The marina in Las Palmas is filling up with boats for the ARC+ (via Cape Verde to Grenada) and ARC (direct to Saint Lucia) rallies and the atmosphere is building. We are on a pontoon with all the family boats, so the children are getting to know each other well and spend their time running up and down the pontoon going from boat to boat. There are many nationalities on the pontoon – Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Swedish, German, Australian, American, Canadian – all here to cross the Atlantic together. Although English is not the first language of many boats, the children manage to communicate and find ways of playing together, and everyone is very friendly.
Boats all across the marina are displaying their ARC and ARC+ flags, and many are “dressed overall” with international maritime flags in celebration of the rallies. In total there are 91 boats taking part in the ARC+ rally starting on 5th November, with 160 further boats taking part in the ARC rally starting two weeks later.
On Sunday there was a rally opening ceremony with all 30 different nationalities carrying their national flag, parading around the marina behind a brass band and followed by a group of drummers. When we reached the end of the marina each flag was raised on a flagpole and the rally was declared “open”.
Amidst the celebrations, boat preparations are the major focus at the moment, with a lot of issues still to resolve before departure, including making sure the engine is working properly, re-fixing the autohelm, and repairing the furling mechanism of the headsail. Valent was lifted out of the water a couple of days ago so that a new ropecutter could be fitted underneath, and the day fuel tank was scrubbed clean of diesel bug. A new sail (parasailor) is arriving hopefully soon, and on 1st November we take delivery of a new Starlink system, which should make us more easily contactable while at sea.
Provisioning is another big focus, and the freezer is now full of Will’s pre-cooked meals, many types of meat, and enough variety to feed a hungry crew over the whole Atlantic passage. Fresh food provisioning will be done in the last couple of days to keep the food as fresh as possible before departure.
Last Friday we left Will to get on with various boat jobs and I took the girls away from the boat chaos to join a forest regeneration project, travelling to the mountains to help with reforesting part of Gran Canaria with local varieties of trees. A group from the ARC+ boats, both adults and children, worked with a local forestry project to plant over 100 new trees, bringing the total planted by ARC and ARC+ volunteers to over 3,000 trees to date.
We have also found time to explore the old town of Las Palmas, visiting the house where Christopher Columbus reputedly stayed while having repairs done to his rudder (we know how he felt), the old cathedral and the Canary Islands museum. There is a swimming pool within the marina which the girls have been going to every day, including one evening when they swam by moonlight.
Amongst all this, our near neighbours from Woking, Julie and Stewart, were over in Las Palmas on holiday last week, and it was lovely to meet up with them a couple of times.
In the next few days there will be many seminars on various subjects to attend, including downwind sailing tips, route and weather, satellite communications, and a guide to the Atlantic night sky. Added to the boat preparations and with various drinks parties and crew dinners to attend in the evenings (it’s not all work), this looks set to be a very busy period in the lead up to the rally start date on the 5th November.
Our additional crew Neil, Mike and Dwight will be arriving to join us on 31st October and 1st November, a few days prior to departure. My sister Alex is also coming over for a few days to wave us off.
Plus on 31st October there will be Halloween trick or treating on the family boats pontoon, with boats being decorated and all the children dressed up – it will give the Woodham Waye trick or treating back at home a run for its money!
