Twas the night before Christmas and all through the boat,
not a creature was stirring, not even a roach.
The dry bags were hung on the davits with care,
in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.
The children were nestled all snug in their berth,
while visions of snorkeling filled them with mirth.
And mama in her ponytail and I in my headlamp,
had just dropped the 'hook in a new harbor "camp".
When out on the deck there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the nav station to see what was the matter.
To the aft cabin I flew like a flash,
grabbed my machete and opened the hatch.
The full moonlight sparkled and danced on the ocean,
while our boat gently rocked with a side to side motion.
When what to my sun-tired eyes should appear,
but a flying pirogue pulled by eight tiny deer.
With a laughing old helmsman singin' a Caribbean shtick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than dolphins, his coursers they came,
and he whistled and shouted and called them by name:
"Now Dasher! Now Dancer!
Now Prancer! Now Vixen!
On Comet! On Cupid!
On Donner! On Blitzen!
From the top of the mast all the way to the clew!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away you!"
As sea birds before a wild hurricane fly,
when met with an obstacle, take to the sky.
Over twinkling anchor lights 'round the harbor they flew
with a boat full of parts and St. Nicholas, too.
When suddenly I heard on the cabin-top roof
the prancing and pawing of each tiny hoof.
As I clicked off my headlamp and was turning around,
down the companionway stairs came St. Nick with a bound!
Hawaiian shirt, bermuda shorts and waternut in hand,
his feet and his face were all covered in sand.
A sack full of provisions he had slung on his hub
and he looked like a man just returned from Sam's Club.
His eyes, how they sparkled! His wrinkles, how cheery!
His cheeks were all sunburned, his nose was all peely!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a sail,
the ends of his beard housed a braid, like a tail.
The stump of his Cuban cast a faint yellow glow,
but the Old Salt, he knew better than to smoke down below.
His face was all weathered, and he had a big tum,
from a lifetime of rays and plenty of fun.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old Salt
and I knew right away this was not an assault.
A wink of his eye and a swig of his rum,
soon gave me to know he was nothing but fun.
He spoke not a word, but got to work down below
And serviced our systems with the speed of a pro!
He cleaned up our terminals and replaced an old hose,
After halving my "to-do" list, up the companionway he rose.
He jumped into his boat, to his team gave a whistle,
and away they all went like a nautical missile.
But I heard him exclaim as he sailed through the night
"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"
© original adaptation written by Brittany Meyers, property of Windtraveler.net
- These Swiss-designed scooters are THE BEST. Period. Our girls rip around the marina like little pros and to see their skill and confidence develop and soar has been amazing. 
- I love hats and have an obscene number of them. Gotta protect the skin! I have been on the hunt for a good fedora-type sun hat for over a year and I finally found them in the Wallaroo Tahiti fedora. Super well made, doesn't loose shape, and fits like a dream. I have two, one with the turquoise band and one with a taupe band and they go with just about any outfit I own. Also great for bad hair days (of which I have many!)
- Bikinis are my weakness and I have WAY too many. But, hey, I live on a boat in an island and pretty much live in swimwear. I found this brand a few months ago and holy moly, I LOVE them. They look so good on, are very well made, and all the pieces can be mixed and matched. Super cute.
- I have never known Scott without this messenger bag, he has had his that long. Now that he is a bonafide businessman (albeit one that wears board shorts all day) he needed to dig this bag out as his briefcase. It goes with him everywhere and the bags are super strong, water proof and last FOREVER.
- No red necks around here! Working day in and day out in the sun means we need to protect ourselves before it gets the best of us and sometimes, sunscreen doesn't cut it. These versatile head scarves are great to keep the sun off your neck and can also be worn a bunch of different ways. They have these for both men and women and they are also great for anyone who runs, skis or does just about anything active.
- I got Scott this set of tool bags on a whim way back in 2010 when we left on our first boat. He LOVES them. They take a real beating and have stood the test of time. Scott loves that his tools are organized and if he needs something, he just brings out one small bag instead of a huge bulky tool case. One bag holds "every day" tools (the ones we use most), another holds all his wrenches, another all the screw drivers, and so on.
- Scott has several pairs of these and they are super comfortable, look great on, and fit well. He's very picky when it comes to how clothes fit so if the board shorts pass the Scott test, they are legit!
- I love diffusing essential oils in our boat for both scent and health. This little diffuser is the perfect size for our boat and runs off a USB power chord. It has a nice light option and various time settings. Add a little water, a few drops of essential oil, and your home will smell lovely!
- We love music and now we bring it wherever we go! This bluetooth speaker is super durable and the perfect size for on the go. It's waterproof and dustproof and has great sound - at full volume it can really get the party started!
- Many of you recall how much I love my Aeropress, and I still do love that. But these days, I drink a LOT of coffee and making one cup at a time is not efficient. I got this stainless steel model and I absolutely LOVE it. It makes one liter of delicious coffee and looks pretty on the counter to boot!
- I am on a major smoothie kick these days and every day I have a vitamin and protein packed smoothie for lunch. This little mixer is what I use! We've had ours for over four years and it's still going strong! Super efficient and just the right size for one serving, the Magic Bullet is one powerful little gadget. I also use mine to make dressings, dips and salsas. Bonus is that it's super small and takes up very little space.
- This is a classic Dr. Seuss book that should be read by EVERYONE, regularly. It offers fun, whimsical and valuable advice about life and making dreams come true. I read this book to Isla every single day for the first six months of her life (would have loved to read it to the twins as much but...twins. They were having none of it!) This is good for kids of all ages, from 1-100.
- We love ALL of Julia Donaldson's book but this one is one of our favorites, it tells the tale of a travel eager snail who hitches a ride around the world on the tail of a whale despite snickers from her fellow snail community. They have loads of wonderful adventures and the snail learns a valuable lesson about her potential despite being so small in a big, big world.
- We first bought this book in the Grenadines when we were sailing with Isla. It's lovely little limericks about the islands. The pictures are gorgeous and it's a great way to learn the names of some of the islands here in the Caribbean. We have traveled to just about all the islands they rhyme about! Maybe you can even try to 
- This great book, by Jimmy Buffett, is based on the lovely song "Jolly Mon" which tells the tale a of an island man who sang beautiful songs with a magical guitar. He takes off on a little sailboat to bring his music to all the neighboring islands, has a run-in with pirates, and is saved by a magic dolphin. A great little story.
- This book is a magical classic that tells the story of a small island in the ocean. The island changes with storms and seasons and, one day when a cat visits, we learn about the interconnectedness of life. It's a lovely, timeless story.
