To Cabo Verde

Welcome back Boatbloggers ® ,

And so we set sail for the first leg of our trip across The Atlantic.

900 nautical miles to Mindelo, Sao Vincente in the Cabo Verde islands. It took us about six days. The first two days were quite rough with strong winds…

True Wind Speed of up to 86 knots – hurricane force – but at least it meant we went fast at over 33 knots, which should put us in the running for the Americas Cup. Either that or there was something wrong with the instruments.

But by day three it had calmed down a bit..

…and we were able to start collecting the flying fish that kept landing on deck overnight. 

Five in one night! Not quite big enough to eat, but not so small that they don’t make a horrible slippery mess where they land.

Land ahoy! – We arrived at Cape Verde just after sunrise.

So time to send the crew forward to sort out the ropes.

While the captain attended to more important matters.

Pretty soon we were moored up in Mindelo Marina. 

And while it was nice to be back on land, Mindelo Marina is the windiest marina with the biggest swell we have ever been to. The pontoons were rolling all over the place – walking along them felt like you’d had ten pints. We were more seasick on the pontoon than ever we were at sea! Three people along from us actually fell in – and these are experienced ocean navigators. Still, at least it meant we kept our sea legs for the next stage of the journey.

Sao Vincente is a beautiful island and the people are really friendly and welcoming. We did a little island tour – first stop, the beach.

Where we tried the local grog.

Strong enough to knock out a camel. So up into the mountains to the tea bar to sober up.

One day we took the ferry to Sao Antao, another of the Cape Verde Islands, where we tried the traditional food…

 

Saw the traditional cottages…

And watched farmers collecting yams in the traditional way.

Next we got in a minibus to go up into the mountains. We went at breakneck speed up these little cobbled roads with sheer drops either side.

It was quite terrifying. This is Ju trying to not look scared.

Not doing too bad a job of it, but he’s holding on to that wall with both hands. What you can’t see is that behind that wall is a thousand foot sheer drop. It is all unbelievably high. We’ve been in many minibuses, but never one where we’ve had to worry about turbulence.

But once you dared to open your eyes, the views are spectacular. 

The photos of course don’t do it justice.

But here’s a few more anyway.

You’ll just have to come and see it for yourselves.

But back to Mindelo, where Lyn enjoyed the street art…

…and Ju enjoyed the cultural events.

Some of the wall art is amazing. This picture is not painted on the wall, but chipped out of the plaster.

We had a great social life with the ARC while we were here in Mindelo. Here we are with the crew of Zan eating the bruschetta (which they serve by the metre.)

Just time for the arty farty prize, which has only one entry called “Street Scene,” and that is from Ju – so he is the winner!

And of course it wouldn’t be a proper Boatblog ® without a gratuitous sunset. Though actually it’s a sunrise.

That’s all for now Boatbloggers ®

Ciao Cape Verde. Thanks for having us.

Next stop St Lucia.

Ju & Lyn

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