Aboard Altair

So after an unplanned 21 hr stopover in Amsterdam I have arrived Las Palmas and am aboard Sailing Yacht Altair!  I have now in my possession 6 brand new "Altair" t-shirts; 3 blue and 3 white, a blue "ARC 2017" polo shirt, my "ARC 2017" badge, and a "Not to be Used For Navigation" white ARC 2017 tshirt that I bought today.  Also exciting; I have found out the amount of my salary $$ for the trip, I have my very own bunk (or berth in sailor lingo) to sleep on, and will be going to the top of the mast tomorrow for rig check and mast wipedown. 
Again recap Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (plus) is a 200+ boat annual rally from Las Palmas Grand Canary to St. Lucia.  The ARC Plus , which Altair is part of, is an additional 75 boats that are making the stop at Cape Verde, an archipelago far off the West coast of Africa around the latitude of Senegal.  ARC plus rally boats will then spend several days in Sao Vincente, the capital of Cape Verdes, before starting November 15 for St. Lucia in the Windward Islands.

Last night after literally dumping my bag upside down to unpack it directly into a drawer we walked to the dingy club for a ARC "sundowner" beer and wine party with other ARC sailors.  Captain Clinton and I haven't seen each other since a brief visit in Newport, RI exactly 2 years ago where I met his girlfriend Leanne (part of Altair crew).  There was much story telling and toasting; it's been excellent reconnecting with my good friend "Boog" (his nickname I am not making that up).  We worked together aboard a 145' motor yacht during 2010 together and have kept in touch but not had many visits since.  The night continued in much the same way at the restaurant across the street with 4 bottles of champagne, octopus in butter app, green olives and Spanish peanuts, chicken Caesar salad, and of course bread.  Daylight came today like a wallop but I managed to get off the boat early for a run at sunrise on the Embarcadero.

The main focus of the day was an encompassing crew meeting and safety at sea briefing with all 7 of our sailors.  Myself (grunt, cameraman, blogger, steersman (we use autopilot haha), Captain Clint (does it all and doesn't whine -much), Leanne (keeps us fed and clothed and happy generally), Marc (Mate, Boog's right hand man), Bob (owner ), Aaron (guest), Rod (guest).  Everybody aboard has boating experience or a LOT of boating experience so the meeting was exceptionally relevant, educational, and thorough.  Altair is a strongly built boat and has all the necessary safety gear plus some safe extras like each deck jacket (life jacket) has its own tracking device. 

At customs we all got checked out of the European Union and are now ready to sail off Sunday morning at the race start. view more photos here dropbox