Twas the night before Christmas and all through the boat
Not a spot in the bilge was oily, all freshly painted with bilge-kote;
The sails were bagged cleanly in the lazarette with care
In hopes they’d soon be hoisted and filled with fresh air;
The halyards were nestled all snug in their bags
With visions of zizzing fast ‘round a winch without any lags;
For the boat and crew, 2020 had proven quite a challenging year
Bringing months of fear, growth, change, but also cheer;
Plaintiff’s Rest had been bruised and battered in Sally’s unrelenting wrath
But she held fast and was mercifully reunited with her beloved owners in the aftermath;
Now, as she sat patiently on jacks, awaiting her rudder and other repairs to begin
She dreamed of the day she would finally be back out in the water and wind;
After a list of amazing places she would one day sail in her mind had been tapped,
Plaintiff’s Rest was all settled in, silent and humble, ready for a soothing night nap;
But just as her eyes closed, up on her deck, she heard an unfamiliar clatter
She swore she could hear someone clambering up her swim ladder;
But whatever was tiptoeing above her was nimble and fast
For everywhere she looked prints and traces of its movement didn’t last;
Out her portlights, Plaintiff’s Rest thought she saw a person jump and scamper
Then a noise trickled in through the dorade and she thought she heard banter;
“Shh … ” a muffled voice said, “we’re not supposed to be here at night.”
Then through the lee boards, shoes and pant legs caught her sight.
Worried Plaintiff’s Rest was, the clatterers had come aboard to steal like a vixen
She was about to ring her old ship’s bell in the vberth in hopes it would blitz them;
But, there on her marvelous teak, where it had once hung so proud
Now sat a bare wall so Plaintiff’s Rest could not make a sound loud;
How it had been removed without her knowing did make her wonder
But she had been quite occupied with all of the tinkering and repairs she’d been under;
Before she could process it, she heard once again the clink-clink of her ladder
So she flew to the lee boards to look in the cockpit and see what was the matter;
And, there, sitting cheerily near her binnacle in a basket of ribbons red and green
Sat a shiny new ship bell, so bright she knew she had never seen anything quite so keen;
It was a gift so lovely and so perfect for her Christmas this year that she let out a whistle
And there beside it, sat a note with bold letters nestled next to a sprig of toe, mistle;
Plaintiff’s Rest read the scrawly letters she knew to be her owner Phillip’s, alright
It said “Merry Christmas to you girl, you put up one helluva fight!”