ARC Day One

The wind (or lack thereof) was exactly as forecast. Through the first afternoon and evening, we enjoyed some nice, fast upwind sailing with the Code Zero, holding third place in our class. However, around 4:00 a.m., the wind died completely, and we had to turn on the engines. They’ve been running ever since. The whole fleet is heading south toward Cape Verde, and the leaders are now the boats with the biggest engines, running them at the highest revs for maximum speed. We’ve been more conservative, running a single engine at 200 RPMs, which has caused us to slip to fifth place in our class. But the good news is, we’re all still within just a few miles of each other. We expect the winds to pick up later tonight, allowing us to shut off the engine and hoist the sails again.

The light winds have brought light swell, which has been a blessing, giving the crew time to find their sea legs.

The crew are all doing well, and we’ve had no issues with the night watches. Since everyone is motoring in the same direction, the fleet has remained relatively tight, but we’ve seen very little commercial traffic so far. We managed a couple of successful sail changes in the dark. With only about 130 miles covered in our first 24 hours, we’re certainly not breaking any records.

Onboard, the culinary efforts are keeping spirits high. Last night, Sylvie prepared smoked salmon with rice, and Chef Rudy whipped up a hearty German sausage with carrots and potatoes.

We hope to have a better story to tell tomorrow. As soon as the wind rises above 10 knots, we’ll raise the Parasail, and that’s when the real fun begins.

Here are some snaps from Today:

Photo sent to us from another Canadian boat: