One more sleep

Thanks everyone for your comments - they've made Amanda cry twice, but in a good way!

Just one more sleep now - we have to be off the dock at 10am, ready for the start at midday tomorrow (4pm UK time) - sailing straight to Santa Marta in Colombia which should take about 6 days

It's been a hectic week of boat preparation,  provisioning, briefings and social events getting to know all the other crews - there's quite a tight knit community developing between the 30 or so participating boats.

Very few boats seem to be 100% prepared - 2 boats were out of the water yesterday for various issues, and one is having to have the mast taken down for some welding work tomorrow so will be 18 hours late leaving, and most boats seem to have various minor issues. But we're all keen to get going now,  these niggles will never all be fixed, and there's an air of quiet anticipation and tension building.

We had a farewell party last night, with the deputy prime minister of St. Lucia (they held it a day early to try and avoid too many hangovers on the start line!)

We've done all our safety briefings, completed a man overboard recovery exercise, we've filled every nook and cranny of the boat with provisions, and we still had crew at the top of the mast as it was getting dark tonight, but we're ready!

So one last meal out, a few quiet (?!) beers, and try to get a good nights sleep - then we're off!