Well, the week is over and now it is time to cross the Atlantic. So this will just be a quick blog post. I picked up Matthew at the airport and like most guests that come to Slick he did not arrive with everything he had when he left home. Those fun-loving, work-hating Spaniards lost his luggage, in sort of the same way Sean’s luggage got lost. Except that happened in Boston.
Anyway, I checked out today, all those fears about the Schengen agreement were put at ease as the Spanish National Policeman just looked at me as if I was stupid then shrugged his shoulders and exclaimed in broken English “USA OK.” That was my early morning success. The last week has a busy one, full of provisioning and getting last minute things done. Matthew has prepared a very diverse menu for us so the food on Slick will be above average – assuming he can cook in the waves. Slick is fully rigged and all the safety gear checked, all the loose ends stowed. I cleaned the bottom this afternoon and judging by the change in waterline from the growth about 3000 pounds of goods and gear were loaded on over the last few days.
I am hoping that by having cleaned the bottom we will gain around a quarter knot of speed, this may not seem like much but over 2650 miles that can mean pulling in as much as a day sooner. I certainly don’t want this ocean to take longer than the last one’s crossing from the Galapagos to the Marquesas (19.5 days) as that one was about 3200 miles. Slick T. Rocketship is an old lady now though so she goes a little slower. In any case you can follow us on the Spot Track Map. Matthew thought it best that I try to appeal to a younger generation so the map now has a twitter feed (@SlickSails) that you can subscribe to below. We will be sending daily updates to the map to let folks at home know how things are going in addition to just our location. If that isn’t enough of Slick’s Adventure though, here are some pictures of the Canaries.
Well, the weather looks good and Sean, Matthew and Slick are ready. I am eager to finish this last ocean crossing and be in the warm Caribbean. We leave at 0918 UTC on Monday, December 1, and we should land in St Lucia around December 21, if we are extra fast then we will make a stop in Barbados before that. All Hands Commence “Morning Show”.