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.
