Las Palmas - 12 November
Dearloves
Sat 12 Nov 2005 20:31
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We are now counting down the final week before we
leave for our Atlantic Crossing. We are working hard to finish off the
jobs list - our safety inspection next Tuesday has helped to get us
focussed on getting the safety related ones done. We have already had a
rig inspection, which did not raise any problems.
Today Alice and Pip went to a children's party on
the beach, organised by the ARC. This gave us 2 hours to do a supermarket
sweep and we managed to order the meat for our voyage (which the shop will
freeze and vacuum pack) as well as the beer, soft drinks and many of the other
foodstuffs that we need for 20 days away. This will all be delivered next
week, so then we just have to find space to stow it on the boat. The
provisioning of the boat is quite a major task, however it has been pointed out
that no-one has ever starved on an ARC boat!
It has been wonderfully sociable for the children
(as well as us) and they have friends all over marina. We have a dedicated
VHF channel to call them back for meals, bed etc! Tomorrow there is
the annual dinghy race, entitled "Don Pedro's International Dinghy Race"
organised by Pedro who runs the fuel dock. In the evening there is a
barbeque, also laid on by Pedro. There are social events every
night.
 Boats dressed overall in the
marina
The boats all look great - most are dressed
overall.
 Alice sitting on deck for her
lunch
 Charlie and Pip in the cockpit
preparing a mango
There is very much an air of anticipation and
everyone is busy getting their boats and themselves ready. Tomorrow we
have a diver coming to scrub the bottom of the boat, so that we are not taking
Mediterranean weed to the Caribbean!
We are looking forward to the arrival of Nick and
Amanda next Thursday.
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