Wednesday has brought another busy day in Muelle Deportivo as the ARC+ fleet get closer to their departure date from Las Palmas and set their sails destined to the island of Sao Vincente situated to the North West of the Cape Verde Archipelago. Seminars are now completed after further informative and popular presentations were delivered by our experienced speakers.
Day two of seminars proved as popular as day one, as talks on the following topics were covered:
- Rigging – Jerry Henwood
- Route & Weather – Chris Tibbs
- Provisioning: Clare Pengelly
- Cape Verdes & St Lucia – Andrew Bishop
- Returning to Europe – Chris Tibbs & Andrew Bishop
The docks were also a hive of activity on this sunny Wednesday as crews make further preparations leading up to their Atlantic circuit commencing on Sunday afternoon. Many yachts are now completing their provisioning, whilst others are waiting until nearer the departure date and are instead focussing on final sail repairs, engine maintenance and safety checks. Yellowbricks are now also being installed onto each ARC+ yacht, these brand new GPS trackers will stay onboard throughout the rally and ensure friends and family back on land can track each boat’s progress as they make their way to the warmer waters of the Caribbean.
Jerry completes rig checks to the ARC+ fleet Crew from Yacht Oda works on the main sail
The ARC+ crew numbers have swelled over the last few days as many people have flown into Gran Canaria to join their rally yachts, so we anticipate a lively and busy costume party at the Club Maritimo Varadero this evening. The ‘fantasy’ themed party commences at 20:30 and will continue on into the night.
Thursday’s emphasis is on Safety for the ARC+ fleet, kicking off at 09:45 with a flare demonstration and supervised deployment; taking place at the Northern breakwater of the marina. Following this a liferaft demonstration will take place in the swimming pool at the Varadero Club, lead by James Pearson from Hamble School of Yachting. This is an ideal opportunity for anyone who has not witnessed a liferaft inflation before.