At the start line!

Pelican
Darryl and Anne Saxton
Fri 6 Nov 2009 17:18
Well here we are at last in sunny Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, ready for the start of the ARC Atlantic Crossing. Outside temperature is 26 degrees and we are all in shorts and suncream! The palm trees are swaying gently in the breeze and the sea is blue!
 
Our trip from Lanzarote to Gran Canaria took 22 hours to cover the 105 miles. Winds were in our favour and we made the full journey under sail, only using engine power to leave and enter the marinas. At one point we were cruising at a speed of 8.5 knots using the Genoa and main sail, which is excellent. We also made some adjustments to the autopilot settings and it's now working brilliantly under both engine and sail.
 
50-ish of the 220 boats taking part are already here. The remainder will arrive over the next week. We are berthed next to a British yacht that normally lives on the Hamble! We have also seen a few other yachts that we have met already on the way down here, including some that we recognise from home.
 
Starting Monday there is a full schedule of activities arranged for us - some serious, some social. In the meantime we hope to tick a few more jobs off the boat job list and enjoy some R&R.
 
We have travelled a distance of 2200 miles to get here, almost as far as the ARC itself!
 
The crew are flying out to join us on 18th Nov and are all buzzing with excitement now that the dream is most definitely a reality.