Christmas Cometh

The festivities have begun aboard Croix des Gardes. The wind has dropped slightly, giving us a smoother ride. Afternoon tea was taken at the traditional time of 3pm to the accompaniment of a lone chorister (Elizabeth) singing "Once in Royal David's City". We could really have been at King's College, Cambridge for the traditional ceremony of carols, were it not for the weather. We cut our Christmas cake too (thanks, Julie) and the children drank a festive cup of cranberry juice.

James has inspected the masthead after last night's spinnaker failure. The shackle has also damaged the bolt fitting it was attached to - the one that holds the forestay to the masthead. It is holding and looks fair, but we won't be able to fly the spinnaker again until we can get up there and replace it (remove the forestay). We will be doing best speed under plain sail only. Those sails too are looking even more shabby than usual. James reckons from the cut and manufacturer that they date from the 1980s. No wonder they are so flabby. It's a far cry from the racing boats who replace their canvas every season. There is an outside chance that one of the boats is planning on replacing their sails and may let us have the 'worn' set, which will still be light years better than our rig.

Merry Christmas to all at home - sending you our thoughts and hopefully some of our warm sunshine.