The ARC yachts are currently experiencing a mix of weather conditions at sea as they continue to make good progress and check off the miles towards Saint Lucia. Twenty boats have arrived so far in Rodney Bay, whilst 198 are keen to join them and eagerly anticipate the taste of a well-earned rum punch on arrival. For many on board, the question at watch-change has evolved from “How far have we come?” to “How far have we to go?” as excitement builds for their arrival and they have dared to begin calculating their date and time of arrival.
In recent days tropical rain squalls have been encountered by many of the fleet, with plenty of crews taking advantage of the supply of warm fresh water for a quick natural shower on deck. Stronger winds accompanying the rain have seen many boats reaching top speeds as they surf the rolling waves, and Sumatra and Skyelark both covered 200 miles over the past 24 hours causing celebration on board. Despite the benefits of fast sailing and watching the miles fall away, these are testing conditions for any sailor. Pieter Schueler explained the varying conditions on board Ostrea, “Yesterday was rainy and squally. Sometimes we could sail and sometimes we had to motor in a choppy sea with no wind… Last night we sailed on genoa only and had a windy, wet and thundery night and it was very dark because of all the cloud cover and hardly any moon.” Those experiencing rain squalls are looking forward to the weather improving again so that they can enjoy some sunny, trade-wind sailing that is more typical of the ARC.
Elsewhere in the fleet, conditions are quieter and making for excellent fishing, as demonstrated by the crew of Dutch Oyster 53, Islay, who proudly landed two large wahoo yesterday. Others are taking advantage of a patch of calm conditions to make repairs after two weeks at sea, along with whale watching and quick dips in the ocean.
