Ready to go….

Hola Boatbloggers ®

Once again, thanks to all our readers, and especially to those who have made comments either on our blog page or on Facebook.

The race begins this  Sunday 23rd at 1300, weather permitting. And the forecasts are good. So this will be our last official Boatblog® till we get to St Lucia, hopefully sometime roundabout the 14th December.

However, do not despair. There are still many ways you can follow our travels across the world’s oceans.

First of all, you can got to the official ARC website, which is on….

http://worldcruising.com/arc/eventfleetviewer.aspx

You should get taken straight to the right place, but if you get an option on which rally to follow, select ARC 2014 (not ARC+ 2014). Our boat is of course “Domini.” If you’re looking to see where we are in the race, you’ll probably find us near the back.

If you prefer to follow it on a smartphone, you can do the same thing by downloading an app called Yellowbrick for £1.99.  Again select ARC 2014 when it asks you which race you want to follow.

 

There is a possibility that we will put up blogs on the World Cruising Club site. It all depends on if we can upload them via a satellite link which is not guaranteed. If we do, the way to read them is to go to…

http://www.worldcruising.com/arc/eventlogs.aspx

Then where it says “Search Boat Logs,” select Domini, ARC and year 2014

 

Another completely different way to follow us is to go to…

https://share.delorme.com/JulianRonnie

…which should show you where we are in the Atlantic, but won’t show you all the other boats. If you go to this one, you will have the advantage of being able to send us a message (Highlight  the tab saying “Julian Ronnie,” then click “message,”) Bear in mind that you can only send 160 characters per message. If you type more than this, it will send it as 2 messages, so think of it as more like sending a text than an email. Also, the tracking device only connects to the satellite for a brief second every ten minutes, so even if we are receiving and sending properly you will probably have to wait for twenty minutes or so to get a reply.

Don’t worry if you can’t find us right now. Most of it won’t go live until the race begins.

In the mean time, here is the news.

In the true spirit of showing off, which is most unlike Ju, here is a picture of him as The Standard Bearer for Great Britain at the Official Opening Ceremony of the ARC.

OFFICIAL FLAG BEARER

The selection process was rigourous and gruelling and was based on one of three things.

1)     Best Sailor

2)     Best Looking Skipper

3)     First PersonTo Put His Name On The List.

It’s hard to be sure, but I’m pretty certain it was one of the first two.

We are getting pretty exhausted, not from all the boat preparations, but from the continuous round of parties. It’s like a Club 18 – 30 holiday. Well, maybe a Club 50 – 80 holiday, but it’s still pretty knackering.

MR & MRS BABA

ARABIAN KNIGHTS. With John Vickers from AISLIG BHEAG. (Try saying that after a rum punch.)

Jeanneau even put on a dinner for all their owners (which was very nice of them, but makes us suspect we paid too much for the boat.)

JENNEAU OFFICIAL OWNERS’ DINNER 

 Adios for now Amigos. Next blog from St Lucia!

Ju & Lyn