There was an air of excitement among the boats at Santa Cruz marina as, after months of planning and preparation, we were finally ready to leave the dock and head to Barbados. Disappointingly the rally organisers decided not to give us an official start with a race boat and photographer (as the November rally had enjoyed), so a few of us decided we’d cast off around 1030 so we could have our own fanfare by leaving together and to take our own photos. With sail away songs blasting out, Two Drifters left to the sounds of the 70’s classic “Whoa, I’m Going To Barbados” and “Go West” by the Pet Shop Boys.
The weather in Tenerife, which had been against us prior to leaving, switched to the NE, giving us perfect conditions to start on our adventure across the Atlantic. We have four fantastic and experienced sailors on board crewing with us, but they are all used to mono-hulls and, as time had not been on our side to do a test-sail, it was a baptism by fire for them to see how different it is to sail on a catamaran.
Within a few hours we were averaging 9 knots, but as the seas grew, so did our speed and we topped out late afternoon at a record-breaking 17 knots! The look on Skipper’s face was priceless (and for everything else there’s Mastercard!), with a mixture of disbelief, shock and ecstasy. The winds picked up and so did the sea with 6-metre waves overnight, making it a rough and rolly one for all of us. However, Molly, the cat’s dog, was unperturbed and settled down for a comfy night on the Skipper’s bed.
