Friday 19^th November

I arrived in Las Palmas late on Wednesday evening. As the last crew member to arrive. I quickly realised I had worked a blinder, stepping aboard Shaya Moya to be graciously greeted by Jane and Tony with a cold beer and a very well organised and fully provisioned yacht. I hadn’t intended to side step the joy of provisioning but listening to the tales of multiple hikes to the El Corte Ingles, I was glad I had.

Skipper Don and Reece are spending the last few days ashore with their family who have arrived to give them a royal send off.

The last few days have flown by, with a mixture of checking and double checking spares and provisions and supplementing where necessary. The biggest task is creating storage spaces for everything and hoping we stand some chance of finding it again. We were joking this morning that Don will be finding food in the bilges for many years to come.

We all met up last night at the Oyster Owners cocktail party, executed with the usual Oyster panache. It was good to hear other owners and crews experience, or lack of it and their individual expectations for the event.

With one more full day before the off, we have just the skippers briefing in the morning and the rest of the day for us each to ensure we have anything we may need for the next 21 days. The whole crew seem to be very relaxed and ready for our pending adventure. The meticulous planning and organisation for this trip is really paying dividends, especially when we look at the frantic activity on other yachts and last minute repairs being undertaken on the pontoons.

Off this evening to the ARC farewell party hosted by the Mayor of Las Palmas, the local community are very openly enthusiastic about the event, I’m sure it’s not just because of the one million Euros that must be spent in local restaurants and Chandlers!

Dave – First Mate

A neighbouring Yacht Dora may have a stowage problem!!                                                    Shaya Moya ready to go.