First planning meeting

All rainy over Germany. Hurricane warning out for the north (vital). Winds up to 75 knots, water level 2,5 m over mean high water. With only 50 km/h on our Autobahn and the wipers at full throttle, I can barely see the road in front of me. I’m on my way to Hamburg to meet with Jochen and Rainer to kick-off our Atlantic crossing in May.

The route is set from Antigua to the Azores, Jochen and Rainer may even take the boat further to France. My plan is to leave the group latest on Whit Monday, May 25^th. I would prefer their company, but after 25 days of vacation, I will need to return back to work. Maybe I’ll be glad – probably not. We’ll see.

It’s still about 15 weeks before headed to the Caribbean. The boat – a Sun Fast 3200 – is already there and fully equipped. It’s been parked after its participation in the ARC in 2013. Still good to start preparation when there is yet time.

Jochen started the kick-off with asking for our selection of LYO foods – the dried up trekking stuff also served at the Volvo Ocean race. You open the bag, add boiling water and zip it for 10 minutes. Just so, our main course is ready to be eaten – out of the bag it was boiled in if you like. On my question about adding some juicy fruits from the Caribbean to our diary, I get a puzzled look from Jochen: “It’s just three weeks, we don’t have much space and the added weight?!” he says. “Well we are not racing. So yes, why not?” he concludes. Guess we are in luck 😉

We continue discussing safety equipment, medical conditions, liability, cost sharing, flight-plans, fishing, required personal belonging, the route, etc.. We’ll set course North East, with the trade winds steadily blowing from East, we’ll be up-wind sailing for the first week – probably not even a single tack or jibe. Afterwards Rasmus will set our course. Let’s hope he’s in a good mood.

Two nice gentlemen and I crossing the Atlantic starting in just about 4 months’ time. Is this really happening?