Almost all the boats in the ARC January fleet have now arrived in IGY Rodney Bay Marina in Saint Lucia, the remaining five boats are due to arrive over the next two days with all due in before the prizegiving ceremony on Saturday.
Yesterday evening the ARC January Welcome Party was held with an evening sunset cruise onboard a catamaran. Participants were welcomed onboard with rum punch and after a cruise out to Marigot Bay at dusk with views of the island lit up at night, the boat returned to Rodney Bay with music, dancing and spectacular entertainment including a steel pan musician and local performers.
The event was organised by the Events Company Saint Lucia to welcome ARC January participants to the island and celebrate their huge achievements of crossing the Atlantic. Suzana Tetlow, Operations Director for World Cruising Club greeted participants and congratulated them on their crossings before introducing Rondel Charery, officer from the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority and Mr Calvin Lee, DPS for Tourism Saint Lucia who gave a warm welcome to participants to the island and thanked them for visiting.
It was great to see crews meeting and catching up with their fellow boats and swapping stories of their crossings since they last met in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. Popular topics overheard many times throughout the evening weres tales of fishing on route, with some more successful than others and wildlife spotted on the journey along with many amazing meals shared over sunset watches.