It is Saturday and tomorrow we and 238 other yachts start for St. Lucia. We have enjoyed our time in Las Palmas, but are really looking forward to getting out to sea.

This morning all the ARC participants went through a formal check  out process.

Followed by a skipper’s meeting. Chris Tibbs gave a weather heads up. Looks like the upper level cut off low and its associated trough is sticking around, creating a block of headwinds in the middle of the course. A very complex routing scenario for the race boats. For us it is a matter of staying comfortable.

Chris’s recap is shown above for those of you following the detail. Bottom line right now is this is probably not going to be a fast year.

The marine stores are buzzing with cruisers making last minute purchases, the prices  of which are surprisingly low.

Back on our quay the local fruit and veggy vendors are making deliveries. It has been a while since we have seen a banana stalk onboard a yacht.

These folks are washing everything to hopefully  offload any unwanted visitors (AKA cockroaches).

We’ve been saying goodbye to old acquaintances and new. We will be gone from St Lucia before most arrive if things go to plan. Our day ended aboard Moonshadow whose crew is chafing at the bit to get into action.

We will be posting reports on SetSail via Iridium sat phone during the crossing. You can track the fleet progress on the ARC website by clicking here. Our position is shown on the “open” fleet  page here.