The One with Christmas on the boat

Here’s what happened when my family spent the holidays on our yacht – and what I sketched to remember this most wonderful time of the year.

I love Christmas (who doesn’t?) and when little children are part of the mix, I love it even more. That’s the big sister/auntie in me that makes me get all gooey and giddy about this time of the year.

So when my youngest niece, Malaya (then only 2 going 3), flew to Auckland for Christmas in December 2019 with her parents (my sis Marie and bro-in-law Stefan), my husband Nigel and I went all-out with the celebration.

We decided to hold Christmas on our boat. We transformed our 34-foot Beneteau sailboat into a rocking holiday home! We took off mid-day from Westhaven Marina en route to Oneroa on Waiheke Island. My niece, Faith, who is always game for a sail, joined us.

Nigel strung fairy lights onto the mast. We played Christmas carols. We had apple strudel baking on the boat (courtesy of Stefan, my German bro-in-law with baking skills that would make Nigella Lawson blush), and a proper roast chicken in our oven! We even fit 14 people on the boat deck on Christmas morn (but I didn’t add that into my sketch – just in my memories!).

Best of all, we had arranged for Santa Claus (played by Nigel) to drop in via a dinghy, with an elf (Faith) helping lift the heavy sack onto the boat) on Christmas morning. We had planned it out all too well only to realise…Malaya was scared of Santa! A recent school performance in Germany had put her off Santa, because the man dressed as Santa freaked this little one out.

But as you will see from my sketchbook journal entry below, little Miss Malaya resolved this issue in her heart, thanks to our seafaring Santa and elf! Yahoo!

Here’s how to document your Christmas Day (or any day for that matter) with some tips. I’ll use my sketchbook entry as an example. Hope this inspires you to create your own special entry.

What to Include in Your Sketchbook

1. Start with the date. Very important! This helps you narrow down what events you will include in your journal entry. And Christmas, being a special day, will definitely offer you highlights to include in your sketchbook.
2. Open with a paragraph of what you did. I like to start with my reporters’ 5Ws and 1H. Who are you with? Where did you go? What did you do? Why? When? How? I kept mine simple. “Nigel, Marie, Stefan, Faith, Malaya and I set sail to (sic) Oneroa in the afternoon. Here are some highlights…”
3. Pick out about 3 to 5 highlights. Here are some ideas: Write down special sights you saw (penguin), what you ate (food is always worth remembering), memorable quotes (Malaya saying “I want to be a penguin too!” and “Santa, I’m not scared of you anymore!” were quotes too cute to leave out!), and special moments (like Nigel and Faith taking the dinghy out early with a sack of gifts, then coming to our boat wearing Santa and elf hats respectively).
4. Draw those highlights with simple sketches. I love keeping it simple. I opened the entry with the Grandpa Pig barge I gave Malaya for Christmas. Then I did small drawings to represent the penguin, Santa and the elf, our Christmas spread, and Malaya.
5. Add something embarrassing. I added my rope burns. I held on to the ropes too tightly and I got burns on my hands and on my thigh. They hurt at the time, but it was worth remembering.

There you have it! And if you’re still in the mood for more Christmas, here’s an entry about what my sisters and I used to do back in the Philippines.