25th Dec Mindelo

A very merry Christmas to everyone, that trade wind is still blowing, a bit gusty at times but still the temperature is between 23-30°C (73-86°F) so managing to get by in shorts and t-shirt, thinking of you in the wind, rain and snow.

Sunrise over Mindelo

 Took a walk out to the wartime gun emplacement at the entrance to the bay the other day, it is well disguised by being dug into the hillside and not mentioned in any guide I have seen, three of the guns are still in place although their breeches have been removed.

I asked about the cost of moving into the marina, about 25€ per night with water and electric extra, I think the fuel for the dingy is much less so I will stay where I am, even if I do get my feet wet and maybe feel a bit wobbly after a bumpy night. 

Anchorage from town

 May the God of our Fathers grant us all a safe passage and fair winds.

22nd Dec Mindelo, Ilha de Sao Vicente

I woke up on the 16^th to find my tripping buoy four feet underwater, so broke out my diving gear and found the line well tangled, it took me a good twenty minutes and had to do a brief second dive to reattach the buoy. In the bay at Tarrafal I saw a turtle, only very briefly. The town has building work going on everywhere, but is friendly and without hassle. There is internet available in the town but I did not use it.

Ancorage at Santa Luzia

Ancorage from Snow White

I checked out on Monday 19^th and was in two minds whether to leave late at night and go directly to Mindelo or leave immediately and head for Santa Luzia, where David anchored on the last trip, I eventually decided to go for Santa Luzia putting off the evil hour of having to get into Mindelo. Had a cracking sail over to find another boat anchored in the bay, so got in fairly close to him, as he was in the ideal spot to avoid the worst of the gusts coming around the  mountain, only to have another boat come in and anchor between us later on! I decided to stay for the day of Tuesday 20^th and have a look around, so rowed dingy ashore and wandered up one of the mountains, there were a number of fishing boats pulled up on the shore at the Southern end of the bay, and a whole lot more arrived during the day, one came by with a swollen wrist asking if I could help, since he said it was a bite I gave him ¼ bottle of TCP and told him to put it on the marks.

Fishing boats arriving

Instant village

Leaving St Luzia

 I pulled up the anchor at first light (8am)on the 21^st  and sailed over to Mindelo, had to use engine a couple of times when the wind died and of course to enter the harbour, otherwise another cracking sail doing 4-8knots; in Mindelo found boats of every size anchored in the bay , so picked a spot and dropped the hook, here’s hoping it holds, settling with a cup of tea at 1pm. I left the dingy in the marina, for a small fee, and went in search of the immigration and Port Captain, finding the Port Captain first who told me to go to immigration, who told me to go to the port Captain! Finally I found the Policia De Frontera who were very helpful and gave me two forms to fill in, took my ships papers and said to come back 24 hours before departure, and no I did not need to see anybody else; after a short walk about town to replenish supplies of fruit and bread and get Wi-Fi from the marina office I returned to Snow White for the evening. 

Entering harbour of Mindelo

From my ancorage

Mindelo

Old Town

Fruit and veg market

 It looks as though my diagnosis of the water in the engine was correct, it was that when the boat was heeling hard over on starboard side, water was siphoning back into the engine, one solution is to sail on the other tack, I have raised the exhaust pipe a little and redistributed tools and fuel cans, I also dumped the old chain (30m of 10mm) so far all is well the oil is still clean after changing it in Tarrafal.

14th Dec Tarrafal Ilha de Sao Nicolau

Leaving La Gomera

It has been a while since my last post, and I haven’t been ashore here yet to see if they have an internet connection, so I don’t know when I will post this one.

Having decided to leave San Sebastian on Monday  5^th I went up the mast on Sunday for a check, the only problem was the topping lift shackle on its last ¼ thread! Since when I have found a number of shackles starting to work loose, so have been going round seizing them.

On leaving the marina the wind was hopeful but quickly died and then picked up again as we cleared the land, however at this point we caught up with the rowboats, who fortunately all had AIS transponders, as seeing them was not easy in the swell and darkness, and of course they were well spread out by now. By the time we had cleared them the other two sailboats who left at the same time were lost in the darkness never to be seen again.

Since leaving San Sebastian I have used the engine for a total of 5 ½ hours, including leaving the marina, also I have starts using the windvane instead of the autopilot although I was using both to start with, it stll takes a while to set it as the cross swell turns the boat before I can reset the vane.

My first taste of the red dust came when I was stuck in a dust cloud for two days with little wind off Dackar; the first day out we managed 132 Nautical miles, the second nearly 157, the third just over the hundred, the fourth 89, fifth 110.5, sixth 110.4, the swell varied from nothing to about 3m with cross swells usually, if I have a drink I can’t put it down until finished! which takes us to the 12^th Dec when we entered Palmera, Ilha do Sal, Cape Verdes. In the early morning the wind had starts to blow hard so I took all three reefs in on the main and left a scrap of jib, still doing over 4 knots,  and with the dust in the air I did not see land until 1 ½ miles out! Made port at about 10am so timing about right. In the harbour all the boats were anchored close together, so I tried coming in close to an outside boat only to be told to go inside by the port police, having looked around among the boats and being moved off again, they said moor off outside the harbour wall (they are laying a new pipeline) so I anchored off beside a big Dutch three masted schooner, and within an hour was joined by another three boats. Having convinced myself we had a good holding I dug out the Avon dingy and blew it up, heaved it overboard and attached the engine, (refuelled) took about ten minutes to start as I forgot about the fuel shut off switch.

Avian company

First sight of Ilha do Sal

Palmera

Net Fishing

Palmera harbour

Mural and locals

Being outside it was a long and damp ride in to clear customs, the village is small and has the feel of Africa, the police do the formalities and on being asked how long I wanted to stay I said I would leave the next day, I was tired and annoyed, but he would not clear me out saying I had to return at 9am, which actually meant a lie in as they use UT-1, so had a mooch around the streets, allot of tourist shops and not much else, then motored back to the boat to dry out and think about supper. The wind had abated a little in the morning so not quite so damp, clearing out took about two hours and cost 45 euros although I am fairly certain they decided I did not know the exchange rate (quite rightly of course).

Having returned to Snow White, started to make her ready for sea, and on checking the engine found the sump of water, having read and been told of severe fines for not leaving or even returning after checking out, I disconnected the heating system (to radiators and stove) thinking it was probably a head gasket, then refilled the cooling system, removed extra gunge from sump and fired up the engine, which ran sweetly enough, running for less than half an hour while I cleared the other boats and raised sails, leaving by about 1pm for a dark nights sail to Tarrafal Ilha Sao Nicolau, with the dust clouds visibility was not good and again did not see land until about 1 ½ miles out. I tried to sail into the bay but gusts were coming from everywhere and turning us, so again emptied extra gunge from sump and started engine to anchor beside another three masted schooner this time Swiss, which again left soon after I arrived; I now think the water is getting in through the exhaust so have redistributed weight to allow the exhaust a little extra height above sea level. Oh yes I have found something else that sets off the gas alarm, fly spray! It is very hot here we are at about 30°C in the cockpit, the squalls coming off the mountain mean the boats are constantly moving but the holding is good in black sand. 

Tarrafal from ancorage

The top of the town Tarrafal

The bay, yes that is my dingie

1st Dec San Sebastian de La Gomera

I have had a chance to have a look around this nice pint size capitol now, there are no chandleries here which is surprising with the high turnover of boats and number leaving for the Caribbean or Cape Verdes, the island seems to survive on agriculture, fishing and tourism.

Snow White around center

Row boats getting ready

Streets in San Sebastian

 The market has a good variety of locally grown fruit and veg, with paw-paw, mango, pineapple and guavas as well as the expected potatoes, tomatoes, oranges, apples, grapes etc. As I was leaving the boat yesterday in search of a barber when I noticed a sign on the bow of the boat opposite advertising a hair cutting service, so gave her the honour instead. I have noticed that nobody seems to help with boats docking, leaving it to the marinero, it’s the first time I have seen this, and it won’t stop me.

A useful tip I came across is to have a single plate electric ring, as most marinas now do not charge extra for electricity or water, saves on gas usage; also have a long tail on the wind generator to tie off to the pushpit or siderails to damp its motion at sea, otherwise it ends up going round in circles not producing any power; also a useful device to have (especially if single handing) is a wind up kitchen timer, set for twenty minutes and it will wake anybody, without worrying about batteries.

Well the sun has gone down behind the hill and it will be dark in an hour, after another warm (30°C inside) still day, it seems really strange to see Christmas decorations in the shops houses and streets.