In the wee hours of July 20th...by Catharine

My last illustration....

We just KNEW they were going to arrive in the middle of the night.  We'd been calculating and re-calculating their arrival for days. 

We got the call to head down to the docks around 12:30 am, and from there the phone tree began and we headed down.  We hauled the little ones out of bed, dressed them (and the spouses) in the awesome shirts that Jenn and Roberta made, put on our Aloha gear, and braved the rain.  

At this point the rain wasn't so bad.  And the darkness seemed manageable.  But then we learned that Turnagain was still going to be 1-2 hours away.  There wasn't much point in going back to the hotels to wait, so we roamed around the docks and the Banyan tree in the dark.  Callum sat in the van with Nana and pretended to fly a jet to Hawaii.  Sylvia toured the historical sites and collected a pet rock.  Jenn walked Daylie and Dalton around, trying to get Dalton (a wee 3 months old) to sleep.  Curtis and Julie prepped everything for the boys arrival, and the rest of us just milled about.  

A sleepy Sylvia with her pet rock, waiting
for Turnagain

We got a call that Turnagain had OFFICIALLY crossed the finish line, around 1am.  Curtis was going out by inflatable to deliver beer and help guide them into the dock.  And they'd be here soon!

And then the rains REALLY started.  

I'm talking run-for-your-life-under-cover rains.  

The kind of rain that is SO LOUD you can barely talk to the person next to you and all the gutters are instantly overflowing and there are rivers cascading down the streets.  

And in the torrential downpour Jam arrived at the dock and were greeted by their loved ones.  We all prayed the rains would cease before Turnagain's arrival!

And of course they did.  

All of us with our amazing sign (prepared by
 our greeting crew, watching the boys come in

Approaching the dock.  We hooted and hollered them in!

Enjoying their champagne.  We all got a little
champagne shower to go with our rain shower!

Turnagain all dressed up

After celebrating on the docks we all headed into the Pioneer Inn for a party and feast prepared by Curtis and Julie.  It would be an understatement to say we were all pretty happy to have our guys back!

Pretty awesome way to spend my birthday :)

Roll up, Stop

Roll up, Stop

We are now 40 miles away from the finish. There is a light fog perched on the horizon that is keeping us from seeing Maui. 

The sun is scorching the decks today. Inside the cabin the temperature is 32 degrees and it is even hotter outside. The team is on half-hour steering rotations to insure that everyone is properly hydrated and there is always a fresh set of hands on the wheel. 

It is looking like we will be finishing somewhere in the neighbourhood of 12:00am-3:00am tonight with most guesses landing on 2:00am, which is eight hours from now.

This will likely be our last blog post until we have our photos wrapped up.

This race has been a tremendous experience and we are all very thankful to have been able to be a part of the team!

But before going we would like to thank:

Helly Hansen Granville - Leo, Krizia, and Tiff did a spectacular job at getting the team coordinated in a  set of spectacular offshore gear.

SEAMOB+
Hank Schut for producing our emergency equipment schematics.

Edward & Jane Karadontis for being gracious hosts as our spector vessel

David and Gaylean Sutcliff for all of the guidance in preparing Turnagain for the trip

First Yacht Services

Catharine McGregor for being our shore side communications controller and blog updater

North Sails for delivering our excellent last two spinnakers in time for the race start

Curtis and Julie who we hear are prepping for our arrival as our official LYC greeters.

We send our best wishes to all our friends and loved ones who we will be seeing very shortly!

The boys on Turnagain