Ready, Steady, Go! — A Race Across the Atlantic

A Race Across the Atlantic. The Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC-2015) is due to start from Gran Canaria on 22 November. The maxi yachts will cover the 2,700 miles to the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia in about two weeks. Medium-sized yachts (like ours) and smaller ones will take three to four weeks. With the rally approaching, the anchorages and marinas of the Canary Islands are crowded with people and packed with yachts. Lady Mary spent the summer in the marina at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where she and the captain underwent repairs and were fitted out until early October. As part of an effort to clear the marinas of yachtsmen idling about, Lady Mary was asked to leave Las Palmas Marina by the beginning of October. So the captain moved to an anchorage outside the harbour wall and intends to stay there until the race across the Atlantic begins. (Incidentally, there are quite a few convenient anchorages in the Canaries.) We already saw the ARC off in 2011. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Marina was overflowing with participants and supporters. We strolled along the pontoons, imagining ourselves living the family yacht life and watching families with two-month-old babies in the cockpit, living aboard as naturally as could be. Incidentally, the youngest participant in ARC-2011 to cross the Atlantic Ocean was 8 months old (!). There were Russian crews among the participants too. Puffing themselves up with the importance of taking part in passages worthy of the great Columbus, the lads responded without much enthusiasm to greetings in their native language, turning their backs to display the branded Atlantic Rally for Cruisers — 2011 lettering. We did not insist. Our eighteen-month-old Lada made friends with a girl her own age from Bulgaria, while we asked her parents about how they sailed their yacht from Varna to the Canaries every autumn, and back again in spring. A couple of years later, we began talking about a transatlantic passage aboard our own boat, and I even suggested crossing the ocean with the ARC. You know, so it wouldn’t feel quite so lonely out there :). We won’t make it in time to join this year’s participants, but at least we have a chance to watch. The areas beside the pontoons are plastered with notices from people hoping to sign on as crew—or in any other capacity—aboard yachts heading across the ocean. Here’s the funniest one: “A 30-year-old woman wishes to sail to the Caribbean—or, at a pinch, Cape Verde—and asks to be taken on as crew in any capacity. She has yachting experience and has sailed in Denmark, speaks 5 languages plus three with a dictionary ), loves helping in the galley and growing gardens. She can paint and carry out repairs, do admin and look after children. She absolutely adores the sea in any weather, as well as hiking, singing songs with a guitar and practising yoga; she is inspired by reading and is highly sociable.” — In short, not a crew member but a real treasure. 🙂