Pickeled in Las Palmas
19 November 2010 | Las Palmas, Gran Canaria
Peter
We are down to the last 36 hours before we leave. ARC Village is overflowing with crew that have flown in, family members wanting to send off the boats, and so many others. The anchorage is chalk full of boats! This place is bursting!!
And we are soooooo ready to go!! All of the sailors -- at least the ones that have been here any length of time -- are like pickled herring. We are done! Stick a fork in us! We have gone to all the seminars. We have done the parties and happy hours. We have done all of the extra activities. And now we are having to do all of the last-minute prep for this epic voyage!!
Today started with the safety briefing for the crew. It is pretty extensive and intensive. And with the various interruptions common around here, took the whole morning!
After the safety briefing, Elise and I went for the third and final time to the huge supermarket, Corte Ingles, to make our final, final purchase. Tomorrow it gets delivered -- meats, cheeses, and produce. But today was the hardest. Waiting in the market for hours trying to check out (along with a dozen of your cohorts who also have a massive purchase) was killing us. So much to do and there we are just waiting.
But finally we get outta there and we almost ran back to the boat. We were both agreed that the thing we needed was a good sail! So as soon as we got back we gathered the crew together, cut the dock lines and went out of the harbor.
Such relief!! To feel the water flowing under the hull, and the wind in the sails, was so therapeutic!! It was exactly what the doctor ordered!! And thank God we did.
As soon as we hoisted the main it became apparent that somewhere along the way we had lost a batten!! Now how that happens, is beyond me. But our mainsail has 4 full-length battens, and only three went up. We couldn't find the darn thing and I thought maybe somebody ripped me off for a batten. It sounded weird, but I couldn't come up with a better explanation.
Later I realized that the batten was not stolen, but I still don't know how it fell out. But at least going for the daysail helped us find out one was missing. What if we had gone out there for the start of the 2,800 nm journey and found out at the last minute?!!! We also found one or two other items that little ship gremlins must have snatched. They are of no consequence, but it just makes me wonder "What is going on?"
I couldn't help but smile at Tim and Andy during our sail. It was their first time feeling the boat move. They were all over the boat like a couple of kids in a candy factory -- checking sail shape, adjusting trim. Tim immediately assumed the domain of foredeck while Andy was not to be out done and took over driving the boat either at the helm or trimming the kite. They were alive in their soul for their love of sailing, and all it could do was put a big ole smile on my face.
Tomorrow we do the Skipper's Briefing and a myriad of last-minute shopping. But basically we are ready to go. But alllll the activities of the last 2 weeks has me slightly burnt out. So I am working really hard to enjoy and cherish these last 36 hours!