Sunday 3rd December
Northern Light II
Michael & Sarah Loftus
Sat 9 Dec 2023 14:32
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> After 15 days at sea we crossed the finish line at 1.29am local time on Sunday 3rd December . The last 8 hours were painful - the wind died , then we were hit by our first mini squall and finally as we rounded the SW tip of Grenada the wind died again to less than 3 knots . I decided that we would do the last 1 1/2 miles by engine as the wind was on the bow .
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> When we arrived on the pontoon there were a number of boat crews still up who greeted us to the dock and took lines . The very welcome rum punches were handed to us by the ARC crew and the party began . Sarah was heard saying a number of times that the rum punch was very strong ! That did not stop a bottle of Whispering Angel being opened and shared around ! we lasted another couple of hours and the younger members of the crew carried on ….
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> Tom & Cat stripped off and decided to jump in the water closely followed by Hugo. Jayne from Dilema also decided to go in . There was not enough rum punch in the world to make the rest of the crew go in - you could smell the water !
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> I cannot thank Sarah enough for enabling me to follow my dream and being with me every step of the way . She has been amazing bouncing back from her fractured pelvis and badly broken wrist in January to even come on this journey . Sadly 2 days out of Las Palmas she also damaged her ribs but still carried on . She is incredible …
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> I would also like to thank our crew for making my dream come true . Tom for all his sailing and engineering expertise , Geertje for all her sailing expertise and the calmness she showed when the conditions became rough and finally Cat for her baking and also learning to sail and assist especially with the Parasailor.
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> We have spent the last few days decompressing before we fly back on Sunday . Sarah and I are looking forward to carrying on in January but at a much more leisurely pace . More photos in the next blog .
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> Over and out
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> Michael
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