The Welcome Party, featuring a live band, Mardi Gras dancers, jelly coconut rum punches and a buffet, started the ARC 2023 events. Celebrations ahead of the prize-giving included evening sundowners with newfound friends, a steak and lobster dinner at Spinnakers restaurant on La Redouit Beach, numerous dinner outings at the various establishments in the marina and a beach day.
In between these festivities Paw Paw got a thoroughly good and well deserved cleaning inside and out, bilges and food storage areas were cleared and excess food donated to a charity the ARC 2023 organiser’s were supporting, interviews with various sailing magazines were conducted, viewings by potential buyers were undertaken and trips to the local doctor and laboratory for Elaine’s blood tests and checkup kept us busy. It’s fair to say, that the doctor was very pleased with Elaine’s results and commented on how well she looked for someone with her health conditions, the cocktail of medications she’s taking and having just crossed an ocean, suggesting that our lifestyle may well be the reason for such an amazing outcome. Definitely food for thought!
By Friday, 15th December 2023, Elaine and Justine had put up the Christmas decorations on Paw Paw and we’d enjoyed a dinner outing at the Seasalt Café, complements of Justine and Paul.
A lovely surprise occurred at the prize-giving event the following day when Paw Paw actually won a prize for the closest finish of twelve seconds between us and S/Y Anila, who crossed the finish line just ahead of us. Serenaded by a steel band, a fun night was enjoyed by everyone, particularly the abundance of free flowing rum punches and finger snacks. It was the perfect ending to a magnificent adventure.
By Monday, 18th December 2023, we’d said our goodbyes to Justine and Paul and had received an early Christmas present from Keenan; two tickets to the US to join the family for Christmas and New Year. Needless to say, that set off another flurry of activities as we hurriedly packed and readied Paw Paw to be left unattended.
Besides the lovely surprise of receiving the tickets, Garrett, a friend of Keenan’s working for American Airlines, made arrangements for the captains of each of our flights from St Lucia to announce our achievement of completing our circumnavigation. To a round of applause from fellow passengers, we commenced our family time on the best possible note. Our thanks to Garrett for his thoughtfulness.
Besides our Christmas and New Year’s celebrations, our family fun time included homemade pizza night, playtime at the various neighbourhood parks, dirt-biking, yo-yo competitions, family game’s night, bedtime stories, ice-hockey, touring the neighbourhoods to look at Christmas lights and the all time favourite; building forts. A special family Christmas Eve was enjoyed with Brooke’s parents, Kim and Bill, much to the delight of the grandchildren of having all their grandparents present and included an Arizona-style dinner. Downtime for us was enjoyed by way of a dinner outing with friends, Lisa and Joe, who spoilt us, once again, treating us to a delicious meal at the Buck & Rider restaurant.
As 2023 drew to a close, it was hard not to reflect on our year, a year in which we fulfilled our dream of becoming circumnavigators, while enjoying an adventure of a lifetime, but, sadly, had also forced us to plan our next chapter in becoming landlubbers again, far sooner than we ever expected. Regardless, while this reality inched closer, we simply enjoyed time with the family, leaving the uncertainty of it all for the new year.
New Year’s Eve was enjoyed at friends of Keenan and Brooke, Brittany and Matt, where a potluck affair provided the food and heaps of fireworks lit up the night sky to mark the occasion. It had been years since we celebrated New Year with Keenan and this was our first New Year celebration with Brooke and the grandchildren. Very special indeed!
In between all this fun, we cleared out our storage unit, separated out the contents we no longer wanted, donated these either to charity or gave a few particular items to Keenan and Brooke, then repacked the remaining items ready for shipment to Ireland.
Before we knew, it was time to return to Paw Paw to finalise what we thought was a definite sale, but not before the grandsons helped prepare a celebratory dinner for Brooke, who had completed her first day at college after deciding to return to school to study. The delicious dinner was followed by our drive to the airport, accompanied by the grandchildren, leaving Brooke to complete her homework.
While the goodbyes were difficult as always, our wonderful family holiday was topped off with yet another pleasant surprise; flying in style with Delta One on our flight back to Paw Paw.
Stayed tuned for the next update, but, in the interim, we wish our readers a fabulous New Year and hope 2024 brings you health and happiness. Happy New Year everyone!
