20th November: Farewell Las Palmas!

Enigma's Transatlantic Voyage
Manuel Ribeiro
Sun 21 Nov 2010 15:45

28:07.35N 15:25.41W

 

The big day is finally approaching!

We write to you from land for the last time in 3 weeks-- and after all the seminars, final preparations and social events, the excitement for this adventure is truly starting to sink in.

Throughout our time in Las Palmas, the 25 years experience of the ARC has been apparent.  The level of organisation, accessibility and fun has made the lead up to the sail very special. We met many new faces that we cannot wait to see on the other side; we learnt a lot through the various seminars, workshops and demonstrations made; and we now have answers for many questions we had coming into Las Palmas.

As for us, the last couple of days have been a wrap up of the remaining preparations.  Painting marks on the anchor chain, sorting out boat communications, filling the water tanks, attending the skippers’ briefing and arranging the kilos and kilos of fresh produce are some of what has been done to ensure that we are all set to go. And judging by the general mood of the crew tonight, it seems as though there is not much else on everyone’s minds besides sailing off!

Now for some logistics: From now on, we will be connected online via satellite phone. The low bandwidth of this connection means that we will only be adding one picture per entry from now on. However, we will make sure to keep you updated on a daily basis, so there will be plenty of photos to see in the near future.

With all of this said, the Enigma crew would like to thank those that have been following us through the preliminary stages leading up to the Atlantic crossing. We hope that you share our excitement for the coming weeks and stay tuned for the next entry – the grand departure.

Adios land-dwellers!

Photo 1: The Enigma Crew – ready to start!

Photo 2: Manel and Boyan enjoying land.

Photo 3: Last dinner on land (eating steak of course!)

JPEG image

JPEG image

JPEG image