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Posted in 2014-2015 a family adventure, Latest position
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under way after starting a little later than most but plenty of time to catch up
Let’s get this party started!
Here in Las Palmas it feels like fresher’s week, with an unmanageable number and frequency of opportunities to meet new people and drink plenty of beer and wine, as the pace of events and activities has continually increased since the ARC+ departure.
From family barbecues to picnics to parties on boats to family celebrations to sundowners to fiestas to opening ceremonies and even ad hoc pontoon parties, having a quiet night in is hard work right now, with very little time for any rest, let alone for preparing the boat for an Atlantic crossing.
It’s a lot of fun though, and we understand why some keep coming back year after year.
Still, it’ll be very different in a week’s time.
Pontoon parties
Out on the town
Family events
Chez nous
Trick or treat!?!
Boat parties
Fiesta
Nightly ‘sundowner’ (ARC drinks party)
Posted in 2014-2015 a family adventure, Destinations, Life on board, Spain
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Offsetting our carbon emissions
On Friday the Smart family planted upwards of 20 trees up on an escarpment overlooking Las Palmas and Galdar, as part of an ARC team planting several hundred trees to support an initiative to replant the hillsides of the north of Gran Canaria, deforested long ago by the Spanish settlers for sugar plantations, and at the same time offset the carbon the fleet will emit as we cross the Atlantic.
Posted in 2014-2015 a family adventure, Carbon offset, Destinations, Projects, Spain
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No pressure
An Alubat yacht is leading the ARC+ fleet.
Admittedly it’s a rather larger and grander unit than our Ovni 395 at ~60 feet, but a Cigale is currently leading the ARC+ fleet who left Las Palmas this afternoon.
PLEASE don’t expect Khujada 2 to lead the ARC fleet (ARC+ boats go via the Cape Verde islands, ARC boats go direct and leave later). One of the fastest racing boats in the world – I understand Leopard 3 holds a number of speed records – will be leading us out across the Atlantic, and we are certainly NOT expecting to push our way to the front.
Campaign for equal heights
Fed up with discrimination just because you’re a little taller than the arbitrarily-determined average? Me too. One of the few mistakes we made when commissioning Khujada 2 was including our bimini (cockpit sun-shade) as part of the build – I have been unable to stand up beneath it – designed by a French short-a**e for French short-a**es (or alternatively I could be more generous and suggest it was designed entirely for form over function, but I won’t) – since we bought the boat in 2012.
The cost to change (to sufficient headroom) was initially prohibitive, but the scale of usage driven by the incessant heat and sunshine here has encouraged application of more effort to the problem.
Cogitation resulted in a simple plan to raise it by 20cm at a very acceptable cost.
It is done. I can stand at the helm with the bimini deployed. Only those who suffer constant stooping beneath insufficient headroom on boats or regular “pate scrapes” on thoughtlessly low ceilings, thresholds or other sharp protrusions will truly appreciate how much more content this minor improvement makes me feel.
Posted in 2014-2015 a family adventure, l'equipement, le bateau, Life on board, Spain
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Le gaz, le gaz!!!
C’est toujours comme ça. La bouteille de gaz se vide au mauvais moment. Ma carbo est prête mais les pâtes ne sont pas cuites… Changement de bouteille. La dernière fois qu’il a fallu changer la bouteille, c’était dans 25 noeuds de vent. Les bouteilles de gaz sont sur la jupe du bateau… Vous comprenez? Oui, c’est Julian qui l’a fait, attaché au bateau avec son gilet de sauvetage et sa longe courte…. Ce soir, c’est plus facile car nous sommes au port, mais c’est quand même Julien qui s’y colle…
Maspalomas
Nous avons loué une voiture pour explorer un peu l’île. Nous avons entendu parler d’un endroit magique, avec de grandes dunes de sable qui s’estompent gracieusement dans une mer sans horizon. Nous sommes donc allés voir. Nous arrivons sur ces fameuses dunes, les enfants s’épuisent à les monter et les descendre en sautant, criant, riant et chantant. Nous bénéficions d’un spectacle vraiment magnifique. Plus on marche, plus on arrive vers la mer.
Plus on marche , plus on voit de gens dénudés. Bizarre…Certains font la ronde dans le creux d’une dune en espérant qu’une âme apprivoisée se laisse tenter.
Nous arrivons enfin à la mer et nous voilà entourés d’hommes et de femmes ‘au naturel’. Et oui, nous sommes les seuls avec des enfants et de surplus en maillot! Nous sommes aussi les seuls avec des poils…
Les enfants se demandent ce qu’ils se passent et pourquoi les autres sont tous nus. James hyper content s’exclame: “wahoo!! J’vais dire à tous mes copains que je suis sur une plage pour les plus de 18 ans!” Euhhh, non James, il n’y a pas d’âge. On n’est pas dans un film (quoique…vu certains animaux on s’y croirait…), ca s’appelle du nudisme. Et nous voilà partis pour quelques explications sur le nudisme et toute la philosophie qui va avec.
Nous sommes quand même restés le temps de nous baigner, de jouer à la pétanque, de ramasser des coquillages et d’apprécier la beauté ou la laideur de notre entourage…
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Posted in 2014-2015 a family adventure, Destinations, Spain
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Khujada 2 