Preparations
Infinity of Yar
Giles & Jane Peckham
Sun 5 Nov 2023 10:23
The time is nigh! After sitting in the marina at Las Palmas tinkering since the 25th of October, we have finally reached game-day. The countdown is over. Our adventure begins…
The last few days have been full enough learning all sorts of things about celestial navigation, pelagic fishing, and emergency sea survival. We have provisioned the boat with our stores, cooked up lots of portions of meals to keep in the freezer, stuffed emergency water supplies anywhere not otherwise used. We’ve been up the rig and down beneath the boat: one to prep the rig for 3000nm of downwind sailing and the other to try to retrieve an iPhone that went overboard.
Around all of that, we have somehow found time to catch up with friends, go out for some wonderful meals, and been treated to some great hospitality by the ARC+ organisers. I’ve been up the mountains to plant some trees, out in the harbour for a shake-down sail, and beneath the waves on the south of the island for a couple of dives.
Over the next few days we look forward to some strong winds down to Cape Verde. It’s likely to be pretty rough on our way away from Gran Canaria, but should settle in once we’re clear of the island. The passage is 850nm and likely to take about 5 days. I’ll be sure to keep the blog up to date with text and some photos will follow once we have arrived in Mindelo and have access to wifi. For now, we’ve a boat to clean!
From Hugo
