At 1623HRS UTC
came the longed-for hail of Land Ho! As he heard the answering cry from the
helmsman on deck, there was a break in the voice of the Lookout, perched
precariously in the Crow's Nest near the top of Cleone's graceful (he means
chunky - Ed) main mast. Soon the rest of the crew were thundering up the
companionway to check that this much longed-for event really had finally
occurred. It was 3 weeks and nearly two days since the last sight of Gran
Canaria, and some of the crew had given up hope (really? -Ed) of ever seeing
land again. Now surliness has turned to smiles, jokes are being cracked and
everyone is trying to decide what they are going to have tattooed where (really? Ed).
Actually the
only sign that any unusual event is about to take place is that the Skipper has
shaved for the first time. He wants to impress Authority he claims, and looking
at the advice we have been given, that is no trivial task. Our arrival
procedure involves health checks and forms to fill in for all the crew,
examination and stamping of passports, the Ship's Papers to present and forms
for the Skipper to fill in and stamp, and finally a declaration to be handed in
to the ARC Staff. It should not take the Skipper more than a couple of
hours, during which the crew will sit back and relax in the cool of the evening
sipping Rum Punches, gulping Cold Beers and savouring Cleone Size long Gin and
Tonics in her cockpit.
All I can say is
that they had better not finish any of these until the Skipper gets back,
otherwise there really will be trouble.
Just under 40
miles to run; we will let you know when we have actually
arrived.
All well and
VERY happy,
With very best
wishes and love to you all,
James,
Francesca, Louisa and Kaya
Yacht
Cleone
At
sea
Position at
1200UTC on 16 Dec 2024:
N14deg23min
W059deg55min