Maunie's about to cross the finishing line - under sail!

Good morning all

 

We're currently 2 miles from the finish line, looking at the beautiful and very lumpy profile of Saint Lucia as the sun rises. We were delighted when the wind finally crept in at about 1.00 am boat time, not much but enough to give us 3-4 knots of boat speed and, what relief, to stop the engine.

 

We've made our first VHF calls to the ARC Finish Line boat and are now ghosting towards the line (in the wind shadow of Pigeon Island). Another ARC yacht, Galetea, is  about half a mile ahead of us and another, Finnrose, finished about an hour ago. We are determined to finish under sail even though we're only doing 2 knots at the moment; it gives us time to drink in the view.

 

It's just amazing to see land for the first time in 3 weeks. Last night we could see the lights of Martinique first, then Saint Lucia and our arrival at dawn is perfect. We're all really excited to be here, though also a little sad that the voyage has come to an end. Maunie has looked after us brilliantly, as we knew he would, and our Safe, Happy, Fast mantra has served us well (event though we haven't been very fast for the past 2 days).

 

From a skipper's perspective, the crew has been awesome. We've worked hard, managed the challenges, eaten like kings and laughed a lot. What's more, Rich stopped taking Stugeron 6 days ago and hasn't felt seasick since!

 

So we'll send more updates and photos when we get a moment but we're now bracing ourselves for a world that consists of more than 4 people and 38 ft of yacht.

 

Finally, thanks to all of you for following our voyage and sending your comments. It has meant a lot to us to know that you're out there.

 

So, for the time being, this is Maunie of Ardwall standing by. Out.