To ARC or not to ARC

[douglas_family]

We are considering an Atlantic circuit at the end of next year, and I have always been rather anti organised rallies, so had not considered joining the ARC. Having met organised rally fleets in ports previously, the cliquiness put me off joining one. However, as we will have a 6 and a 7 year old on board, I wondered whether it would provide a useful social network for them.

Any ARCers or non-ARCers like to give their experiences, particularly those who have taken children?

when wed sailed with our kids aged 5 and 3 at the time we didn't ARC. we met lots of other people and children. We also met up with a lot of the boat kids who did ARC when we got to the caribean. Its a lot of extra cash, my impression when we thought about it was that the ARC parties etc didn't sound very child friendly. I also preferred to travell later than the ARC as I felt there was less risk of inconsistant winds. Also less risk of collision not going with so many boats at once.

 

[snowleopard]

Also less risk of collision not going with so many boats at once.

There is a temptation to think that with 200+ boats all heading the same way at the same time there is a risk of collision. If you put the autopilot on and go below during the first 24 hours possibly. After that you might occasionally see another sail on the horizon. The North Atlantic is 6 million square miles of which you can see about 10 at any one time. Pretty good odds.

 

[KellysEye]

>I also preferred to travell later than the ARC as I felt there was less risk of inconsistant winds. Also less risk of collision not going with so many boats at once.

After the first night we didn't see another ARC boat until we arrived in St Lucia.