain coming from the sky than in the sea surrounding us - how bizarre. The crew swung into action and dropped the spinnaker seamlessly. It must have been all the practice we’ve had having to slow down to reel fish in. The plus side of the squall was the unavoidable shower for all and that the remains of the many suicidal flying fish which had landed on our deck over the past few days got washed off - excellent.

Usually at the start of December you write a letter to Father Christmas and maybe send it up the chimney but in the Atlantic, that's not so easy instead we opted for writing all our Christmas wishes on paper, putting them in a bottle and throwing them overboard. We're hoping for good winds / currents so they arrive in Lapland in time (we think that’s where he lives!?). If anyone could let Father Christmas know to expect some letters in a old chickpea jar, that would be great.

Out came the Christmas box for some boat decorations. Tinsel has been wrapped around various poles and ledges and fairy lights covering the cockpit. We're hoping for a nighttime arrival in St. Lucia to show off our pimped out boat - keep your eyes peeled for Santa's new water sledge.

Other activities included baking Christmas biscuits. We overdid the mixture and now have (literally) hundreds of biscuits. We still expect them to be gone within a few days as will be a staple snack for the night shifts. Not sure who ate more of the raw biscuit mixture either I've got a feeling it was the adults and not the kids.

Our early Christmas festivities wouldn't complete without some Lego so out of the Christmas box came the Elf clubhouse. Probably one of the most complex Lego builds ever made, but also one of the most impressive. The elves are seriously living it up large in their palace. It's an invite only club house so don't expect to get on the guest list any time soon.

To top off the early Christmas festivities and decorating, we settled down to watch the Grinch, a Christmas classic. Seeing snow on the screen was a weird sensation while still being in the middle of the Atlantic in 25 degree heat surrounded by water. Not your typical start to the Christmas period but definitely one of the more memorable ones.