Baby Blue ARC + final blog (for now!)
Baby Blue
Baby Blue Holdings
Fri 2 Dec 2016 23:44
I have to apologise for the long delay in getting this, my final blog for the ARC+, sent out.
Now that the dust has settled we are in a more relaxed mood and taking a bit of a breather while we carry out some repairs and improvements to Baby Blue and get ready for the last leg of the trip down to Port Louis in Grenada where Baby Blue will spend the rest of the season in a safe mooring and where we can get the parasailor repaired.
Many of the the other boats whose crews we got to know in Las Palmas and Cap Verde have come round to congratulate us and to share experiences with a common greeting of ‘hey well done guys what bits did you break?’
Then comes a lot of exaggerated stories about getting ropes caught round the rudder, engine fires, spinnakers at the bottom of the Atlantic and so on - most of which turned out to be true!
The team has been great - a mixture of talents, characters and ages that somehow got along in a confined space and unusual sleep patterns - one thing that sticks in my mind is the fact that we basically had twelve hours of darkness every day working with dim red lights after sun down to maximise our night vision and avoid waking up the guys asleep between watches.
Al the guys look well as I do - physical activity, pretty healthy eating and drinking and mentally switching off from the news has been a profoundly pleasant experience - shattered when I watched the BBC news this morning and had to come down to earth quite quickly!
Ian and Kathy - great friends who are also keen sailors met Baby Blue in St Lucia with a gift - a song (to the shanty tune of A Wild Rover)
It has been a great adventure with plenty of fun, some anxiety, excitement and camaraderie - but above all, many many thanks to you guys who supported us and followed our progress (and very importantly) supported the charitable donations for Cancer Research and Children in Need.
Thanks and thanks again.
Danny
> Baby Blue Atlantic Voyage 2016
> (Tune: The Wild Rover)
>
> Welcome to Rodney, we're glad you've survived,
> We're convinced it's because of the beer you've imbibed!
> The reception committee has been here a while,
> Our faces are frozen in welcoming smiles!
>
> Refrain:
> And they all love sailing, sailing's what they adore!
> They've sailed the Atlantic but they're ready for more!
>
> Leaving Cap Verde was a bit of a lark,
> How did they avoid all those boats in the dark?
> Hot stuff wasn't quite such hot stuff we can say,
> A crash meant they all had to call it a day. Refrain
>
> Those reliable trade winds just did not persist,
> So the crew's secret weapon they had to enlist.
> But will Baby Blue now be facing expulsion,
> With fan-power used as her means of propulsion? Refrain.
>
> Baby Blue's crew are a competent lot,
> But their halyard came down for the sake of a knot!
> Who was the culprit? They'll never reveal,
> 'Cos Andy would have them hauled under the keel! Refrain
>
> When will they get here, we're all so agog!
> But it's no use whatever consulting the blog.
> Under cover of darkness to Rodney they head,
> While the welcoming party's still tucked up in bed! Refrain.
>
>
>