The Final Blog

Dear Shaya Moya blog followers. Let me apologise for not posting a blog yesterday as we were all caught up in the excitement of completing our voyage across the Atlantic.

Several days ago we had plotted a waypoint at the position where theoretically we should be able to sight land. This position was derived from a formula which takes into account your eye height above sea level and the height of the land based object you are looking to spot. As it turns out, I also believe it assumes you have eyesight as powerful as the Hubble telescope. None the less, this focused the crew’s attention on our end goal, also the realisation that we were genuinely nearing our destination and the completion of this great adventure. The navigation decisions were now once again based on avoiding bumping into things rather than looking for wind. We had been running before the wind for the previous four days with great boat speed. Helped by a large following swell, Shaya Moya was surfing towards St Lucia. During this spell, we posted our best days performance of 214 miles in 24 hours and most importantly this was directly towards our destination.

Our final significant course change was a gybe south east of Martinique to allow us to broad reach around the North West corner of St Lucia to Rodney Bay and the finish line. We were very keen to fly “big orange” around the buff of Pigeon Island, the last promontory of land before entering Rodney Bay, we visualised what a great spectacle this would make from the shore, particularly when this magnificent sail was expertly retrieved and the Genoa instantly unfurled for the beat to windward across the finish line. The more cynical of you may suggest this was tempting providence. As much as I hate to admit it, the inevitable happened. The spinnaker snuffer jammed, probably as a consequence of the previous “challenging” retrieval. By the time we had smothered the beast, we had practically sailed right across the bay and down wind of the finish line. Ironically we had to tack three times in ten minutes to make the finish line. This is more than we had generally tacked in any twenty four hour period during the preceding three weeks.

We had finally made it!!            The team on the Arc committee boat cheered enthusiastically as we finished and we certainly finished in style. The crew had donned our team shirts and base ball caps, shosholoza the South African inspirational sports anthem was playing at full volume on the yacht sound system and the finishing horn was accompanied by Reece on the Vuvuzela.

Before we could begin the self congratulations we still had work to do. We had been handed to ARC berthing and had to prepare fenders and mooring lines for the first time in 3000 miles sailing. The entrance to the marina was quickly identified, remembering the channel markers in the USA and Caribbean are the opposite way round to the UK and Europe, well they would be wouldn’t they. The entry to the inner harbour is along a narrow channel lined with fisherman’s shacks, small boat repair yards and failed bar and restaurant projects so typical of the Caribbean. Passing dinghies, local fishing boats and even the local Police patrol boat applauded us as we passed them.

The main body of Rodney bay marina has been modernised extensively by International Global Yachting who have also developed pontoons for 150 foot super yachts and the entire infrastructure to support them. The marina is huge and easily capable of swallowing up the 250 yachts arriving with the ARC, although we suspect regular berth holders may have been incentivised to find alternative accommodation during the next two weeks.

We were allocated a berth number and quickly identified it amongst the labyrinth of pontoons. The other obvious clue was the huddle of yellow shirted ARC staff, the steel band and welcome committee waiting at our berth. As we manoeuvred around the marina to our spot, all the sailors aboard yachts that had already arrived were cheering us along, sounding fog horns and playing music through their PA systems. As soon as our lines were secure, we were each handed a rum cocktail and a case of freezing cold beer. Welcome to St Lucia!

Now was the time for self congratulation, hugs and high fives all round.

The band moved on in readiness for the next arrival and we sat quietly reflecting on what we had achieved. It seemed surreal that we were sat on a tropical Caribbean Island and we had sailed here from Europe.

Don announced that the crew would be allowed two days R&R before the serious boat cleaning commenced. We had of course to first wash the decks and rigging down with fresh water to remove the salt crystals that now coated the whole yacht. This was very hot work and the cold beer was quickly consumed. I will add at this point that when you are tired and de-hydrated, it’s probably not advisable to attempt the re-hydration process with rum cocktails and local Piton beer that is five percent proof. By eleven o’clock that night, the crew who were going to paint the ARC temporary village red, were blancmange and ready for bed. Reece awoke the following morning convinced he had been robbed the previous night, it was not until the following day when the crew from ‘Can Do Too’ with whom we’d been with that previous evening, insisted on buying Reece a drink, for having paid for their dinner. The mystery of the missing cash was solved.

We have now to wait until the prize giving on the 18^th of December to know how we finally faired in the ‘rally’. This genuinely is very much secondary to the sense of achievement we all personally feel. This was very evident at last nights Early Arrivals party where everyone had their own stories about the barriers and challenges they had overcome to firstly be able to take part and also their adventures along the way.

I was envious listening to some peoples plans to continue from here to all corners of the globe, some very modest, some very adventurous. To some this was the culmination of a lifetime’s ambition, to others it was just the start of a much bigger voyage of discovery. I’m certain that the experiences of the last three weeks will have convinced some that the cruising life is not for them. For others it will have confirmed their desire to fulfil their dreams, but for everyone this will have been a unique privilege and achievement that will provide them with some wonderful memories that will last for the rest of their lives and friendships that will endure long after the ARC is just a memory.

Signing out from the Shaya Moya Blog.

Dave – Landlubber once again.