Cape Verde (27 Sept – 23 Oct 2014)

Our passage from Los Cristianos, Tenerife to Palmeira, Sal took us exactly six days and six nights, and it was a breeze. I am not fond of sailing long distances due to the purgatory, entrapment, confinement, and constant motion, so I was already looking forward to getting it over with. Surprisingly, I felt well for the first four days. I honestly think it was because of Danielle. She took her time in the galley and prepared some delicious meals. I didn't want our guest doing all of the cooking so I pushed myself to do the dishes and prepare some meals. For the first time since we started our trip I cooked some meals, more complicated than sandwiches or salads, while under sail. Before, during a long passage, when the boat was moving too much, Paul was the cook and dishwasher :) I liked seeing a man in the kitchen so I didn't bother making the effort to help him.....hahaha. Now I'm in the galley at the anchorage and when we are sailing....wait a second...is this a good thing?!?! A visit from a pod of dolphins at night was the highlight of our passage. They were trying to communicate something to me...but I don't speak dolphin (I'm still working on whale) so I assume they were asking what the heck we were doing in their neighbourhood. It was night so I was only able to see them from the phosphorescence they created when surfacing. It was an incredible light show :) With three of us onboard we took three hour shifts during the night. It makes a huge difference to have one more crew member during a long passage. I am less cranky.

Land Ho!!! With our yellow flag hoisted we approached Palmeira with thoughts of warm showers in our head :) Clearance formalities were straight forward. Paul had to take a bus to the airport to get our passports stamped and the port authorities kept our boat registration papers for the duration of our stay on the island of Sal.

We were lucky enough to arrive for the opening night of a bar/restaurant run by three young French guys. Cheap booze, tasty food, good company, and roof top dancing with a drunken captain were had. In Santa Maria, Sal we found a nice bakery, wifi, and a long stretch of beach with European tourists. On Boa Vista we found an exceptional restaurant serving fresh fish cooked beautifully. At Tarrafal I was amazed to see locals walking in the streets carrying a bonito by the tail in each hand. I think we paid 4 Euros/ kg for freshly caught bonito!!!

A very special island was Santa Luzia. The deserted beach was littered in shells, Danielle was in heaven, and there was a small refuge for the local fishermen. We were in for a treat at sunset, or timing was just perfect. The fishermen were returning from their day at sea and pushing their heavy boats onto the beach. They had to time their landing with the waves, and with four or five men on each side of the boat they would push the boat onto wooden planks, and slowly progress up the beach.

Our final stop in Cape Verde was Mindelo where we met a few boats already planning to cross the Atlantic. I was a bit worried when a lot of other sailors were questioning why we were leaving so early in the season. But Arbutus has a good captain and Paul was observing the weather for our crossing since we were in the Canaries. Even so I was more reassured after we saw two boats leave for Brazil while we were anchored in Mindelo. Also a Swiss and Belgium couple who were crossing over to Martinique.

We said farewell to Danielle who was flying back to Lanzarote to organize herself for her next sailing adventure, while Paul and I prepared Arbutus for her first ocean crossing!!!! ooooooooo la la.