After a night on the island of Oland, we had a perfect sail
for the last 15 miles to our final ARC Baltic destination of Kalmar, arriving
earlier than the rest of the fleet in time for Mack and Col’s arrival. As we entered Kalmar marina we heard Mack and
Col calling from the dock; they too at their destination (with panniers full of
bubbly for a certain person’s birthday) having motor-biked over 1,100 miles to
meet us. Tales of both journeys shared
over drinks and barbeque that evening.
Alexandra and Amelia flew in on Friday making us eight on
the boat. We spent Saturday watching the
Ironman competition taking part in Kalmar.
These guys really have to be admired.
Over 2,000 competitors, both pro and amateur, starting their day at 6.55am
with a 3.8km swim off the marina, then out of the water and straight onto their
bikes for a 180.2km cycle ride and then, believe it or not, they ran a 42.2km
marathon. The first competitor crossing
the finish line in just over 8 hours! We sat in the town and watched them on
their circuits with awe while we drank iced coffee and ate cake! The evening ended with fireworks as soon as
the last competitor crossed the line just after 11pm. Watching the fireworks was
also a nice way to see my birthday in.
Sunday was my 50th birthday which started with a
WCC guided tour of Kalmar castle and ended with our final fleet crew
dinner. A really good meal with Joel as
our after dinner speaker. A very cleverly
put together and delivered speech with every boat included along with a slide
show, prizes and certificates presented by Cecilia. There was no particular order in which Joel
spoke about each boat. It was so nice that
Shenanigan was left until last when Joel announced that it was my birthday and
as the Shenanigan gang went up to collect our certificate and prizes the fleet
erupted into song singing Happy Birthday.
Throughout this trip Joel and Cecilia have always gone the extra step to
make everything perfect and tonight was no exception as I was presented with my
own ARC Baltic flag beautifully inscribed with ‘Happy 50th Birthday’
– a real treasure.
Mack and Col left on their bikes the next morning. The girls did a bit of ‘Rea’ (Sale) shopping
before taking the bus to the airport. I’m not good at ‘goodbyes’, did I cry? –
of course I did!
Now preparing to leave Kalmar to head back home. We have had a magical time and it has been
wonderful sharing some of it with you through our blogs. Thank you for reading.
M