Today was "safety day" for the ARC...intense focus was placed on use of flares, emergency life raft deployment, rescue at sea, and more.  "Arbella" carries an 8-man Winslow life raft, fully equipped with provisions and emergency equipment PLUS a "ditch bag" with water and food for 8 for 10 days, and more gear, PLUS a "medical grab bag"....if we ever need to abandon ship we are fully safe for many days and can coordinate a rescue from our life raft.  On another safety note, Vicki organized phenomenal medical emergency equipment and a corresponding 24/7 medical service....the doctors answer the call, from one of our two satellite phones, within 10 minutes and guarantee any expert on the line within 2 hours, and they can "talk us through" dealing with any real emergency, including really serious stuff, using the extraordinary gear aboard...  Watching the safety demo with narration on shore by the ARC staff, was very interesting.  Importantly, "Arbella" passed the Safety Inspection (2 hours with a 35 item checklist), without any deviations...not the norm, but rewarding for this boat and captain!  At night, we all put on "proper yachting dinner attire" for a very fun reception by Oyster at the 5-star hotel in Las Palmas.  Of course the discussion was frequently about two topics:  weather and strategy for the crossing....the Oyster family, both staff and other owners, really make our "Oyster Adventure", now in its 10th year, very much fun for Vicki and I, as we see several of these great people over and over.