Sunday 9th December – Paul Rosa
Last evening we had a very lovely sail, the beautiful light
of evening and a good breeze, we all did a final helm, slipping along at 9 – 12
knots.
A small group of tiny dolphins appeared around the bows, it
felt like they were welcoming us in.
The asymmetric was lowered for the final time, you will be
pleased to hear without incident, the main and jib up to get us around Pigeon
point and head for that finish line. Of course suddenly confronted with
numerous lights, it is not easy picking out the yacht with an orange banner (in
the dark) but the orange flashing light was easily identified and we were soon
being hooted and congratulated as we crossed the finish – what a huge relief,
our official time 20.25 and 47 seconds!
Eyes straining in the dark we gingerly find our way into the
narrow marina entrance and within ½ hour we are securely tied up along the
dockside – we have done it.
After all those days we are soon standing alongside Paula
Rosa, ice cold rum punch in hand, everyone jubilant, a great mix of happiness
and almost disbelief that we are there. Amazingly a voice shouts Dee and there
is an old friend of Davids , John Bart who had recently completed the ARC plus (same route except that
they head south from the Canaries and stop off at Cape Verde before heading
across to St Lucia. John had been following our progress and it was really
wonderful to be met by a familiar face, thank you John.
We had to have a visit to the bar for a nightcap, everyone
was much too wired to sleep! The crew of Nica soon joined us (they had been hot
on our heels) and we chatted away until we were politely asked to leave the bar
as it was closing! Wills and Pete were invited back to Nica where I believe the
drinking and chatting went on for a good bit longer !!
A fabulous sleep….. quiet, completely still, no alarm, unbelievable!
Finally then as I close my blog, it is with thanks to Paula Rosa and
her motley crew
Eileen has kept us truly fed and watered, all day breakfast (omelettes,
bacon butties you name it) lunch and supper, freshly baked breads and puds – an
amazing job mostly tanking along at various angles
Pol – our Captaine, keeping us all on track, keeping us safe
and keeping Paula Rosa performing.
Sergio – Weather interpretor and navigator, a great source
of knowledge and experience, always smiling
Team Dodd – 3 brothers, all very different, Chris faster
faster but actually lets make a better course, successful watch leader, always
up for a chat,
Nick, helmsman, fisherman, charming and diplomatic,
Pete, initially the least experienced sailor but rapidly
became a key member of the foredeck team and excellent at understanding
technical issues and suggesting solutions!
Team Murray – Wills, great bowman and tactician and
generally lets make this boat go faster
David – helmsman extraordinaire, fixer, suggestor and so
happy that Paula Rosa performed amazingly well
Thank you too to the team of yellow shirts the ARC
organisers for keeping us informed before setting us all off and throughout the
passage, sending weather bulletins, and finally a fabulous welcome into Rodney
Bay! Despite seeing few boats after the first few days it is a great feeling to
know we were all out there together, a great event – thank you and so proud to
have completed it for a 2nd time.
So its farewell to all of you who have followed our progress
fast and slow! We are all so excited we will be all seeing you back home again
soon, thank you
A freshly showered, rested, happy Dee x