The last seminars have been completed, now it's time to make the very last preparations. Then tomorrow, Tuesday, the 15 participants in the Caribbean Odyssey organized by Jimmy Cornell will head from Tenerife across the pond to the Caribbean. The goal: Barbados.
There, in the Caribbean, more precisely on St. Lucia, the participants of the seventh World ARC organized by the British World Cruising Club have been preparing for an even bigger trip over the past few weeks. On Saturday you started a year and a half circumnavigation of the world along the barefoot route, first stage destination: Colombia. Then it goes through the Panama Canal into the Pacific.
A total of 26 World ARC yachts left the Marinvon Rodney Bay in northern St. Lucia in the best of Caribbean conditions. Including five under the German, three under the Swiss and one under the Austrian flag.
While the flotilla participants may at least subjectively weigh themselves in the safety of the group during the long sea swings, a single German yacht that has probably also set out to cross the Atlantic is currently missing. The Hamburg-based "Ayana", a 14-meter Amel brand ketch, has long been overdue.
The missing German sailing yacht "Ayana" on the Atlantic
The Spanish Sea Rescue has now turned to the public with a request for information about the whereabouts of the yacht. She sailed from Algeciras near Gibraltar to Gran Canary on November 21st and then left the Canary Islands around November 30th. Since then, there has been no trace of the crew or the ship.
Anyone who can provide advice should contact the Sea Rescue Service in Bremen, phone + 49 / (0) 421/53 68 70, email: [email protected].
+++ Update from January 10, 2017 +++
Yesterday evening, Trans-Ocean published information from the Bremen Sea Rescue Service on its website, according to which the missing German yacht "Ayana" has now been safely located by the MRCC Madrid around 80 nautical miles from Martinique.