Following a breezy start on 11 January, the World ARC fleet has progressed well through the Caribbean Sea, nearing their first destination of the San Blas Islands in Panama. It was an exciting start from Saint Lucia and now the crews and yachts have adjusted to strong favorable trade wind conditions which has resulted in an even spread of the fleet over the Caribbean Sea.
Although the fleet is spread, one of the many benefits of sailing as a group is already evident through the sense of community the rally provides, particularly through the daily SSB net.
“Sailing in company is a lot of fun – 30-35 boats check in every morning and evening with position reports and status of boats and crew. What a great group!” – Celebrate
“It’s great to have a sense of community around you with World ARC, I think much more enjoyable than going it alone” - Nexus
Enjoying the full array of sea life that the Caribbean Sea has to offer, the sighting of dolphins, catching fish and avoiding flying fish has become a daily occurrence for many of the crews.
“Dolphins have joined us again today; we know this is a repeating theme but they never cease to give us enjoyment as the dance in our bow wave” – Firefly
“No fish caught other than a wayward flying fish landing on deck, we also saw another one impressively jump over the boat” – Firefly
The fleet will clear into Panama at Porvenir Island and then get together a few days later for a party on one of the islands. There, they will be joined by 8 more boats who'll complete the World ARC fleet of 40 yachts. Sadly, two boats starting from Saint Lucia have had a few problems and have had to divert. Tulasi had to visit Martinique after the start but will hopefully restart on Thursday and Ko-Ko diverted to Aruba where they are waiting for spare parts for the rudder system. Hopefully both boats will be making good progress soon.