A Swedish Christmas and New Years in Hope Town



The Swedish side of our family came to visit us in the Bahamas for two weeks over the Christmas and New Year holidays. In total we were a group of 8 adults and 8 kids, and the time we spent together consisted mainly of two activities:

  • feeding and moving a large group of people, and
  • drinking rum punches.

There was beach time, snorkeling, fishing, some boat chores, pool hangouts, and movie nights mixed in, but as I look back on the pictures it all seemed to revolve around shuttling a large group of people around, feeding all those people, all the while bolstered by strong rum punches. The Hope Town mainstay, Cap'n Jacks, had particularly strong rum punches. You could get tipsy off the fumes alone! 

We stayed on PW on a mooring in Hope Town's protected inner harbor and the Swedes stayed in two rental houses, side-by-side on the same property. (I highly recommend Karen and Robert's rental houses. Their hospitality was unsurpassed and the houses were comfortable and had everything we needed, including two little boats to go around the harbor.) In addition to the small flat bottomed skiffs that the Karen and Robert provided, we rented two run-about, go fast boats and had use of the dock at the rental houses. After a few days we fell into a rhythm of lunch at a waterside restaurant, beach time or snorkeling, then back to the houses for showers, dinner, and a movie for the kids. The days were full (and loud!) but everyone had fun and I felt like we maxed out our time in Hope Town.

Christmas

Matilda and Tor at the mini Christmas

We had a tiny little tree for Christmas and we exchanged small presents. Small because we live on a boat and small because they had to be transported from Sweden and back again. We adopted our friends' on s/v Friendship's fun and funny tradition of a Christmas Eve talent show. There were piano performances, storytelling, singing, and jokes. Farmor and Farfar (Hans's parents, known to the kids in the direct Swedish translation as Father's Mother and Father's Father) spent Christmas afternoon with us on PW as the kids opened presents from Farmor and Farfar and from their American family in Vermont.


Opening stockings on Christmas morning.

Christmas morning dinghy ride

Christmas brunch at the Hope Town Marina

All the cousins making and decorating pepparkakor, Swedish gingerbread cookies.


A new shirt via special delivery direct from Sweden.

Freja passing out Christmas presents.

It's not Christmas without eggnog!



New Year's Eve

New Years Eve Junkanoo!

The week between Christmas and New Years was spent with more beach time and more rum punch, and, for the adults, a particularly memorable (rum-fueled) evening of karaoke at Cap'n Jack's. Hope Town hosted a wonderful New Year's Eve with a fantastic live band singing energetic, upbeat, mainly current pop songs, an impressive fireworks display, and a Junkanoo at midnight. Some kids crashed before midnight but our kids were determined to stay up to ring in 2023. I'm so glad we did because it was uniquely Bahamian and a New Year's celebration I won't forget.

A starry New Years Eve night.

After two weeks the Swedes all boarded the ferry back to take them to the airport at Marsh Harbour to start their long journey back to Sweden. We settled back into life on PW, spent a couple days catching up on chores and weekly maintenance items, and got used to being just the four of us again.



Boating around Hope Town harbor at sunset singing Christmas carols.


We spent most evenings sitting around the tables on the porches talking, telling stories, laughing.

cousins.
 



Always a crowd!




Elbow Cay's beautiful beach

Matilda, ordering her own drink at the bar like a proper boat kid.


Henrik & Patrik solving the world's problems.
(Or trying to figure out the perfect proportions of a rum punch.)

A boat load of Swedes! (I couldn't resist!)

Hans, the ER doc, and Henrik, the firefighter, being incredibly un-safe with the BBQ!

Are we all going to fit on one boat?


Matilda and Ida

The cousins had fun trying out our kids' trapeze swing.



Hans, his sisters, and Matilda spent a morning fishing and came back with a literal boat-load of fish. Dinner is served!


Matilda and Ingrid

Greta, Freja, and Max standing behind the fence at their fort at a little beach. They spent days working on the fort. It was pretty epic.

The view from inside the fort.




Freja and I hanging out at On Da Beach bar, one of the best spots on Elbow Cay.

Lunch on PW!

Sailing with Roger and Karin. We had perfect winds.




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