Christmas in the Caribbean

(Doesn’t Jimmy have a song about this?)

by David Lyman

This article appeared in Caribbean Compass, December 2020

I had a delivery to do last year, over Christmas.

A nice 54-foot expedition sloop located in Antigua needed to be in Martinique by the end of January.

     “I’m coming!” My daughter e-mailed me from her dorm room at Maine Maritime Academy. I admitted I could use the help. Island to island, it’s only 200 miles as the shearwater flies: a 24-hour jaunt, start to finish. I could do it solo, but why hurry things? “Slow down, mon... You go too fast.” That was said to me by the dock master at the marina at Virgin Gorda on my first trip to the Caribbean. It’s a mantra I’ve had to repeat to myself throughout my life in the West Indes.


     “Can we visit the islands on the way?” My son chimed in on WhatsApp. He was in England at Solent University studying Marine Engineering and Yacht Design. “Last time the family was together,” he added, “on a boat for Christmas, in the Caribbean, was ten years ago. Can we not rush it this time?” He was right. We had the time. Why not spend it?

     The kids had five weeks off from school, and their mother had just finished working on a film in the UK, so all three made plans to meet me in English Harbour in mid-December.

     A week later, we were in Deshaies on the northwestern tip of Guadeloupe for Christmas.

     Christmas morning, when the crew awoke and wandered into the salon, we found that Santa Mom had been there. Julie takes her Christmases seriously; she’s English. Being stuck on a boat, on anchor in a strange harbor, did not deter her from making sure her family had a memorable Christmas.

     There on the varnished table was a Christmas tree. Presents cascading, three deep. Well, the tree was not a real tree. It was a pineapple, its top aglow with a string of battery-operated lights. The presents were wrapped in what was available: brown paper from used grocery bags.

     Another Christmas in the Caribbean, aboard a sailboat, anchored in a quiet harbor. The family together again.

Left: Christmas morning aboard at Deshaies, Guadeloupe

Right: The Lyman family aboard The Dove at Saint. Anne, Martinique