After taking time back in the U.K. in October to recharge batteries make some more boat purchases and generally have some down time we returned to the Canaries to continue our journey to the start line in Las Palmas.
Sue joined me in Lanzarote for a week for some winter sun and to avoid the rain in the U.K.
We hired a car and explored the island. Teguise, the former capital was particularly nice.
We explored the bars and restaurants of Marina Rubicon and Playa Blanca
I was pleased that we were able to have a few days in and around Fuertaventura. We set off to anchor behind Islas de Lobo. Chrystal clear waters in which we swam and which were surprisingly warm.
We overnighted in a very rocky marina in Fuertaventura but had a lovely dinner, and a leisurely breakfast which was fabulous.
The wind was very generous but the seas were quite big, and so Sue reluctantly decided not to take on the First Mate role for the Atlantic!
I said a sad goodbye to Sue. I’ll miss her during the next month or so.
My next crew mate, Dennis arrived later that day to help with the cleaning of the hull. Dennis and I have sailed a number of times. He’s a pilot living Milan for the summer and on his boat in Lanzarote for the winter, having sailed it singlehanded from Cartagena some years ago.
We took the boat off to Papagayo beach and spent a few hours scrubbing all of the slime off the boat. It wasn’t particularly difficult, but being upside down for a few hours certainly takes it out of you!
The next day, we were joined by our dear friend Joël, who came out to see us and take the ride over to Gran Canaria and then holiday there.
Pete joined on Friday and we immediately set sail for Gran Canaria.
The first job once on our pontoon was to dress the boat, a tradition for the ARC. I was very pleased with how the boat looks and the flags bought at a boat jumble for £10!
The Ark this year has 120 boats crossing the Atlantic and the event starts with a parade on the Sunday morning. Flags from 35 countries were raised and we had some wonderful music from two local bands competing with one another!
Here is our ARC 2022 crew!
We spent the week finishing off some minor repairs.
On the way in, we tangled an underwater line, that ought not to have been there! The Marina sent the divers in to check our propeller and to replace the line. All was good thankfully.
Another task that we’ve been meaning to do is to paint length markings on the anchor and the weather was perfect for that.
I attended a few lectures on Atlantic Sailing and in particular one on the next leg of the journey which is back to Europe via the Azores and Bermuda.
Next task was provisioning. We still had some provisions left over from our journey down, but we need to re-provision – a lot! We spent lots of time toing and froing between supermarkets. Coming down here we found that having pre-prepared meals was a godsend, and so Pete valiantly cooked up lots of dinners that we can have en route.
Next, vacuum pack as much as possible to extend life and avoid cross contamination. Weavels live in all flour, but they come out if it’s hot and humid so we pack as much as we can in separate packages.
The report was that I should be very happy. The rig is in very good order.
The ARC sets off on Sunday at 1 pm. I’ll post just before we depart with details of a new tracking system in which you can see our progress and the other boats on the ARC!
Back to the preps. Never ending…..
Carioca Sailing 
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