We are now going into the 4th night (?) and we have done great progress. Finding it hard keeping track on whar day it is. Before starting we did not have any idea of how this journey would be. The longest sail offshore we have had is 4,5 days from Lagos Portugal to Las Palmas. Considering our sailing experience I think we are doing pretty well. Hello World is our first boat and we bougth her unseen when it was in Bermuda and we got the boat in early July in Norway. We started our trip to Las Palmas 16. July from Stavanger, Norway. Håkon have done some sailing in holidays, but none of us has any experience to brag about. We just learned on our way and on this passage we learned more about our light wind sails. We love them!
When we sit here writing we are first in our class (1E), 11 overall cruising and 26 overall! We know that this may change as the boats taking the southern route picks up som more speed and the MCF and TCF are included. Anyway - we enjoy it as long as it will last! We also see that boats with lover TCF are not far from us and based of our calculations they will beat us on the finish line if they keep their speed up.
Before departure we studied the weather and we all agreed on going north getting the wind from the side. We have actually not done much downwind sailing as we had head wind sailing from Norway down to southern Europe. We are lucky to have a gennakker and a code zero giving us great speed with the light winds from the side. The boat goes nice and steady through the water making life onboard very comfy, even when the boat goes in 7-8,5 knots! She is doing very well. According to ARC on the skippers briefing the southern trades was recommended, but we very happy to look once more and trust ourself and the boat. It will be nice to talk to everyone on the finish line hearing all the stories and how other boats planned their route and what sails they used.
We have not got any fish yet and one fish stole our favorite lure :( We have made a lot of good food on the trip so far even without any catch of the day. Today the skipper served fresh and homemade baguettes - Håkon and Eskil eat it all! Next days we will eat Thai red curry and homemade tikka masala <3
Food is important - makes crew happy :) Beside no fish we got a visit from a cute little bird that needed a place to rest. And we have also seen a lot of dolphins — always fun when they visit us dancing in front of us.
During these days we are very happy to be a part of the ARC rally - the friendly community is very nice to have out here at sea! People calling up wishing you a nice watch, tell if they caught some fish or just calling for a friendly hello. We have surprisingly met a lot of other boats! We thought that we would be alone after 1-2 days. Guess we are many boats taking the same route. Also a big thanks to ARC sending status reports and weather forecasts. And a thanks to all family and friends updating us many times a day with our new position. 12:00 has become our favourite time where we sit together and read our new position and plotting the position of the other boats.
We are having a gret time at sea and looking forward to the days ahead.
Best,
Marte, Håkon and Eskil
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