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Pentagram - Leg 1 Rodney Bay, St Lucia to Santa Marta, Colombia.



?0440, Tues 13/1/15 - 23nm N.E of Aruba

We arrived in Rodney Bay slightly later than we would have liked due to the "Christmas Winds", blowing 45 knots in Barbados & around the islands. Oh well, there's worse places to get stuck, could have been Skeggy!

A warm welcome greeted us when we finally arrived by both the World Cruising Club team & a cheery "Ahoy Pentagram!", as we cruised past to our berth from John, Stella & Brian on Exocet Strike. We had met them in September in A Coruna, Northern Spain. Our first landfall after leaving the UK. It was great to see some friendly & familiar faces.

The start of the first leg went well & we crossed the start line in around fifth place with two reefs in the main & a full genoa. Not too shabby a start as there are just the two of us & we've never raced Pentagram before. Albeit, it's not really a race. You just can't help it when there are other boats nearby! As we rounded the mark off Castries & headed west,we poled out the genoa & have been goosewinging since with fairly consistent winds.

People ask what appeals about sailing. Hmmm, let me think.... Is it the feeling of being close to nature? The pods of dolphins playing in the bow wash, the smell of rotting vegetables as a whale surfaces somewhere upwind for a breath, the shoals (flocks) of flying fish, the phosphorescence sparkling luminous green as you pass through the water, the wind on your face, sun on your back or rain in your eyes?

Or is it the thrill of surfing down waves at 14.5 knots, feeling the spray on your face, tasting the salt on your lips & trying to tame unruly/frizzy hair?!

For us, it is all of the above & more. This first leg so far has been amazing. Long may it continue.

Thanks to the World ARC fleet & the World Cruising Club team.


Andy & Emma, Pentagram

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