We have had a really good Christmas here in La Gomera, with paella for lunch and volley ball on the beach in the afternoon. It appears that the weather is going to improve over the next few days which will hopefully allow for a 29th/30th race start. We would like to wish everyone a happy christmas and hope that today has been excellent!

We have been told this morning that the race is now delayed until the 29th December due to poor weather conditions. We will be staying in La Gomera over Christmas waiting for the race to begin. Although this is frustrating it does allow us further preparation time and more training. There are worse places to be stuck for Christmas! We will write again soon.

The race has been delayed and at the moment we are not sure when it will start. It was originally delayed because the flares for all of the teams, which were shipped in a separate container to the boats due to their hazardous nature, did not arrive here in La Gomera on time. We have now received a new shipment and are ready to leave having received port clearance from the Spanish authorities. However, bad weather has caused us to be stuck here without a definite date for departure. We have been told that the earliest the race will start is Sunday 20^th December.

Some teams are choosing to return home for a few days but most are staying to wait and be on ‘standby’, ready for a clear weather window. Due to the slow speed at which the fleet will be travelling they need a 5 day window to get us all clear of the islands. There needs to be less than 15 knots of headwind otherwise boats will be at unnecessary risk and forced onto their para anchors. We will keep you updated as we find out more information.

In the last two and a half weeks most of our time has been taken up getting Heritage Explorer race ready and through scrutineering. We passed scrutineering and were told that we had prepared well. She is now in the water with all of the sponsors vinyls applied, looking smart. We are just making finals tweaks and adjustments.

With the extra time that we now have we intend to further improve the boat, our rowing skills and practice all of the procedures on board, such as deploying the para anchor and drogues, running the water maker and just generally living on board an ocean rowing boat.

Our families have been and gone, being a huge help during their stay. We have spent a lot of time with other competitors and enjoyed being here. There have been various activities put on by the race organisers ranging from practical workshops to fancy dress parties.

We understand that the race website has been giving misleading information about the race start. We have been told that this will be rectified shortly. Once we do start, however, please follow our progress as the grey dot.

We will keep you updated as to the start of the race and with whats happening here in La Gomera.