Grande Harbour (Mindelo), Cape Verdes

Position at anchor: North 16*53'006 West 024*59'722

As the sun rose this morning the wind died off completely and we slowly motor sailed along the stunningly high coast of Sao Vincente Island in the Cape Verdes. By 10am we had pulled into the Port of Mindelo and dropped our anchor among the 40+ other yachts in beautifully calm water. Straight away we were visited by fellow cruisers to let us know where everything we could possibly need in town was including the fuel station, bank, bakery and laundry.

This afternoon we dropped the dinghy into the water and headed ashore to check in with immigration and the maritime police. With just a small fee of 5 Euros and very friendly officials we were cleared into the Cape Verdes within 15 minutes. Tomorrow we plan to explore the town but for now we're happy to relax on board and catch up with some much needed sleep!

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Las Palmas to Cape Verde - Day 7

Position at 19:08 UTC: North 17*48'045 West 024*31'716
61 miles to Mindelo, Cape Verdes.

The wind and seas have completely died down now so we're back to flying full sails with the main and headsail wing on wing for a comfortable down wind sail. We have about 10-15 knots out of the East with clear skies and are moving at an average of 4 knots, at this speed we should arrive in Mindelo on Sao Vincente island around 9am tomorrow morning.

We finally put the fishing lines out today and managed to hook two fish. The first was a little Mahi Mahi which we decided was too small so we put him back. The second was a larger Mahi Mahi perfect for a couple of meals. Jimmy has just fried up a couple of fillets with butter and teryaki within an hour of catching it and it smells delicious...can't get much fresher than that! So now we'll have dinner while watching our last sunset on this passage and look forward to discovering what the Cape Verdes hold in stall for us...fingers crossed a calm anchorage!!

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Las Palmas to Cape Verde - Day 6

Position at 19:26 UTC: North 19*20'095 West 023*42'962

We have 164 miles to go to Mindelo in the Cape Verdes and finally the wind has calmed down to a steady 15 knots out of the east. The seas are down to about 1.5 meters so we are finding the conditions much more comfortable and finally a couple of layers of clothing have peeled off. This afternoon a fog bank lowered around us so we only have visibility of just over a mile making everything pretty gray. At our boat speed of around 5 knots we should make landfall the day after tomorrow.

There's really not much else to report except that we ran the generator to make water today and it was finally calm enough to take a shower... so we finally have much sweeter smelling crew! We continue to check into the Magellan net on our SSB each morning and Captain Fatty Goodlander aboard Wildcard also runs a more informal net in the evenings at 6pm that we also check into. There's a bit of a fishing competition going on between the yachts and it seems the New Zealanders are well in the lead, we're still eating fresh food from the Canaries but tomorrow the lines will go out for the first time.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Las Palmas to Cape Verde - Day 5

Position at 19:28 UTC is: North 21*04'950 West 022*25'130
290 miles to Cape Verde

Finally the winds have begun to abate a little and we're no longer getting tossed around quite so much! With 20-25 knots out of the west and 3 meter seas our wind vane is finding it a lot easier to hold a course without our constant attention. We still have the third reef in the main sail and just a slither of headsail out on the pole to keep us balanced.

The sky has been over cast all day and we're hoping it's the tail end of the system passing over us. The forecast shows much more reduced wind and seas tomorrow so fingers crossed for a calmer day and the chance to take a much needed shower!!

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Las Palmas to Cape Verde - Day 4

Position at 19:12 UTC: North 22*39'215 West 020*36'665

Well the wind we were expecting certainly filled in right on time today, with speeds of up to and gusting over 30 knots. The seas also increased to around 4 meters breaking and have made for a pretty rough day. Our wind vane really struggles to hold a course down wind when the waves are pushing us around so we have to sit and watch the helm ready to grab it if we start head side on to a wave. Hopefully things will start to calm down during the night and within a couple of days we should have calmer conditions. We're making good speed and still averaging between 6-7 knots with 426 miles to go to the Verdes.

Jimmy was visited by a pod of dolphins today who put on a show of acrobatics for him...it's nice to be reminded of what we enjoy about sailing especially on days when we're not really enjoying it at all!!

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Las Palmas to Cape Verde - Day 3

Position at 19:10 UTC: North 24*06'691 West 018*45'915

Another really fast day for us with boat speeds between 6-7 knots, the wind has increased to 25 knots and seas are between 2-3 meters. The sea around us is a mass of breaking waves pushing us around as Blue Moon surfs down the front of them. The wind has been slowly increasing and we're thankful that we're heading in the same direction and not trying to push against it.

With 558 miles to go to Mindelo we should arrive at this pace a day early, however, in 48 hours the wind is predicted to die down so we'll have to wait and see...not really trusting the forecast at this point. Trying to get sleep with the roll of the boat has been quite difficult, even with the help of the lee cloth strapping us in and several pillows wedging us in! Looks like we should have a clear night so lots of stars to help steer by.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

Underway to the Cape Verdes-Day 2

Position at 19:17 UTC with 700 miles to go: North 25*52'320 and West 017*05'167.

Day two and we've been keeping a pretty good pace, the winds have increased to 20-25 knots and we're expecting them to build even more by tomorrow. We're sailing along at 6 knots with a double reefed main and a slip of a headsail, the seas are rough and around two meters high so we're getting knocked around a bit.

Our sea legs are slowly returning and we're generally getting back into the swing of three hour watches. We've passed a couple of container ships but otherwise sightings of other vessels has been pretty minimal, we have been warned to keep a look out for rowing boats as they head out to cross the Atlantic also...I definitely don't envy them!

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com