We aren’t talking Mega yachts, we are talking SUPER yachts. Through our friends Scott and Brittany from Windtraveler, Eben got the invite to be racing crew on the 180ft ketch Parsifal. Even though we were at the complete opposite end of the Virgin Islands, there was no way that we were going to pass this up.

   It was a tough passage from St Thomas to the Virgin Gorda Sound. Nothing impossible, but with some strong winds directly on the nose, this seemingly small trek was taking forever. We decided that for our security, sanity, and comfort that we would split up the trip over three days, meaning Eben would miss the first two days of the race, but be there for the last two. It was a fair compromise to keep everyone on board happy.
   We reached the Sound safely and were happy to be back in these stomping grounds. Although it is Hoytie-Toytie land we really enjoy it here. It has a little something for our entire family (beaches, kiteboarding, and happy hour!)
   The next day Brittany woke us up way too early because she was just informed that the boat the boys would be sailing was departing an hour before schedule to reinstall a sail that had torn the day prior, and that they needed all hands on deck asap. So Eben left our boat unshaven and without breakfast to go take part in his first day of racing. Unfortunately for him it rained most of the day, and because he had left in such a hurry his foul weather jacket was forgotten on our boat. He got thoroughly drenched, but still enjoyed his day. The regatta wasn’t for any sort of money-prize, but more just for the fun of racing boats this size. 
    To give you an idea of the size of this boat, picture this. It has 9 full time crew, and 10 crew that come in for racing. That jib sail they tore weighed 1500lbs and took a forklift to get it into the sail loft to fix. To fill this boat with gas takes 8 hours, yes that’s a full work day. And it’s fenders are bigger than Arias!
   Eben loved the experience, the people he got to meet, and man did he ever sleep well at the end of both those days.
This is what it looks like when the racing buoys are bigger than you

The girls had their binoculars out and where checking for Papa’s boat

There she is, 180ft of wow.

Eben and Scott, working hard
Not sure this is what he was supposed to be doing!

Look how heeled that boat is!

There they were again, checking him out and asking me if his boat won (they didn’t)

There’s Eben, waving to us

On the last race day, we were invited to go check out the boat. This is how the girls entertained themselves as the big boat docked.

My beauties looking so small on this ship