Ship’s Log Week Nine
World ARC Rally underway - Walrus crosses the start line
The week leading up to the start of the World ARC Rally was a whirlwind of boat maintenance, reconnecting with friends and family, and a varied schedule of social, administrative and informative events for skippers and crew of the 32 yachts taking part alongside Walrus.
Friend Sharon, Dicky’s brother Roger and partner Mary, my son Roland (the architect of the website and vlogs) and his wife Caroline came from England, Florida and New York respectively bearing an array of goodies and essentials ranging from plastic pegs, sandals, 9V batteries, wet wipes, teach-yourself-Spanish book, wine, and lights for the deck. All of which are being put to good use as I write and for which we are grateful.
We spent a day touring the island, Michael our taxi driver navigated crumbling roads, meandering goats, stray dogs and oncoming traffic to show us around. We visited Botanic Gardens and sulphur springs near Soufrière, had a buffet lunch of typical St Lucian food served during a tropical rainstorm in a restaurant perched on a hillside, overlooking the twin peaks of the Pitons. A memorable experience as the rain pounded on the corrugated iron roof, we munched our way through dishes of plantain, swordfish salad and other local dishes whilst taking in the view of steamy rainforest, volcanic peaks, colourful buildings of the town below against a backdrop of azure, blue sea.
We took a day out and prepared for the rally ahead by spending time at an idyllic beachside restaurant which can best be described as a slice of paradise, with palm tree fringed sandy beach, fantastic cocktails, fresh caught fish and clear, blue warm sea.
In between… Walrus was washed and scrubbed below and above deck. Dicky and I winched Gerald to the top of the mast where he fixed the Windex (which shows the direction of the wind – essential for efficient sailing), the navigation and deck lights. We made various visits to the chandlery to stock up on vital maintenance supplies and generally got ourselves and Walrus ready for the sail to Santa Marta Columbia and beyond.
St Lucia’s supermarkets and roadside fruit and vegetable stalls had proved to be both expensive and eclectic in terms of the availability of items that we had taken for granted in Europe. There were some lovely surprises when provisioning – the stalls with piles of green coconuts, with St Lucians’ slicing the top with a machete and selling the coconut water in plastic bottles. It seemed the flesh, which was soft, white and slightly gelatinous was either discarded or used in cooking. The delicious, shiny, pink and green passion fruit, green (mainly), yellow and orange citrus fruit, yams with their tree trunk-like appearance. Eggs were in short supply, coffee was a crazy price… and there was no Hotel Chocolat chocolates to be had for love nor money, despite Hotel Chocolat’s location in central St Lucia. Provisioning for the journey ahead was a dingy ride away, across the neighbouring lagoon. On Friday 10th January Gerald and I took Walrus’ blue trolley to the Rodney Bay downtown mall and stocked up on essentials for the six day sail ahead, making best use of the space available in the trolley and dingy, which was noticeably lower in the water on the return journey.
In the lead up to the start of the World ARC Rally, Paul and the rally team organised a number of social events so that skippers and crew taking part could get to know each other. The last of which was a farewell evening of rum punch, canapes at the elegant St Lucian Country and Golf Club. There was a steel band and several heart-warming speeches, including by the deputy prime minister and tourism minister. It seemed that the World ARC leaving and returning to St Lucia meant a lot to the islanders. We look forward to the return party in April 2026.
On Saturday 11th January, there was a frisson of excitement in the air as World ARC yachts started to leave the marina, head for the open seas of Rodney Bay and circle around the yellow buoys, which marked the starting line. At regular intervals we were given an update on the countdown to the midday start. From on board Walrus it felt much as I imagine the circuiting of horses in the paddock at Aintree before the start of the Grand National; concentrated, friendly but with a sense of competition hanging in the air. Unlike the Grand National (over in minutes), Walrus will be sailing alongside her competitor yachts for the next 13 months. It should be added that the World ARC rally is a fun competition, with prizes of tea towels and bottles of wine at the end of each leg.
In the final minutes leading up to the start, it became apparent there was a problem with Walrus’ mainsheet winch and Gerald and Dicky set to, taking the winch apart. For a minute or two it looked as though we would be delayed right at the outset. Then, with minutes to spare the winch was reassembled, mainsail and foresail raised. We turned towards the yellow buoys, the foghorn sounded, and we crossed the start line with other yachts all around us. Walrus was on her way.
We have started to track Walrus’ progress against other World ARC Rally boats on the YB tracker (YB Races App). Our progress is updated every four hours. Walrus is the smallest boat… the baby of the fleet, she has, as a consequence, a favourable handicap and we hope to hold our own over the coming weeks and months, albeit the taking part, sailing and exploration of exciting, and varied locations are of equal importance.
Wishing you all well, and hoping that signs of spring are on there way for those of you in colder climes.