A busy morning of ARC arrivals was offset by a quieter afternoon for the team of yellowshirts in Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia today. More than a dozen boats made their arrival into the marina on the morning shift, but only two arrived during the afternoon and a theme of 'nearly there' echoed from logs of yachts with only double digits of miles left to go.
“It’s very light wind offshore,” said the crew of the Oyster
Atalanta of London, as they arrived. “So definitely a bit frustrating.”
The crew of Northern Child are just one example of the yachts with a slightly delayed ETA owing to the light winds, and their log admits that, "Conversation these last few days remains dominated by what to expect in Saint Lucia, what to do first when we get there, where to stay onshore or how traumatic a return to "normal" life will be for some!" Echoing the sentiments shared by many crews, the final miles before arrival always give time reflect on the overall experience of the transatlantic crossing, "Even if the experience will have been different for each and every one of us, the impact will have been profound for us all. We are already talking of a reunion a year from now."
Photo shows crew of Catty Sark arriving yesterday
In the evening, the official ARC Welcome Party got underway at the Royal by Rex resort on Reduit Beach. This was followed by the ARC+ prizegiving, wrapping up the six week rally and held in time for most of the ARC+ fleet to relocate to Marigot Bay and make room for the 120-odd ARC boats who will arrive in the next few days.
The puzzle that is ARC berthing here at Rodney Bay is coming together quite nicely, and managing the constant arrivals of different sized boats daily is a well versed challenge of the fleet's arrival in Rodney Bay. As the ARC+ fleet move on, there’s still lots of free space, but with a rush of arrivals on for tonight and tomorrow, the juggling will begin.
As of 7:30pm local time tonight, two more yachts were nearing the finish line. Miss Malin and Theta were within two miles of the finish line and expected into the marina in an hour or so. After nearly 17 days at sea, I’m sure the landfall of Saint Lucia was a welcome sight offshore.