St. Lucia HERE WE COME!!

Aack! One week to go before we cross the Atlantic but at least the “to-do” list is getting smaller. As of today, we have cooked 12 meals (2 per day for 6 days) – lasagna, spaghetti, chicken stew, chili, jambalaya, and chicken tortilla soup.

What a lot of shopping and chopping that took! 5 trips and we still don’t have any fresh stuff…

It’s a good idea to do this ahead of time to get all of the trash off the boat and don’t have to tie it up along the deck for 2 weeks.

I’ve discarded enough containers of beans, chopped tomatoes, and chicken broth to fill several large garbage bags!

Now we have 12 nutritious meals that we only need to “heat and eat” because everybody will be too tired to anything more.

We will eat well!

Anthony has quite a list as well (at least 100 items), Much of it is related to checking all the Safety items:

Rigging
Jack lines
Applying reflective tape to rescue gear
Checking life vest inflation cartridges
Writing the Boat name on Safety equipment
Reviewing spare parts and so much more!

Sunday, Nov. 14^th marked the official start of ARC Rally week and it began with a flag raising ceremony representing all of the countries who are participating (29 countries, 160+ boats). The US flag was raised by a family from California on a boat called “Luna Bay II”.

Anthony at the top of the mast checking the topping lift (the line that holds up the boom) to make sure there is no chafe.

We also had a rescue at sea demonstration so we’d know what to expect if we needed one (which I hope never to need). Notice how the rotors blow the water around the boat – keep in mind that this is a demo – in FLAT water, with NO WIND, which is not typically the case when you need to be rescued.

Our crew member arrived – Paul Berger from Ohana.We met Paul and Becky, and their 2 daughters, 16 years ago crossing the Pacific! Surreal to think he’s sailing with us after all this time!

Early on, it looked like 4 days with no wind, and it looks only slightly better now (< 24 hrs until start). We should have a start to windward in 6-10kts (normally this is downwind)! This wind is expected to die after a few hours, so it looks like we will be motoring for the first 36 hours at least (Sigh…). There is also a big choice to make. Head south along the coast of Africa and try to get into light trade winds around the Cape Verdes (900nm away) with more motoring expected. Or, head west into an area of low-pressure, with wind on the nose, and unsettled conditions (read rain/squalls/cold), but potentially a more direct route with a bigger payoff. See the weather map (left) for Wednesday, 3 days after the start (we are currently where the white dot is).

The parties are over, the COVID tests are negative, the freezer is full…. it’s time to go! The crossing starts Sunday (11/21) at 12:30 pm local time. You can follow along in one of two ways:

1) Download the YB Races App on tablet or iPhone and add the race “Atlantic Rally for Cruisers 2021”

2) Or, use this link: https://www.worldcruising.com/arc/eventfleetviewer.aspx

In both cases, you need to select the ARC 2021 course and NOT the ARC Plus 2021. The latter is for the ARC fleet that crosses via the Cape Verdes (started from here on Nov 7th). The YB Tracker sends our coordinates via satellite every 4 hours.