36:09.446N 005:21.526W
Telefonica Black
Lance Shepherd
Sat 11 Jan 2020 19:15
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I - Prep Mode On
For those who do not know what we are prepping for: Just
a little trip across the Atlantic where we are looking forward to wearing
flip-flops and the like
 At this moment we are in Gibraltar and we will be leaving for Las Palmas tomorrow afternoon (12th). We expect to arrive there somewhere Thursday(afternoon?) to re-stock on fresh food and leave for Antigua on the 17th ish! It is about 800 nm to Las Palmas and from there to Antigua we will log another 2600 nm. The crew consists of Lance and Claire (who are the
owners), David, Alex and myself (Angela). Towards Las Palmas we have 7 guests
joining us and I am sure I will get around introducing all of them during the
course of the trip.
Right now we are busy with the last chores on our list
as we are waiting for the guests to arrive. The main shopping has been done by
the ever so lovely Claire, the winches have been taken apart - and (luckily)
back together - by David and Alex, the (weather) routing has been done by
Lance (and is most likely to change again tomorrow) and I have been making the
streets of Gibraltar unsafe on an electric scooter looking for a carbon hacksaw.
I was stoked when I finally found one but this was short lived as the scooter
ran out of power soon after. Let's just say it was a good work-out getting back
to the boat.
The boat. Have you seen it? I just posted some pictures
on FB and one of my friends replied with: 'Wow, even a prison looks better..'
It might, but I cannot imagine anything more amazing
than crossing the Atlantic on a race monster like this Telefonica Black.
Looking at the number of people interested and actually joining us, it is not
just me. And believe me, you do not need (much) sailing experience. We are here
to help you, coach you, teach you and make sure you have the time of your life.
Just do not expect to be pampered, get clean sheets or think you can just sit
back and relax.
There are no luxuries, the head is a carbon pot that
moves according to the angle of the boat, there is no real galley (kitchen),
just one pit to boil water on. What do we do for dinner you might wonder?
Well, that consists mainly of freeze dried food. The bunks are stiff hammocks
and can be pulled up depending on the angle of the boat. Last but not least
we pretend to shower by using baby wipes.
What makes this boat so special then? Well, Telefonica
Black has sailed around the world during the Volvo Ocean Race. The purpose of
her now is to give people the experience of life on board a racing machine. Be
it towards the nice blue waters of the Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea on this
trip. In the Caribbean we are planning to sail all the regattas we can offer and
in April she will be heading back to Europe. Please do not hesitate to contact
us if you are interested in joining one of the events and/or the crossing back.
While we are out at sea we will post a blog once a day
(when we download the weather predictions) and we will keep you posted how
things go onboard, our progress and hopefully some funny anecdotes.
Cheers,
Angela
(FB: Angelasails2)
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