Ellen Macarthur Trust

Off at last

Sunrise Friday 11th December
 
Blimey, what a 24 hours that was; a real mix bag of emotions.  We had a terrific send-off from Rubicon Marina in Lanzarote with friends and family following us out of the harbour on a spectator boat and staying with us for half an hour or so.  The penny really dropped though when they turned and headed back, their shouts of "good luck" getting feinter and being blown away on the breeze - the last thing I heard was Timmy shouting "I love you daddy" which caught me unawares and brought a lump to my throat.  We set the genoa and the staysail and had a really good sail for several hours down between Fueteventura and Gran Canaria before the wind died and we have been lolloping along at 4 knots ever since.  At this rate, we won't be arriving in the Caribbean until next year - don't panic Colin and my BVI followers, it's a turn of phrase, we will do what we can to make the 27th..!!
 
I'm guessing many of you either saw our departure on the news, heard about it on the radio or read about it in the press; Lucy's telephone was almost on fire as she moved from one media call to the next.  I did 4 BBC radio interviews including World Service, Radio Scotland and 5 Live, plus 2 live TV feeds, several pre-recorded TV clips and spoke to 5 different newspaper journo's - it was really full-on, whilst all the time trying to concentrate on the enormous undertaking ahead and deal with the emotion of it all.  It's hardly surprising then that I have barely slept, I guess it is the adrenalin still coursing through my veins from the emotion of it all.
 
Digby has been filming, editing and sending back his reports so he is pretty wiped out too. He's also shown himself to be a dab hand in the galley which is great news for us - he certainly has enough ingredients to choose from, you would not believe the quantities of food on this boat.  Susana, despite her fears of seasickness is doing surprising well.  She is not out of the woods yet and gave the fishes a light snack at tea time yesterday but, despite how she is feeling, she has not faultered once in anything she has done, they obviously build then tough in NZ.
 
Just as I completed my last TV interview of the day and as the sun was going down, we suddenly spotted a large pod of Pilot whales making their way north - we diverted course and past straight through them, what a great end to the day.
 
Although I didn't get much sleep, I did lay down on my bunk in the saloon to stretch my back (it gets pretty uncomfortable sat in a wheelchair for 18 hours a day).  I could see through the window above and the sky was stuffed full of the brightest stars, exactly how I remembered it all those years ago last time I sailed this Ocean.  And then to see a perfect sunrise this morning, it made me realise that we are well and truly under way.  As I write this, Gran Canaria is disappearing into the haze behind, it's the last time we'll see land for a long time - the huge, long, Atlantic swells are just beginning to roll in too, a sign that we are well and truly on our way.
 

How times of changed. I'm smiling to myself right now as I type my blog and reply to emails, ready for upload via satellite. I know I'm showing my age, but the only thing I wrote on my last crossing was my blog, in pen, on paper - do you remember those days?  How technology has changed.  In fact, part of the reason for this voyage was to get away from civilisation and the continual "access" of internet, mobile phone and email and yet, here I am doing just that, sat inside with a beautiful ocean outside - right, decision made, I'm signing off, I have a yacht to sail.