There is nothing quite like a boat kid’s birthday! Each one is as individual as the boat kid itself, since they get to make the important decisions. These celebrations usually include a special spot, a favorite meal and cake, some games and an eclectic mix of guests, and hopefully lots of kids or at the very least adults that act like them. And these events have some important elements in common, too. There is usually a beach or at least a swimming spot or a beach, a hard to get treat to eat, and my favorite part has to be the hand made cards and gifts. The cruising community go all out for these events and Teo’s birthday was no exception.

Teo was very excited to turn eight because his favorite number is four and “eight is two of them!” We asked Teo about his wish list and they included a bonfire on a beach in an atoll and sausages over a fire and cupcakes with lots of frosting. And there would not be a party without his friends!

Boat kids look forward to their birthday breakfast which includes either eggs and bacon or pancakes. Teo asked for banana pancakes and we had a pile of gifts waiting for him and the bunting up in the saloon as we have have a family tradition of opening gifts at birthday breakfast. We very much appreciate the effort family members make to make sure the Little Man is spoiled on his day! It is not easy to get physical things to us in these locations, but they go to great lengths to make sure Teo knows he is remembered and loved. There was even a very generous gift from Teo’s good friend, Clive which magically appeared in the bank account. Teo was a VERY happy boy. And Itchy Foot showed everyone we were celebrating as the hand sewn bunting was up the forestay too.

Panacea and Itchy Foot were anchored off the Kauehi Beach Club, please refer to the marketing press release for details on the location. In the early afternoon there was a pirate party on the beach. The Jolly Roger was flapping in the breeze, two bonfires were being prepared, the archery was set up and the hammocks were accepting potential relaxers.

We started with cupcakes with frosting and Aarre had baked cinnamon rolls to die for so we were all happy. There was singing and presents. Panacea had made Teo a lovely card with fish and wonderful message and they had etched three mother of pearl shells for him. He also got a necklace to wear, and a hand made shark. Martta made a card with stickers, Kerttu braided and band from yarn and Aarre made an online card in Minecraft. After running around and burning off the baked treats we enjoyed a cool dip in the clear turquoise sea. A few hours later we had sausages cooked over the fire. The adults might have enjoyed steak and a bottle of red. And the big event was the three story inferno that was lit once it was truly dark. The timing was a subject of great debate, “Is it time yet?” “Let’s wait til it’s properly dark” “Well it’s pretty dark” “It will get darker” “Now?!?!” “Almost…” “All right, it’s time!” “WAHOOOOOOOO!” It didn’t burn very long because it was mostly dry palm fronds but it was impressive and caused a lot of excitement.

On the way home to Itchy Foot Teo sighed and said “that was the BEST birthday yet!” Our work here is done.