ARC 2023 Diary – Day 5

10.11.2023

The boat is filling up…

Tonight, our first crew member—Michael—arrives on board. So it's time to clear out his cabin, or rather, clear it…?

First, clear the decks

At the moment it still looks like our children's bedrooms did back then...

An empty cabin is perfect for spreading out – retreating to your own cabin turns into a storage marathon.

Our cot in the pantry will also have to make way for the original seating area. The seat cushions will be stowed in the skipper's cabin. We will set up our food and everyday items in boxes on the wooden benches around the dining table – this has proven successful in the past.

So, unlike the monohulls, we don't need lists of where things are stowed...everything will soon be lined up in the pantry and the drinks will live under the dining table.

Keep your eyes open when buying a boat…

We eat and live outside anyway – after all, we are sailing towards the sun.

When I get onto the deck in the morning, the rigger is already hanging in the mast, which looks promising...unfortunately, the effort quickly wears off.

After breakfast, which has become quite spartan by now, I set off on my e-scooter to HiperDino to do some shopping for the next few days – there are more mouths to feed every day now.

Book on the go – We release them into the wild – all over the world!

Bernd also found a printing company that could print us colored, self-adhesive stickers. In a bookcase in the Azores, I found a German book from Bookcrossing.com. These are books that are registered, shared, or released, and whose journey from reader to reader can then be tracked online.

I took my book from the Azores island of Sao Miguel to Madeira and released it back into the wild at our apartment hotel. According to today's research, it still lives there.

We found the idea so exciting that we also registered and I will now release my first books here in the marina.

We also start another load of laundry, there's still enough room for the clothes rack.

Our German flag has also served its purpose, and after the last stormy crossing, it's in tatters, so we won't be able to make an impression at the start of the ARC—but we had a replacement brought back from Germany...

In the evening, welcome drinks and appetizers will be served. This time in a more festive setting – we're slowly approaching the climax of the event...

The crew is lost before arrival

The evening event coincides with the planned arrival of our first crew member, Michael.

But he decides to do a tour of the island first and gets on the bus at the airport, which takes him away from the marina...

This allows us to enjoy a peaceful sundowner, and Michael arrives late on board, realizing that there are many piers on an island and that the bus doesn't stop at Pier K either...

But the mood is good – after all, he has finally arrived.

Better late than never…

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