finally on our way!
Chill Out
Geoff Evans
Mon 24 Nov 2008 21:33
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Position update
25:23.N 17:13.W
Today is an exciting day! (now yesterday) Bugger
it! Now it's Monday, I did'nt see that the mail was'nt sent, so I'll try
again!
We've been busy the last few days getting the boat
ready, but found time to play a round of golf (18 holes, all par 3's) on Friday
(won't say who won)! Friday night we took a taxi into the old town for a
meal and a few drinks and finished off by going to the official ARC party
close to the marina, which was really good fun.
I'll suffice to say that a late night was had by
all (very late by some) and after a long day
yesterday recovering, and an early night by all, we were all up early this
morning raring to go (just a slight exaggeration)!
There were a lot of last minute jobs to be fixed
and items to be bought, including the fishing gear for the all important "fresh
fish of the day" competition!
The marina was a hive of activity as all the boats
made their last minute preperations, there were bands playing and a it was a
really festive activity as the boats left one by one.
The marina walls were lined by hundreds of people,
and as each boat passed the final pier, they were wished well over the
loudspeaker system, to lots of cheering and waving from the
crowds!!
We cast of our lines at 11:30 and made our way out
of the harbour, it was a really special feeling..hard to describe!
Our start group was at 13:00 and after a bit of
practise, we had our tactics straight and got off to a really good
start.
The boats were all spread out, and after a while we
decided on our course and put the gennaker up..which was interesting as it
had never been used on the boat before.
All went well and we had some good sailing for a
while, when it was time to put in a gybe we realised that there was a problem
with the lowering sock for the gennaker and had to pull the gennaker down into
the cabin to sort out the problem and repack it.
Just after we had done this, we saw another boat
close by with the exact same type of problem, but they were not so lucky and
there sail was ripped into pieces as they tried to get it down.
Its now eight thirty in the evening (now 12:00 next
day) and I am updating via the sattelite telephone which is slow and
expensive, so I'm just adding a couple of pictures to this update
to see how it goes and how long it takes. One of the crew just before
leaving the marina, one of Fireman Bosse using our outdoor
facilities, and one of the view from our office mid Atlantic (well
almost)!
We will do an update every day.
THE SAT PHONE DOS'NT SEEM TO LIKE SENDING
PICS, SO NO PICS ATTACHED TO THIS MESSAGE
Love from all of us onboard to our families and
friends
Jeff Thomas Mats and Bosse
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