Final preparations; start day!
Arion's West Indian Adventure
Hermione & Douglas Pattison
Sun 22 Nov 2015 08:28
On Thursday, there was an air/ sea rescue display just off the harbour entrance. The coastguard helicopter performed a boat evacuation and one of the ARC organisers on a microphone was giving valuable information. We managed to scramble over the huge rocks of the marina breakwater ( Arthur loved this part the most I think!) and get the best view of the action. This was then followed by a chance to get in and out of a life raft in the yacht club swimming pool. Hermione and I donned inflated lifejackets and got in, only to realise that two little ducklings ( Arthur and Alice) had followed us into the water and swum to the raft to climb in- very sweet!
Anne arrived on Thursday and Friday there was a wonderful cocktail party with a fab band and lots of fireworks. very merry indeed!
We were invited onboard a truly classic and beautiful yacht where the owner spent his valuable time showing us possible routes for our onward adventure the other side of the pond. He has done a huge amount of cruising and was a great source of information and advice. As a result, we will probably change our route to include parts we had previously discounted..... More of which later on!
Meanwhile, the provisioning continued. Alastair was in charge of washing the 70 kilos of fresh fruit and veg with Anne, Arthur and Alice helping him. All the produce must be washed to get rid of any cockroach/ insect eggs which might hatch and infest the boat. Also all paper and cardboard wrapping is taken off for the same reason ( cockroaches lay their eggs in the glue). This also cuts down on the rubbish which of course you have to carry with you to the other end ( apart from organic matter)
The boat is now all packed. She is sitting much lower in the water than normal. Alastair is sleeping on top of 30 oranges, 3 cabbages, 12 avocados and a bunch of bananas! Douglas is sharing his bed with 40 onions so it is certainly rather cosy in there!
The final night we had a crew supper in the hotel which was great fun and involved much discussion on the start of the race. It is a downwind start but the priority is to start without incident. I have to remember that this is not a dinghy race and even to start a minute ( or even an hour- gasp) will not make a difference over the thousands of miles we hope to sail.
At the skippers briefing they informed us that there will be plenty of wind in the first couple of days which is great.
All in all, the town and the World Cruising Club have organised a great event here with so much information, lots of events and everything geared towards helping us.
I will try to update the blog while we are at sea, so I hope to give you another update soon.