ARC
22 November 2009
The ARC crew: Trevor, Andrew, Adrian and Chris
We start at 1300hrs today from outside the harbour here in Las Palmas. The partying has been good. The seminars and organisation excellent. Most maintenance issues were completed but the Schaub Lorenz TV, bought in France, was just out of its one year warranty (a joke anyway) and we couldn't get a new part. It joined the jetsam stacked up in the car park.
The Aussie flag was carried in the parade to the hoisting area by children from Nike, one of the few other Aussie boats. Two others, including myself, carried their Aussie boat flag. It was a good show.
Las Palmas has an old town that we enjoyed, especially Christopher Columbus' home and now museum. The cathedral was impressive and I managed to sneak through a door that a staff member had left slightly open and saw some amazing things before I was asked to leave.
Wifi has been a big problem, as always, with limited access caused by the number of people trying to get on to poorly managed installations. Just walking around and waiting for a connection takes hours.
The five dunnies in the shower blocks for the 800 or more male crew on ARC boats survived reasonably well.
We found muesli and Pier 19 has lovely waitresses, oh and the food's good too.
It will soon be time to crank up the volume on "I come from a land down under ..." as we leave our cramped berth. If you want to check our progress across the Pond go to www.worldcruising.com/arc/ and click on the Fleet Viewer on the right hand side.
See you in St Lucia.