We left Mindello yesterday around 10ish bound for Santo Antao it was only a short hop of around 25 miles.
To say that we were happy to leave was an understatement. The night before, a luxury catamaran decided to stage a party and the music was so loud that it woke me up at 3am, I stuck my head out of the cockpit and someone was also letting of air horns. Our neighbour who we called the “Hoff” (the reason for that was he was that he thought he was dead cool and the Hoff is after David Hasslehoff). The “Hoff” decided that he had had enough and woke his “boat boy” who was sleeping on the boom inside the sail cover, they both jumped in the dinghy to get reinforcements from the beach, 2 locals and the “Hoff” went over to the party boat. No raised voices but the music stopped immediately, I don’t know what was said but it was convincing enough to send every one to bed.
Great sail over with just the headsail and we romped along at over 6 knots, again there are acceleration zones and, as we went past the headland, the wind just died.
During the passage Charlie the auto-pilot played up. We changed Charlie for the wind vane and Pete sat on the cockpit floor fixing it, not having in brain in gear he left the Stanley knife on the cockpit seat and as the boat rolled the Stanley knife rolled point 1st and stabbed Pete in the hand, thankfully not a serious injury but painful to use his thumb we think he may have nicked the tendon.
Were now at a lovely anchorage at Tarrafal and this looks more like I imaged the Cape Verde islands to be.
A small but heavy looking fishing boat was rowing over to all the yachts in the anchorage (there are 2 French boats plus us) and 4 young men were rowing the local policeman. The local policeman came on board and wanted to see the ships papers and asked if he could go inside, we think he was checking for stow-aways. Pete was concerned as all he was interested in was the Nav station as he pointed to the VHF and said “channel 16”. I think that he had tried to call us up on the VHF and we hadn’t responded, we wouldn’t have anyway as they only speak French & Portuguese.
The local policeman invited us to his house to hear him sing & play music but with Pete’s hand and the fact there are large breakers on the beach there was no way we could take the dinghy and I couldn’t row us out against the waves.
A local boat with two young boys came over and asked us if we wanted fish (bright red things) and when we said we didn’t eat fish they looked at us in horror as to say well what do you eat? It’s refreshing as they never asked for money and were happy to just bob and look at us.
Taffafal is a very small village, the back drop is tall volcanic peaks and it’s very barren but, in the space they have, they are trying to grow crops. The village is a real shanty town and this morning I could hear the cockerels crowing at 6am, I really like it here as it’s no hassle and the natives are really friendly and completely different from Mindelo.
At 6am this morning I watched 2 long legged birds trying to land on the wind vane blades each time they landed the blades turned and they fell off…. Very amusing to watch!
There are sea hawks flying around and we think we have seen sea turtles. We have been invited for drinks at 12pm on a French boat, amazing eh! So after drinkies we’ll explore the coastline on the dinghy.
Pete…………..
Fliss has said it all again. The local policemen also did not like where we were anchored. I think he was telling us that it was where fish breed but, since I only got an ‘E’ grade in French at school and have not used it since, my understanding is limited!
The problem with the autopilot is the poor job I did at extending the cable when I first fitted it. The connections had worked loose and so I dismantled the connection and stripped some more bare wire back with the Stanley knife before crimping on the new connectors. At this point, the knife flew off the seat and hit point-first half-way between the base of my thumb and my wrist. That will teach me for not retracting the blade!
For such a small looking incision, it is giving me a bit of grief since it is affecting the whole of my thumb. I am taking care of it over the next few days and delegating work to Fliss.
Saturday 18th November 2006
Fliss……….
Yesterday at 12pm we went over to the French boat for drinks, and Pierre & Chantal were brilliant hosts. They produced two very good bottles of wine a lovely white Bordeaux for me & St Emillion for Pete, the wine was delicious, our palette has become accustomed to cheap anti-freeze at 65 cents a litre.
Pierre also invited another French boat over and he spent the afternoon translating for us. At around 2ish Chantal decided it was time for lunch and not wanting to outstay our welcome we made moves to go back to Nadezhda. We were asked if we would like to join them. Starter was a very nice pate (in a glass container) & home made bread followed by fish that had been caught the day before, pan-fried with herbs, again delicious and desert was bananas cooked in rum and we finished it off with cheese & wine. The French really do know how to do lunch! I looked at Pete and said enjoy it when you can pal as it’s salad & potatoes for tea.
We were also invited for dinner, which again was superb, salad starter, roast lamb & beans (I don’t know what was in the beans but it tasted delicious) and finally Apple Tart with cream. Poor Chantal spent all of the evening in a hot kitchen and I really felt for her as catering for 7 on a yacht is hot, hard work.
Both French boats left at 9ish this morning to cross the Atlantic and we wish them safe passage and many thanks for the hospitality shown! Hopefully we will see them again in the Caribbean and we can re pay the courtesy shown, damn, I’m going to worry what to cook in-case I see them again!
This morning we took the “Rubbadub” to shore and explored the village, the locals are very friendly and it’s refreshing not being asked for money. The children love to just sit and watch you, the children are beautiful little things with big brown hazel eyes, long eyelashes and smiley faces.
The kids row over in a big old heavy boats asking if you want to buy the fish they have caught and are really polite when you say no.
All in all a delightful place & I hope that the other islands aren’t a let down as this really is a pearl in the Cape Verde’s crown.
Tomorrow we leave for either Boavista or Santiago, we can’t make our minds up, we’ll just wait to see what the winds are doing. I’ll be sorry to leave here but it’s time to move on, again!
19th November 06
Pete……………
We set-off for Boavista at 09:00 this morning and motored for about 45 minutes to get out of the wind-shadow of Santo Antao. The wind increased and we were close-hauled doing about 6 or 7 knots. However, the wind was more Easterly than forecast but we assumed that it was due to refraction around the island. Soon after, the wind decreased and swung around South of East which was exactly the direction we wanted to travel in. We headed in a Southerly direction at 4 knots, 3 knots, 2 knots and then ended-up unable to steer due to lack of speed through the water.
I am loathe to use the engine since we may need the fuel for the Atlantic crossing to avoid any bad weather. I am not at all keen on carrying 40-odd gallons of fuel from a local filling station back to the boat!
Anyway, at 17:30, we dropped the sails and turned the engine on. If we head for either Boavista of Santiago, we will arrive after dark tomorrow night and have to sit tight until dawn so we are now heading for the island of Sao Nicolau that is much closer. This means cutting back our motoring speed so we arrive at daybreak.
The day has been nice and sunny and there are few waves to speak of, so the ride has been comfortable without the usual slamming back-and forth of the sails. However, the weather did not listen to the forecast, leaving us a poor choice of daylight landfalls and another 5 gallons lower on fuel. It looks like the 5 gallon canister that has been sitting in the lazarette for the past 4 years will be coming out for a serious cleaning-out and filling-up!
Fliss….
The nice thing that happened today was that we saw some false killer whales just off Tarrafal, these ones were slightly more cautious and wouldn’t allow us to get too close.
Really hot in the cockpit today and being close-hauled we couldn’t escape from the sun as it was beating sideways down on to us. So in desperation I pinned a sheet to the rigging & the spray hood in a desperate attempt to provide some shade, not ideal as it was difficult to see the tell-tales on the jib but much better than being roasted in the heat.
We were under the impression that we had left behind close-hauled sailing when we left the UK but you soon remember how much hard work it is and the slow progress you make.
We have spent most of the day looking at Sao Vicente and we don’t even like the place!, never mind as we’ll drop anchor at Sao Nicolau and wait for the conditions to improve to go to Boavista or Santiago, it still beats sitting behind a desk!
Wednesday 22nd November 2006
We’re still in Tarrafal – San Nicholau and although it’s not that scenic I really like it here, the locals are really friendly and have a relaxed attitude.
Yesterday afternoon we decided to venture ashore and whilst rowing we noticed a boat called KitKat, we last saw them in La Gomera. Stewart do you remember them? they had the disastrous arrival with fenders falling overboard & an over-helpful marina assistant who pulled the bow in so tight that the back swung out hitting the boat next to them. We’re no longer the token Brit as there are two other British Yachts in. Kitkat said that Sal wasn’t worth visiting as the locals are surly and are only interested in money. We weren’t planning on going there but they also said that Boavista was very nice so at 4pm we’ll leave to go there.
We paid two locals kids to look after the dinghy (50 Escudos) and wandered over to the fish market. The tuna’s were huge one was at least 60 kilos. Pete & I watched how they gutted the fish just in case we caught one & I couldn’t believe how much they bled, actually I felt quite squeamish as the bigger the fish the bigger the innards.
If you’re happy to eat fish & rice then this is the place for you as there is very little choice. Yesterday a boy swam out to the boat (we’re quite a way from the shore) holding three large fish, god knows how he can swim holding them! We said that “we no manger peche” and he was quite happy with this and asked to borrow the dinghy to try the other boats, here is no problem as you can trust the locals.
There is very little local produce so our diet has been limited to a vegetarian diet so when he arrive in the Caribbean we’ll treat ourselves to a big, fat juicy steak. The Pacific crossing will be a gourmet delight as it’ll be Marks & Spencer’s all way.
At the moment we have just four locals kids sitting in the cockpit with Pete, he’s being treated to them singing & drumming local music. They are really quite sweet as this morning they came over played in the dinghy and as they left they called “Madam” and then blew me a kiss goodbye.
We’ve got a “little friend” (he’s here at the moment) who comes over at about 5pm and stays till the sunsets at 6pm he’s happy to sit drinking squash and listening to music, the music must be heavy dance, just before it gets dark Pete has to row him ashore.
The problem with the Cape Verde Islands is that it’s difficult to explore inland as it’s either that you cannot trust the locals or the anchorage can be dangerous due to swell or strong gusts so Pete & I are nervous to leave Nadezhda unattended for too long.
Pete………….
We set off from Taraffal at 17:00 GMT and had light SW winds until the bottom of the island. As we rounded the tip, we were exposed to the gradient wind of NE (or thereabouts) and were able to keep North of the Rhum-line at about 6.5 knots. The seas were initially ok in the lee of the island and the winds good. However, the wind increased until we had 2 reefs, half the jib and the staysail and we were pounding a bit but still North of track. As dawn broke, we could see the white water and those very tight ripples on the surface that indicate a bit of wind! We had struggled through the night with two reefs, full sail, one reef and the jib in and out like a fiddlers elbow! Not a nlot of rest was had by either of us, especially as we were as close hauled as we could get.
We had set-off just behind a French boat and had soon overtaken him on the first leg South past the tip of Sao Nicolau. However, during the night, he slowly eased past us downwind of us until his lights were almost out of sight. This morning, the wind had veered (I always get confused with these terms.......it had gone clockwise) and headed us both. He had to put in a large tack, but did so too early since he was not in the calmer water in the lee of Boavista and we crossed tracks half a mile distant. We decided to use the undocumented entrance to the anchorage from the South (since we also could not quite make the heading for the North entrance), since once in the lee of the island, the sea subsided and we rocketed along at 7+ knots (Tiny headsail, staysailand two reefs in the main - close hauled!). With C-map (which we did not trust) plus hand bearing compass on the ruin (on the island) and the chimney (ashore in the bay) and additionally checking depths against contours, we placed a couple of tacks in the bay and kept well out of the nasty seas. Everyone else seems to follow the pilot book which suggests coming in between the island and English Bank. Frenchie took the Pilot Book instructions and pottered-in 50 minutes behind us - we sang "Rule Brittania!".
Fliss…
On dropping the anchor the boat in front of us gave me wave, he stood up & was in his birthday suit, not a sight for tired bleary eyes.
What a wonderful moment re the Frenchies, as there was no way we were giving up without a fight.... we even discussed the old racing trick, they would be on their final port tack & we would deliberately tack so they would have to give way to us as we were on a starboard tack. When they sheepishly arrived Pete & I were sitting in the cockpit with sail covers on & Naz put to bed, sipping our whisky & lemonade (yes it was early but boy had we earned it) we waved a cheery hello and as they went passed we sniggered like naughty school kids.... the trip was a total pain but it was all worth while when they limped in after us. For me it was Christmas Day!
Pete……
During the passage, I noticed a squeaking from the front cabin. Some woodwork is separating in there and so we nursed Nadezhda through the roughest patches last night. It is very difficult doing this since Naz needs driving otherwise we hobbyhorse, stop, and lose steerage. A constant vigil was required to keep her moving without pushing too hard. I will empty and strip the whole area to check bulkhead bondings etc, etc, etc.
Fuel top-up is by jerry-can, as is water. The tap water is not generally potable so we will probably not take any more onboard. As for fuel, we have one full tank and I will check the other before we leave - we should still have half a tank full. This would give us 4 and a half full days motoring if we required it to get ourselves out of trouble.
Friday 24th November 2006
Fliss…………….
Yesterday we spent most of the day asleep and got up at 5pm to cook dinner & then off back to bed at 9pm, we both felt totally shattered, as the sail over was long & hard. Pete & I are now masters at reefing the boats sails. We should be as we had enough practise on our passage over here.
Boavista is completely different to all the other islands it’s just one big sand dune in the middle of the Atlantic. The water is an amazing greeny-blue colour and with backdrop being sand dunes you really could be in the Caribbean. It’s a flat island so it’s always quite windy.
We ventured into the village and you can see that Boavista is changing as they are building lots of new properties, this island is being found. Give it 5 years and it’ll be the new “Tenerife” and all the charm will be lost to McDonalds, terrible live music and bars.
It’s a nice island and we’ll probably spend a few days here.
We spoke to an Italian man who moved here 8 years ago and he said that things had changed dramatically, he also said to be very careful in Santiago, we’ll spend as little time there as possible. We’ll just get our exit stamp, water, provisions & fuel and leave.
We found a small frozen chicken in town so tomorrow we’ll have a Sunday roast, I know it’s Saturday but everyday is a Sunday to us!!
Saturday 25th November
There is another British boat in the anchorage called “Yvonne”. We had spotted them as we sailed down the East coast of Fuertaventura and also when we were in Las Palmas (Gran Canaria), however we had not spoken to them before.
They were anchored closer to the town than us, just in front of a rusting steel coaster/cargo-ship that was obviously the Cape Verde method of disposing of old ships…..moor them and let them sink and decompose. We had to row past to get ashore and the owners, Penny & Michael were in the cockpit and invited us aboard after we had waved and hailed them. Being from Ipswich and used to shoal water sailing, they had an aluminium Ovni with a lifting keel, it was nearly new and very nice.
Of course, out came the beer and wine and a pleasant couple of hours was had chatting. They asked whether we had met the swashbuckling pirate yet, which we had not. “Oh yes”, they replied, “He lives on the rusting hulk behind us and has brought it down single-handed from Europe”. Apparently, the Canary Islands would not allow him to stop (probably did not want to fork-out for salvage) but he had managed to anchor off Fuertaventura to take-on mattresses that the German hotels there were obliged to replace every two years. He is now flogging then to the Cape Verdians. Penny wondered what other, possibly illegal, cargo he was also trading.
The Hulk & Yacht Yvonne
On close inspection, the Incredible Hulk had not a spot of paint remaining on it, it was a uniform mottled brown. I cannot imagine how anyone worked-out whether there was any solid steel in the hull, maybe they didn’t! The fact that he was able to manage the beast single-handed is nothing short of a miracle. If anyone is interested, the Hulk is up for sale as the pirate wants a wooden cargo vessel (built in China) since it would be more accepted by authorities and within polite society.
We went ashore for a wander and re-provisioning……Uncle Peter, we bought a kilo of limes, is that sufficient for a night on the Margharitas?
There’s not a lot to do in town so we stopped for a drink at a little bar and met a English girl who had moved there a couple of months ago with her husband. They had never visited Boavista before but had seen pictures of the island and decided to sell all, and up-sticks. They have started a business renting out sea scoobies (little engines that pull you through the water) and hope that when tourism really kicks off, and it will! they will be very comfortably off… we wish them the very best of luck and every happiness. Very brave thing to do!
Back to Chez Nadezhda and we had decided to treat ourselves & have a sort of roast dinner, the menu was roast chicken, sweet potato mash, French beans from a tin, Yorkshire pud and gravy. The chicken was cooked in the pressure cooker and it came out really well, the mash was lovely but the Yorkshire pud was a complete failure. This will never be repeated as the gas and time spent plus washing up, it really wasn’t worth it even though the meal was delicious.
Sunday 26th November 06
In the morning we woke up at 6am to Nadezhda yanking hard back on her anchor, the wind had picked up & there was a slight swell.
Met.2 Area Forecast:
CAPE VERDE :
East or Northeast 4 or 5. Becoming rough or very rough from north in Northerly swell.
Fliss…..
I sat back in the cockpit reading heavy weather sailing and Pete was inside screwing screws into the lockers so that if we do (and I really hope we don’t) hit nasty weather and invert we don’t end up being brained by bake beans.
During the morning I watched the conditions change within the anchorage and on a number of occasions summoned Pete out to have a look at the swell and breaking waves outside and inside the anchorage. Pete having not been outside that much didn’t seem that concerned but I had monitored the situation all morning and things were changing and intensifying.
Pete……
I was more interested in the windsurfers since they have a French international champion living on the island. A couple of windsurfers were playing in the surf that was pouring into the entrance channel to the Northern part of the anchorage. Looked like great fun but never have I seen windsurfers in such large waves, at times the tips of the masts disappeared from view only to re-appear as they rode back up to the tops of the waves.
I mentioned to Fliss that I was glad that we had chosen to drop the hook in the more protected Southern anchorage even though it was a much longer trek to shore.
Fliss….
More excitement was to unfold as a French boat upped anchor and was driving around the anchorage shouting that “Le Big Boat was dragging and going backwards” the incredible hulk was surging forwards and then yanking hard back on it’s anchor and the line was being pulled to it’s full length. A catamaran decided to move and came alongside us (too close for our liking). Pete and I prepared Nadezhda for a quick getaway and sat back & monitored the Incredible Hulk. The pirate came back and went below and was never seen again, he didn’t think there was problem. We don’t think it was dragging but just pulling hard on its anchor lines. If it was we would be in its direct path.
Pete……
Mr Pirate must have thought it strange that the huddle of yachts that were once surrounding him were now all cuddled-up in front of us. He obviously thought that the bits of knotted rope that made-up his anchor rodes were perfectly adequate.
However, the conditions continued to deteriorate and the swell was refracting around the small island that protects the anchorage and piling-in against our stern. There was a shallow patch of 3.7 metres depth about 100/150 metres South of us (not shown on C-Map charts) where the swell heaped-up then cascaded into boiling surf. Our depth-sounder was showing anywhere between 3.8 metres and 5.2 metres as we rose and fell with the swell and we were now concerned that some of the larger swells would keel-over and ride us forward into the boats in front.
Fliss noticed that there was a mainsail being raised in the Northern anchorage. We got the binoculars out thinking that it really was much too windy to be playing with sails in the confined anchorage. Suddenly, a jib was also set flying and a catamaran burst forth from behind the small mole on a broad reach at high speed (probably gunning his engine at full revs as well). He stayed on the broad reach and was hit by the first breaker that was not too bad. Still going at a serious pace, it was not long before the second, and much larger, breaker completely engulfed the whole of the vessel, all we could see was white water with sails poking out. He turned into the third massive torrent and burst through the other side and into clearer water.
These were the same waves that the windsurfers were playing with earlier in the day!!! Even they had given up!
Fliss…….
Pete and I held our breath as we watched him, my god it looked really scary and we relived to see him make it through.
He must have been sitting there all day accessing the situation & hoping that the conditions were going to improve. The decision to go must have been a really hard one but like us he must felt that it was only going to get worse and so he had to make a mad dash out, the skipper must have had balls of steel and I bet once he changed out of his wet gear and also changed his underpants it would have taken him 20 cigarettes and 5 large brandy’s to calm down. We would have been mashed up & vomited back on to the shallows. He has our total respect!
We were really starting to get concerned as all the boats were weaving and straining hard on their anchors and the sea was building up, so it looked like we would have to make a decision soon as we only had two hours of daylight left.
The decision was made when 2 sets of large waves came in that had high steep faces and looked like they had the potential to break, also the pilot book says and I quote “….. gales further North may set up a north-westerly swell that runs down both sides of Sal Rei island, breaking heavily on English Bank, causing the reef between the island and the town to break all the way across, and even producing white water on the 3.7m patch south of the anchorage. The only thing to do in such conditions is to get out while it still safe to do so”. The weather forecast (see above) suggests conditions would only get worse.
Pete…..
On that second set of steep-sided waves, I had the key turned in the engine and we were off. We had already prepared and the anchor remote control was already in-place. The anchor came up surprisingly quickly, which was a relief as we were very close to the bucking bronco ahead of us. We were glad of our earlier preparations.
The initial thought was that we may anchor in 15m further South in the bay so we towed the dinghy around the breaking surf where the wind immediately picked it up, flipped it and it became a drogue. We both agreed that the swell was still too much and we struggled to get the dinghy aboard and set a course for Taraffal on the North West corner of Santiago Island (approximately 80 miles downwind).
Fliss…..
We were amazed at the attitude of all of the other boats, they were casually lounging on deck & visiting each other they were concerned re the Incredible Hulk but seemed not to have noticed the conditions around them, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were picking themselves off the beach and buying tents the next morning. The French believe in safety in numbers, this is evident as they all anchor very close to each other.
Within 15 minutes Yvonne followed us out, we don’t know if this was their original intention or whether they too felt that they were safer at sea. No other boats left apart from us Brits.
I went down below and made sandwiches and a flask of tea for the crossing and Pete disappeared into the front cabin, whilst I watched he pulled out the drogue plus its line. When I asked him what he was doing he said that he was just checking the instructions of how to use it but I don’t think he wanted to frighten me so when I pressed him he said that the conditions could be really nasty and we needed to be prepared. I hadn’t paid much attention to the last part of the weather forecast that said the seas could be rough to very rough. We’ve been in moderate seas and I think Pete was worried about what we were heading into. As it turns out all was well and we cruised along with just a scrap of headsail out.
Monday 27th November 06
Pete……..
We arrived at Santiago as dawn began to lighten the horizon and turned into Taraffal bay to anchor at about 9:00am. The place looks very nice with a palm-fringed beach but there was also a large swell entering so we anchored well away from the beach and other boats and spent the day relaxing onboard.
Tuesday 28th November 2006
Yesterday we spent the day relaxing onboard recuperating.
During the morning an inflatable canoe with two young boys came alongside asking for money, we refused and they said they were hungry and wanted the money to buy food. Pete invited them onboard and we gave them lunch (crackers, salami & cheese) they settled down for about an hour listening to music and fishing off the boat. I didn’t like the youngest boy as he kept asking for things, he wanted the outboard for his father, the salami for his mum and so on, the demands kept coming and we were glad when they decided to go.
We went ashore and the little boy looked after our dinghy at an agreed rate of 100 Escodus. The town really didn’t have much to offer and after an hour we decided to go back to the boat. We gave the little boy his money and the other one who had been on with him earlier turned up palm outstretched. Pete said to me give him the small change you have, well I thought I had only 90 cents but it turned out I had given the other boy 120, you should have seen the tantrum the younger boy had! screaming, shouting and demanding more money, the older boy offered to share but the petulant little *hit threw the money back into our dinghy and walked off. Pete tried to get him to take it but on the 2nd time he threw the money in the boat we had had enough and left him to it…. His loss as two other local kids grabbed the money out of the dinghy and ran off.
Sadly and I knew it he wasn’t going to leave it & rowed back out to Nadezhda. Pete told him in no uncertain terms that it was tough and there was no more money, after hearing the exchange I stuck my head out of the cockpit and in dodgy French and highly irritated English, said “We give you food, drink & allow you on the boat and this is how you behave, go away”. He realised that he had pushed his luck and left.
We where told to bring fishing line, hooks and pens to trade with the locals but the cold hard fact is that things have moved on in the Cape Verde Islands and all they want is your money and when they have milked you they want more, (a few exceptions).
Kitkat rowed over and invited us for coffee the next morning and said that they had to be off the boat by 11am.
Wednesday 29th November 2006
We rowed over at 10am and had a wonderful day with Sean & Debby on Kitkat, we finally left at 10:45pm after Debby had cooked us Pan Bread (similar to an omelette but with flour) fried potatoes. They were great fun and it’s a shame that their off to Gambia as we would have loved them as cruising buddy’s. It’s was a really relaxing day and we just clicked.
Thursday 30th November 2006
Pete………..
We set off early for Pria at about 08:00. The shortest route is down the West side of Santiago and this is the way we went. However, we were plagued by wind shadow from the island and, when we came around the bottom of the island, we had a hard beat into 20 knots of wind and choppy seas. Fliss took the unprecedented step of taking the autopilot off and helming so that we made better use of the wind that was constantly swinging about in the gusts. We arrived at 17:00 local time and stayed on board since it was due to be dark in a couple of hours.
Friday 1st December 06
We went ashore and were met by a boat-boy who took us to immigration – it was closed. He told us to take a taxi into town since it was not safe to walk and arranged it for us. Although we had wanted to go to the centre to change some Euros, the taxi took us to the hypermarket instead (on the orders of boat-boy), so we paid another fare to get to the centre. We ambled around just long enough for all the shops to close for an indeterminate afternoon break and so returned by taxi to the hypermarket to buy provisions for our long Atlantic crossing. The shop seemed to have absolutely everything apart from potatoes and onions so, on our return to the port, we had our boy go and get some from the local market. By this time, we knew we would get ripped-off for money but really just wanted to get provisioned and off.
Later, after visiting the port capitan, we returned to boat-boy to at last clear immigration and got him to refill two 20 litre water containers. We sat on the fuel pontoon awaiting his return and a while later, we saw him struggling with the weight. At least he actually did some work for his money – he was obviously unaccustomed to it!
Having acquired a kilo of mince, Fliss knocked-up a massive chilli-con-carne that will last us most of the passage. We tried it just to make sure it was of the correct quality. It was.
Saturday 2nd December 06
We rose early to prepare the final stowage of the boat and to check and lubricate anything and everything that moves. I went up the mast in gusting winds and a rolly-swell and clung-on for dear life as I re-attached anti-chafe protectors and checked the rigging.
At 11:00 local time (12:00 GMT) we departed Pria into 20 knot winds and were soon running at 6.5 knots downwind under headsail only. As I write, we have only 2085 miles to go to Barbados.
Cape Verde Islands Summary.
Even though we would not have missed it, the Cape Verde islands are barren and the people are devoid of any culture. The locals are slowly ruining their environment with waste and, in the larger towns, are surly and untrustworthy.
The smaller islands and towns have been pleasant and the locals more friendly. It is these places that we would like to remember where the people do not simply see Europeans as walking cash-machines.
We are glad to have visited but there are many other places in the world where we think we would rather be.
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