New Years Eve at Sea

On December 26th it really didn’t feel like Christmas was the day before, it’s strange to do Christmas in a completely different way, we went back to our schedules. I wrote the blog about Christmas, read my new book King’s Cage, and drew. My mom had to work as did my dad, though I’m pretty sure that they spent time playing around with their gifts too. Captain Mark read his new books and a book my mom lent him about Scientology by Leah Remini (if you haven’t heard about Scientology I suggest you read up, it’s…interesting).  Sometime around lunch my dad and I went to the neighboring sailboats and invited them over for a sundowner they had to bring their drinks obviously, rum is expensive in the Bahamas.
That night, three of the four to six sailboats we invited came over. Everyone enjoyed snacks my mom laid out, while Aeriss (from SV Stargazer) and I played on the bow. 
The next day we went on a snorkeling excursion with the crew of SV Stargazer, we went around the island we were anchored and found a secluded area, much different from the packed anchorage that left us no space to swim. Everyone went except Mark who hadn’t felt too well. My mom stayed in the dingy while my dad and I swam above the 20 foot water. I think it was the most beautiful reef yet, I’ll bet my dad thought so too. I saw parrotfish of all kind, reef coral, brain coral, small yellow fish that I don’t know the name of, and some white fish that we realized too late that we were allowed to eat. Once again we went home with no fish or lobster to show for.
Later that day we met up with the crew of Stargazer again for a lunch on the beach. The adults talked while Aeriss and I snorkeled near the shore. Mark, my parents, and I had some delicious burritos while we looked at the water that looked like it could be from a postcard. 
On December 28th we moved the boat to the secluded area we had snorkeled at the day before, it was still in Highbourne Cay but a lot more private. It took longer than expected because we had to go a bit more offshore than usual so we wouldn’t bump into coral. We got to the secluded area finding two other boats, I guess more people were realizing that it was less crowded. Almost the moment we got there my dad was in the water, discovering a reef that topped the reef from the day before. I didn’t feel like getting in the water so I mostly stayed inside for awhile reading and on my phone. About an hour or so after we arrived in our new anchorage I finally got into the water, a few minutes later Stargazer anchored next to us.
The next day we had the SV Stargazer crew over for a lunch of hamburgers. Before the food was ready Aeriss and I hung out on the bow of our boat, doing who knows what. After lunch Aeriss and I swam for a bit, I got the pleasure of showing her the super cool reef. She and I swam until everyone was packing up to go to Allen’s Cay, a place known for it’s iguanas. After a short ride we arrived at a beach that within a second you could spot out an iguana. Aeriss had angered one so she and I were forced to the other side of the beach after a quick sprint. After about 10 minutes on the beach one of our crew pointed out a stingray, followed by the finding of 7 or so others. Our beach excursion ended a little after that. Everyone got back into their respective dinghies and headed back to our boat for a swim.
The following day was a normal day on a boat: chores, swim, read, draw, and any random stuff I came up with. 
On December 31st I took a vote and it ended with making a chocolate cake to celebrate New Years later that night. The morning was spent like any other day, up until lunchtime when my mom, Terry (from SV Stargazer), Mark, and I went to a beach only to find it taken by a charter boat. After a couple more failed attempts we all went back to our boats.
Later that night I began to make my cake, after a few minutes of struggling to fit it into our small boat oven we finally succeeded. My mom began dinner slightly after, her food came out first. A little past midway through dinner I pulled out the cakes to chill. We finished our meal just in time, the crew of Stargazer joined us (except for Aeriss) shortly after. I took a vote of the seven people about which frosting I should use, chocolate had four votes in a row. I whipped up the frosting quickly and frosted the cake with some help from my dad (aka he did it). The cake was served with about a fourth leftover. We began our game night! We started off with PIT (the best game ever, you have to try) which I won, not to brag. A few minutes before we ended the game we saw fireworks! They were amazing, on level if not better than the firework show I saw in America for Fourth of July. We later learned that one of the charter boats set it up for their guests. After the show ended we began our second and final game, Dixit. My dad and I were on a team since he would have to go to bed mid-way through and also there were only six game pieces. I won, again, not to brag. At that point the crew of Stargazer went back to their boat, and my mom and Mark went to the bed.
 My plan was to stay up to midnight reading, I failed. I woke up at 2:00 in the morning, I was so sad!

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