D Day - 6

In less than 6 days, Hervé will spend his first night at sea. On board of Children Action,he will taste again the joy and the difficulties of solo racing. He will surely be a little bit cold because of the humidity (the temperature is around 10° at night actually), will be pheraps seasick and will not want to sleep (because he slept a lot lately even if his sleep is lighter).

Last week, the fight took place ashore. Children Action stayed 8 days in a yard.The mast was verified completely and the VHF cable replaced, but it was a hard job. The keel and the rudders have been repainted, the sticker put in place, the interior stripped and repainted in white, the cockpit also repainted with non-slip paint.

The mini fan club came every lunch time with sandwiches. They were also moving the materials so Daddy would lose some time to find it. Then on Friday afternoon, the tractor came to take Children Action and placed her between the tentacules of the orange crane.

and splash in the water. The operation didn't even last one minute!

After that, the boat was remasted and brought to the Minimes Marina where she was joined by 61 other Mini. There are only 55 Minis at the start but 6 boats are waiting just in case there is at the last minute a withdrawal.

Beside the stickers placed on the hull (for the sponsors of the race), the Minis hoisted the flags. This has immediately given a race atmosphere at the pontoon where all the skippers are doing odd jobs.

Hervé is now doing other tasks. He has to change all the ropes, try the new sails, initialise the automatic pilot, make the mast waterproof, buy the food and the medicine and many other things. He will also follow a course of medical instruction.

There will be a prologue next wednesday. Every boat will sail in the bay with the skipper, 2 crew and one child choosen from a sailing school of la Rochelle. Don't worry, Julie and Robin were not picked up for the occasion!