Last night’s Welcome Drinks party formally opened the ARC+ programme in Las Palmas and was the first official chance for crews to start to get to know one another. It had been a busy first day, with over 35 boats ‘checked-in’, and so it was great to see the venue at the Sotavento Centre, at the south end of Muelle Deportivo, well filled with crews discussing their experiences of arriving and their thoughts on their Atlantic crossing with ARC+.
The crews were well looked after by the caterers from Restaurant Embarcadero and participants enjoyed a traditional Canarian tapas evening with glasses of fine red and white Rioja.
World Cruising Club’s Paul Tetlow stood up to welcome participants; both those new to World Cruising Club events and those who have taken part in previous rallies. He also congratulated all crews for getting to the starting port as many will have spent several months preparing their boat and crew plans.
As participants got to know each other it was clear that several have met before while on the way to joining ARC+ in Las Palmas. And another nice feature of the ARC+ stopover in the Cape Verde islands is that crews get more chance to get to know one another, before arriving in Saint Lucia and continuing their cruising plans.
A local singer, Silviu Jurca, more known locally as The Croon, entertained crews as they talked. Everyone agreed it was a lovely atmosphere, great singing and a perfect venue which, topped with the taste of a melt in the mouth chocolate mousse, made for a great evening. Following the event, several crews moved on to one of the many restaurants open in the Sotavento Centre and surrounding marina.