Now it is time for almost 200 expectant Atlantic sailors to begin the long voyage across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. We ourselves have been in the same situation in 2019 and know how many things there are to arrange when it is the first time you cross the Atlantic.

The first days in Las Palmas are filled with activities; such as Friday gathering with the other Swedes in the guest harbor; dinner on board Space with Mirja and Håkan; waving off all the boats that will sail to the Caribbean; contacts with the marina about getting a berth when The ARC boats have started; compile a list with boat jobs we need to finish before we are visited by our daughter and her grandchildren in December.

Fireworks near Sally

The day before the start of ARC 2022, we hear an announcement on the Vhf radio. They will shoot fireworks from the pier later that day. Boats that are too close to the pier may be damaged and asked to move. We are too close and are moving immediately. We are lucky and find a place further away that still is not too far out into the harbor basin where the big cruising ships are.

Start for ARC 2022 from Las Palmas

Sunday November 20th is the time for all hopeful sailors to finally set sail for Saint Lucia in the Caribbean. It will take them about three weeks to sail across the Atlantic Ocean.

Nordic sailing boats

I think we managed to take pictures of all the Nordic boats that were to start today, except for a Finnish Swan 65, Vahine. Don’t know if they were early or late to start.

The Swedish boat Take Off will drop the mast when they have sailed about half the distance to St Lucia in the West Indies. All on board survived and other boats participating in the ARC 2022 were able to help them with fuel. This help allowed Take Off, with its own engine and emergency rig, to make it all the way to Rodney Bay on St Lucia. They have written about the incident on Facebook.

Other European boats

The entire starting field is almost 200 boats large and I only have pictures of some of the non-Nordic participants.

The starting line is a bit outside the harbor area and from a distance the starting area looks very crowded when almost 200 sailboats are going off at the same time. Even though they have to sail for about 3 weeks, most people want to cross the starting line as close to the start as possible.

In a few days we will be visited by our daughter with her kids and until then we have to make the boat suitable for 3 more people. There are also some repairs and replacements of equipment that need to be done this winter and I want to order the stuff as son as possible since it takes time to transport things to the Canary Islands.

The islands are in their own customs zone, which means that deliveries here often get stuck in customs because some document they need is missing and if you leave the wrong information, it will be significantly more expensive.

To stay in shape, I usually try to do several power walks each week. One nice walk goes up to the church on the mountain above the guest harbor.

Up next

In the next story, we get a visit from our grandchildren and it will be an intense week for us grandparents.