SAYING GOOD-BYE

These sailboats were in Boston for a week or two to give the crews a rest (if you can call drinking all day and dancing all night resting) before embarking on the next leg of their race around the world - to Galway, Ireland.

On the day of departure, there was a delightful event/ceremony to bid the boats and crews farewell, complete with a parade of skippers, Irish step dancers and prayers for a safe journey across the ocean.

It was a rather touching, and sometimes light-hearted and humorous scene watching devoted fans and families of the sailors gather together for last hugs and kisses just before they shoved off for several dangerous weeks at sea. These were not casual waves goodbye - these were all quite full of meaning and emotions.

There was a blue Telefonica and a black Telefonica boat. The supporters of the black one, were, without a doubt, the liveliest, loudest and most fun group of people there. I only wish I knew Spanish so I could have understood their cheers, chants and songs! Nonetheless the spirit of what they were doing was clearly understood.

Playing around the harbor was entertaining, but the fun and games could not possibly be compared to the start of the race across the ocean to Europe.

We were all awestruck when the boats, even though they were all moving quickly, ever so slowly merged their various paths so by the time the hit the starting line, each was barreling ahead at full speed at the exact moment the gun went off. I am not a huge sailboat fan, having never gone before, but this on-the-fly choreography was both as thrilling as a sport and as enthralling as large scale ballet.