Escapada - Preparations Continue

We have had some delay in updating our diary as everyone has been extremely busy with all of the final preparations for our departure on Sunday. Andreas and Manuel did a great job last week getting much of the most critical work done on Escapada. A full Rig check was completed and necessary corrections made. Escapada was officially registered for the ARC after passing a full series of safety and technical checks and received her ARC 2009 flag which flies proudly from our mast. Peter and Nick arrived on Saturday and immediately joined in the preparations (or at least in the beer drinking). The list of work that still needed to bedone was quite extensive and the Skipper (Andreas) effectively started to distribute the tasks to all of us. Sunday marked the officially opening of the ARC 2009.. read more...

Escapada - Escapada is ready to sail the Atlantic!!

Well, the long awaited day has finally arrived. Escapada is now fully prepared to depart on her transatlantic voyage. The last  two days were extremely intense with work and final preparations. Friday and Saturday we completed the rig checks, replaced all of the lines, fully cleaned the boat and stowed away of the food, water and other supplies. Imagine trying to neatly put away 100 apples, pears, bananas, various vegetables (without bruising them for 20 days), 20 boxes of cereal and over 300 bottles of water. To accomplish this we used all of the space under the floorboards, under the seating and all shelves and cupboards. The fruit and vegetables are all in a net hammock hanging in the saloon. It looks great!! On Friday evening after a strenuous day of final shopping and repairs, we. read more...

Escapada - Escapada enroute to St. Lucia!

Day 1 25.45.79N  017.31.75W Everyone is safe, healthy and well.  We slipped our lines at the Las Palmas marina at 1030 on Sunday and along with 250 other boats headed out to the ARC starting line in the entry harbor of the port. It was a fabulous sight!!. As we left a local band played music,  people lined the banks and cheered everyone on. Fog horns were sounding everywhere, sailors laughing,taking photos of each other and waving to each other on various boats. It was truly fun and a celebration  of life. As we positioned ourselves for the start, we adjusted our sails to get the maximum of the small wind available.  Nick monitored the radio for important communication with the ARC controllers as we moved closer to the starting line. At 1300 UTC the official horn sounded the start of ARC. read more...

Escapada - Day Three in the Atlantic

Day 323.23.70N   021.55.17W Everyone is safe and healthy. We are on our third day in the Atlantic.  The weather is great for sailing. The sun is shining with a temperature of 26 C. Wind is from the North-East ranging from 24-26 knots. We have been absolutely flying and surfing the long Atlantic waves all night long at an average of 8.0 knots SOG. With our Mainsail fully up and our boomed out Genoa reefed we are set on a course of 264 heading directly for St.Lucia. Yesterday we had dolphins swim and play with us. ESCAPADA is a fine Lady and she is holding out very well. When we fly at over 8 knots she likes so much that she even starts to hum and sing to us! We join her, turn on some great Latino music and roll with waves! Everyone is now fully into their daily routines. Watches,. read more...