We have been caught up in the ARC whirl. There are evening events to attend, cruisers to chat up, a talk to give, all interspersed with our continuing FPB endeavors. We have yet to see the lights out before 0100.

Today opening ceremonies are going on off our stern,

and a parade with flags from the 29 countries representing the ARC fleet (there are 239 entrants at present).

There are all manner of participants in the parade.

Each dressed for the occasion.

Some costumes are more comfortable than others.

And it must be hard to pay attention while you wait your turn in the limelight.

Cool headgear is everwhere.

And photographers abound.

Finally the drum major strikes a beat and the dancers are off.

Then a military salute.

A boat length away a row of booths awaits, the first of which is awash in fruits and veggies.

The annual dinghy “race” commences off the bow.

This is hard core competition.

Speaking of which, there are a couple of formidable looking line honors contestants moored nearby.

Peter Blake’s Whitbread ketch, Steinlager,  could do the passage in ten days or less.

The big blue Swan next to Wind Horse might be even quicker.

The elapsed time record is 11 days and five hours. Being an Unsailboat we are not racing. And in the right conditions either of these 80 footers would easily show us their sterns. But St. Lucia is a long way off weather wise, and while we don’t have their speed potential, what we do have is a consistent 11 knots. Not that we are racing.

Speaking of St. Lucia, one of our dinner party last night, Sir Eldridge Stephens, the High Commissioner of St. Lucia, was aboard Wind Horse today with Chelsea, a member of the tourism board. We were discussing motorboat stability and our ability to come back from a capsize and he mentioned that a freighter recently turned over and sank in St. Lucian waters.

Tomorrow we do our pre passage engine room check, polish the props, and make a provisioning run.