Day 1 – Noon 19^th May to Noon 20^th May

Finally the waiting was over. We cast off and headed for the start line inside St Georges harbour – Bermuda. The entrance to the harbour is very narrow so it was always going to be interesting getting 20 yachts through the passage at the same time. Some clearly want to race while others adopt a more leisurely approach. But we all got through without any collisions and then headed out into the Atlantic.

Conditions were ideal for the start and we were soon making great progress in the right direction at over 7 knots. How long will it continue?

We quickly got a lucky omen. A very large pod of dolphins came to play for over 20 minutes. They were a small in size species with lots of dappling on their under bellies. Extremely energetic and active, one jumped at least ten foot out of the water. They must do that for pure enjoyment because they were not hunting anything at the time.

I wonder who the leader of their pack is – suddenly they all head off in another direction as if one has sent a signal to the rest. I guess I’ll never know.

Let’s hope the lucky omen gives us fair winds all 1800 miles to Horta.

Paul - Peejay