Sunday 24
November (Richies
log)
Ready,
steady
Go! Our start time is 13:00 today! The multi-hull and racing divisions
will go first, then its us.
Our
preparation last night was to go to the best restaurant in the marina and enjoy
our last stable, sit down meal on solid ground and of course to savour the last
few drops of alcohol, including the most delicious G&T ever, before getting
on our dry boat for the next three weeks. (Actually, Alex and I did manage to
get one last sneaky pint in this morning after our final gym session but we have
been keeping that a secret until now, oh well, never mind).
We are ready
to go, Manfred is playing it cool, he says we go first, so we do and follow in
line with the other 219 boats into the harbour. Albatross comes out behind us
and already he is jumping in front of us before we have even left the marina,
typical German! Lol. We get into the harbour and, as far as we are concerned, it
is just a matter of trying to find the safest bit of space we can, but we have
to be on the seaward side of the officials vessel and behind the two yellow
buoys marking each end of the start line. No rush, we pootle about near the back
of the field. We listen on VHF radio to the start count down for the racing
divisions, then at 13:00 its our countdown! We are on our way, along with so
many other boats- all heading for the same destination some 2700 nautical miles
away!