Today was a busy day getting the boat ready for the next and last leg of this rally. A group of us girls went to the mall today to help Annie pick out her wedding dress. She was successful and says she feels like a princess in her wedding dress. There are pictures in the Jeannius blog of the dresses that were not chosen if anyone cares to view them. Of course the chosen one will not be available for viewing until the wedding. I will have to make sure my dress, as a bridesmaid will be acceptable to the bride. We will have to wait for Grenada for selection of the bridesmaid dresses. The wedding will be held on the island of Mayreau in the Grenadines. It was an exciting day and we topped it all off with lunch at a local restaurant. After a day at the local mall I think we girls are ready for the long leg on the ocean away from any shops and purchases from the city.
Meanwhile preparations are being completed for our early departure tomorrow at 6am as the tide is rising. A Lady, Calliope, Lady EvVI ,Gran Filou all went out of the marina today at high tide so they would be ready for the start at 9am.
Last night we had a wonderful barbecue by the pool for all the members of the fleet. We all brought our own fish or meat to grill and the sides were provided by Rally Control. It was a nice night and everyone seems to have had a nice relaxing night by the pool and visiting each other before the beginning of the next leg. Everyone is ready to move on and leave Brazil behind us.
It will be nice to get closer to home and the Caribbean. Of course we must travel over the equator one more time before reaching home. Looking at the forecast it seems like we will have light winds for the beginning of the race. We are all hoping not to have to use so much fuel for this next leg. But we all got fueled up here in the marina over the last
week. That is somewhat of an ordeal since the truck must put the fuel in drums and bring it out to each boat by small dinghy. It takes almost all day to do half of the fleet. However, it is important to fill up now since this is such a long leg (2000 miles) and we may be going through some light winds.
So after the carnaval, all the tours, adventures, parties, get togethers, shopping, eating the local cuisine, and lolling by the pool, we are anxious to move along. The music and energy level has been at a high level. It will be good to get out on the ocean and slow down the pace. We will adjust once again to our routines and our watch schedules. The focus once again will be the sunsets, sunrises, weather, and watching out for the passing sea life and other ships.
Rosemary, Bill and Matt