The crew of Papillon are now making all of the preparations needed for our Atlantic crossing. Our list of things to do is quite long and the tasks range from trivial nice-to-have items to kind-of-essential necessities. Since day one we have constantly been busy. Fixing, planning, cleaning…. Having a beer, socializing, etc (those things are important too!). Some of the tasks we have accomplished this far include; checking the rig (the mast and its parts) for damage, prepping said rig for an extra inner forestay, checking out of Europe (Yikes!) with customs, emptying, cleaning and sorting almost all cabinets in the boat, and starting to make a food provisioning plan. Other activities have including eating some food at the local sailors’ pub, attending sun-downer parties for arc-racers and representing Sweden in a parade for sailors. Time is such a fleeting concept and it is difficult to estimate how much time something will take. Too much time is the answer - even for the more pleasant experiences! Nevertheless, we are having a blast, short on time or not, and busting our asses off to get done in time whilst still enjoying the ARC-rally social program.