On our way to Oban!

Tonight during my night watch we finally hoisted the main and the staysail. We were not yet racing but it felt really good to finally stop motoring. There was a big storm north of us with lots of lightning but it did not affect us. A beautiful spectacle.

This morning very early we did our man overboard drill and all went brilliantly and then it was finally time for race start!! The start itself was not very espectacular because just before the start time, the wind basically changed 180 degrees and mostly died. So the start was just a bunch of boats all limping around, prepared for a different wind. Then the 10 minutes passed and we were able to hoist the spinnaker code 1

Then the fleet started to disperse and we have been sailing all day under a gentle wind of around 10 knots and the spinnaker up, really comfortable conditions. We have a lot of clouds but no rain, so very nice conditions weather wise as well

We were visited by a couple of groups of dolphins, I'm glad that Angus was sleeping at the time! 

Motoring is boring

There's no way around it: motoring is boring and we have been motoring since yesterday night, so we are a little bit bored. I can't imagine what it must have been for the guys in leg 7 who motored for 9 days on their way to Panama! We have not even hoisted the main or any other sail, so we just pass the time getting to know each other, and getting used to our watches and the tasks that we need to perform every day.

We are all looking forward to tomorrow, when the race will start and we will all be in our way to Oban and our loved ones.

Highlights of the day include being able to helm the yacht, even if it's under power, and seeing a flock of pelicans. These birds are outstanding and graceful, love them!

And we are off!!

We have finally slipped our lines and I could not be happier. I will now be able to fulfil my dream of crossing an ocean and live the greatest adventure of my life.

We started the day with the last victualling purchases of fresh food and I also spent some time organising my things on board. Then after lunch everything finally started. We took the group picture with all the crews, then moved on to the stage where we were able to dance to our team song, then paraded to the boat, then the media team took our boat picture and then finally we slipped our lines and we were off.

It was a quite emotional time. I reflected on all the journey that has taken me here: the excitement of signing up, the first trainings, going through the pandemic, crew allocation, flying to Punta, my accident, my recovery and being finally here. I felt elated.

It was also quite emotional saying goodbye to my wife over the phone. I'm really going to miss her but I know she will be supporting me all the way and will be waiting for me with all her love in Portsmouth.

After slipping the lines we did the parade of sail and the send-off was brilliant. We sailed under the fireworks with Mike holding a flare at the bow, all under a beautiful sunset. A magic moment that I will never forget.

We have just sailed under the bridge (it was great fun to shout "Vamos Punta" under the bridge and have the echo return our shout) and we have now started our motoring towards the race start, which will happen on Thursday.

The Moment of Truth

After five years of waiting, after a pandemic and two race postponements, after falling down a hatch and breaking two knee ligaments, after having to cancel my participation in legs two and three and after being offered the possibility of doing leg eight, the moment of truth has arrived and I am about to start my great adventure.

Our time in Washington has been really nice, I have been able to visit all the main sights and to do some additional activities like biking around town or kayaking on the Potomac. We also did some really wonderful team activities like our party or our crew dinner.

But it feels that the time is passing really slowly, we are all ready to start sailing and what we want is that time passed fast and we finally departed. We did our refresher training and our crew brief. All the victualling activities are done and the boat is ready. So it is great that tomorrow we will be slipping our lines and start motoring towards the start line. 

I am super excited, I will keep you posted!!