Cape Verde Islands

We had an uneventful 6 day crossing from Santa Cruz, Tenerife to Palmeira, Sal in the Cape Verdes. We caught our first fish, a small tuna which we promptly ate for dinner that night. I marinaded it in lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, and a little chilli and garlic oil for a couple of hours and then baked it in the oven. Delicious. However, I'm still waiting for the next one to try something different.

The cape verdes are very different to the Canaries. They are remote, sparsely populated and have very little vegetation. The people on Sal however, are very friendly, not a bit pushy and appear to be doing the best they can to improve the country and encourage tourism. In Sal we checked in with the port police, down a little back street and then had to get a taxi to the airport to go through immigration. I regarded the taxi ride as a mini island tour. The village of Palmeira was small. They had no running water. Instead you would see youths carting water containers to the Fontenaria in wheelbarrows and then returning home with them full.

After Sal we sailed to Sao Nicolau stopping overnight at Porto De Tarrafal another small village stting with a port attched. We met up with friends Stuart on 'Sea Gypsy' and Johan and Sonia on their Cat 'Like Dolphins' Its good to chat and catch up, exchange experiences, discuss weather reports etc.

Our sail to Sao Vicente was 50 miles. We left at 7am and  it started quiet enough in the lee of the island and we had to motor sail for about an hour. Stuart was about 1/2 hour behind us also making for Mindelo. Leaving the island behind the true wind kicked in and we were glad we had put 2 reefs in before leaving. 2 reefs and a small gib was just right and with wind over tide the sea was big with swell and lumpy with it. I did mention to Steve that if the atlantic crossing was like this I was catching a plane. However, lumpy sea and big bruises aside, we had a really good sail. We took down the main sail before turning down the channel between Mindelo and Sao Antao. This apparently was like a wind funnel. Certainly it remained windy down the channel, into the harbour, and we anchored yet again in over 20 knots of wind just outside the marina. No such thing as a sheltered anchorage down here.
And so here we are. We came into the marina yesterday and filled up with water, fuel, and last minute supermarket shopping.  Later, we are going back into the anchorage as the surge through the marina is very bad. We are moored stern to with a mooring buoy holding the bow into the wind.  It is much more comfortable on the anchor as well as better for the boat.
We have a poor internet connection so although I have lots of photos I can't upload them. Sorry folks.
Again we will be off the scene for a couple of weeks and hope to write more at that time. Bye for now.