Imminent departures are always slow arriving but then time suddenly speeds up and the next thing we know it’s upon us. Tom faffs around in the flat – having said that he wanted to leave with his all kit by 9.30am after getting a few last minute things in the supermarket. Well we were still there at 9.55am and without the shopping done. I think I would have felt the same though.
We hurry to the boat and there’s so much going on everywhere – a general frenzy of excited activity combined with an air of doom and gloom! I hang around for a little while then pop back to Disco to get a few bits and bobs. I’d been told that everyone had to be off the pontoon by 11am but that didn’t happen. When we were finally shooed off I whizzed back up to the flat to get my jacket – forgot my water bottle – so up those six flights of stairs yet again.
The slipping the lines ceremony began at midday – was fun to start with but with it being repeated 11 times it became quite tiring. Then off to the spectator boat – Oceania – which was due to leave at 12.30pm. A whole gaggle of women supporters took up position on the upper deck and started yacking. I made excuses that I needed some lunch and disappeared downstairs. Luckily I found a great place to enjoy the views from right at the bow of the boat quite close to the water. The time passed very slowly to start with a parade of sails and water cannon. I must have dozed off for a while. Then suddenly I was woken with the ten minute hooter blasting across the water. The waves were pretty choppy, so it was hard to take photos and hold on at the same time! At then off, there was a gaggle of boats shooting across the startline. They didn’t sail straight off into the blue, but had to round a few buoys towards the ‘Punta’ first. WTC seemed to struggle to begin with and was trailing a bit – but in the grand scheme of things it didn’t matter at all.
Once they had finally gone, our boat went back in and we were expected to go to the Yacht Club for drinks. I dropped in for a beer and chat with Lindsay and her gang and Nic and Holly. The I made my excuses and also avoided going for dinner with the ‘girls’. I was really happy to return to the flat and relax and do my own faffing until I needed to get packed. Arrrgghh – so much stuff to fit into one bag – it was bound to be over the 23kg allowance! Bed at 11pm with the intention of leaving the flat at 7am the next morning.
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