The trip so far, the mates perspective….
Prepping the boat in Gran Canaria always seems a blur, normally a week of inventories, fixing things and walking around Las Palmas ordering food, looking for certain spares in different parts of the city then getting back to the boat and realising what we’ve forgotten so back to the chandlers or the Hiperdino we go… this year we were lucky to have longer and we seemed to be much more organised, (only doing an average of 8k a day) which meant we found ourselves wandering what we’d forgotten! I of course have to mention the hard work of our watch leaders, who both brought the boat down from the UK, meaning they know the boat well and despite being volunteers, are always keen to help when they could be lying on a beach, thanks guys. After meeting the crew, training, provisioning and maybe a bit of partying, which feels like months ago now, race day was upon us…
The spectacle of staring the ARC is always amazing, sails as far as the eye can see and slowly watching the fleet spread out. Some final waves to the committee boat as we got across the start line, and finally we are away, it’s always sad to see Gran Canaria slip away behind us, they really know how to look after us, but also a great relief to be away and getting on with it! Finally the trip has begun and the crew begin to get into life on board…
First 24 hours was a cracking sail, better than we expected, giving the crew a chance to begin practising downwind sailing, a key skill for this trip, the better we helm the faster we go…. Until the wind dies of course! Which brings us to now, day 3 maybe? A long afternoon with not a lot of breeze, still managing 3 knots most of the time but lots of concentration required. The crew are taking it all in their stride and since the sun came out the deck all of a sudden has turned into a washing line and small groups of people lying in the sun wherever the sails aren’t casting shade… also the first salt water bucket showers followed by proper showers which always lifts the spirits!
It’s a nice homely spirit on board now, everyone working together to plan and cook meals, clean, help out with sail manoeuvres, eat biscuits, drink tea and even a little bit of star gazing!
Just keeping our fingers crossed for more wind now, the consensus from our Saint Lucians is to be in in time for a concert on the 14th…. I’ll cross my toes as well.