ARC blog 2019 - Day 1

Day 1, Sunday November 24, 2019 Wow, finally the day came when it's time to go. Even though our boat Sirli was delayed to Las Palmas and put some obstacles in the wheel for our planning, it could not have been better than the feeling that occurs in the body right now. Of course, if I had to choose before, I would not have chosen that the boat would be late, but in retrospect I would not want it to be different, it has led to great contrasts that have made us a good group and which now led to total happiness when, after hard work, we got everything done on time. The day started with breakfast at 07:30, as there was a little too little porridge cooked, the question came up whether we had really bought enough oatmeal. A question that may sound banal to many, but when you realize that what is on the boat is what you will live on for the next few weeks, it feels good to check it now and not wait until it is too late. After fixing the last thing on the boat, swabbing the deck and the last purchase, it's time for a team photo. You think that this photo is something you want to have as a memory for life, so when an elderly Spaniard who can hardly speak English or walk, you get a little worried. But after seeing the pictures, you become happy, the picture itself may not be of the highest quality but you see the energy and joy in the gang to soon be able to throw off. This "gang" I am talking about consists of 10 people that I will return to more during the journey, but I think I will start with myself. My name is Patrik and many who read this probably know me mostly as a seller at More Sailing, it is often me you talk to on the phone or email when booking a trip. I am 31 years old and have been living in Gothenburg for 10 years. I grew up a bit north of Gothenburg near the sea and have as a young person not sailed much more than with friends and their families. I love to travel so even though I am not a good sailor myself, I have found that sailing is the perfect way to travel where you get to new places every day and you have your accommodation in fantastic places around the world. That being said, the Atlantic is a bit out of my comfort zone but it's also the adventure I'm looking for. The clock strikes 10:30, we take our last steps on solid ground and cast off. The atmosphere is magical and we motor out alongside our sister boat, Shama, which is the same model. We exchange a few sentences with the gentlemen on the other boat before hoisting the sails and heading for the starting area. When the starting gun goes off, the whole crew is excited and we set sail. We had a little fix with the boat just before the start which led to Shama taking the lead but only a couple of hours in we sailed over which felt very fun. The event we participate in ARC, Atlantic Rally for Cruisers is after all a competition with results etc. but it is just as much a social event which we have experienced during the past week in Las Palmas. When we sail on for a few hours, we had our first crew meeting where we go through the coming days' weather and our first watch schedule. We have a watch schedule to know who is responsible for the boat's progress and cooking and washing up. There are lots of different variations of watch schedules but we have chosen to start with one where we get 4 hours of watch during the day and 2 hours at night. I was assigned to the guard who would cook dinner which I started right away, conveniently enough, we have prepped most of the food at Las Palmas so I only had to heat the bolognese and cook pasta. Right after dinner I jumped on my first shift, 20:00-24:00. The evening/night watches consist of two people and this watch I held together with Anna, a good Gothenburg woman who I got along very well with but who unfortunately has drawn the nitlot to go on some nasty seasickness during the beginning of the sailing. My and Anna's watch was fast-paced as it blew on good and high seas, a while into the watch we had to tear the jib to be able to maneuver the boat more easily. When the watch is over, we go down to wake the next watch and when they have taken over, we go down to write a logbook. The funny thing about this guard protection was that when we switched, we realized that the clock on the plotters was misaligned so it was only 23, which meant that my and Anna's guard was 1 hour shorter than planned, but Fredrik "Chef" and Kicki said that they offered that hour when they were already awake, in compensation I attracted coffee to them. I am so incredibly happy that I can be part of this, looking forward to the coming weeks' adventures!