Islands

In a year, we visited 64 islands. After a while, it became a kind of gimmick, where I sometimes just touched the ground if the island itself was impossible to land on. There are a couple of places which I stepped on this way, without actually getting out of the water. This is a list of all the islands:

near Europe: Jersey
Berlenga (Portugal)
near Africa: Porto Santo
Madeira
La Palma
La Gomera
Tenerife
Gran Canaria
Sal
Sao Tiago
Fogo
Sao Vicente
Santa Luzia
Boavista
Sal Rei (Boavista)
Sao Nicolau
Carribean: Grenada
Carriacou
Sister Rocks (Carriacou)
Sandy Island (Carriacou)
Petit St. Vincent
Union
Petit Rameau (Tobago Cays)
Petit Bateau (Tobago Cays)
Baradal (Tobago Cays)
Canouan
Bequia
Saint Vincent
Young Island (Saint Vincent)
Duvernette Island (Saint Vincent)
Martinique
Dominica
Guadeloupe
Terre-de-Haut (Iles des Saintes)
Ilet-a-Cabrit (Iles des Saintes)
Terre-de-Bas (Iles des Saintes)
Antigua
Red Head Island (Antigua)
Rabbit Island (Antigua)
Lobster Island (Antigua)
Galley Island (Antigua)
Long Island (Antigua)
Nevis
St. Kitts
St. Eustatius
Saint Martin
Scrub Island (Anguilla)
Anguilla
Rocher Creole (St. Martin)
Sandy Island (Anguilla)
Virgin Gorda (BVI)
Beef Island (BVI)
Tortola (BVI)
Peter Island (BVI)
Salt Island (BVI)
Anegada (BVI)
Europe again: Flores (Azores)
Faial (Azores)
Sao Jorge (Azores)
Terceira (Azores)
Bryher (Isles of Scilly)
Tresco (Isles of Scilly)
Saint Mary's (Isles of Scilly)
United Kingdom

People ask me all the time which was the best place. With so many of them, it's plainly impossible to choose. I would go back to many of them, given the opportunity. Let that be my answer.

Slow crossing

The least you can say is the trades were intermittent this December. We started with a Northerly in the Cape Verdes which became a North by North Easterly the next day. The next three days we had fair winds from the North East to East by North East. Then the wind died to a force three from the East and this stayed for three days.

The next 4 days gave us a force three to four from the East, which was only enough for about 115-120 NM per day. So a little slow, but manageable. After that, we had a disturbance taking the wind away for four days so we motored intermittently, the longest time we had the engine on was 30 hours.

The last three days, from December 25 to 27 we had plenty of wind from the East and North East. Our total average didn't drop beneath 5 knots, but our daily average often did, both with sails and engine.

From the Grib files I could make a few tactical routing decisions such as heading further South to avoid the worst of the disturbance ahead of us. W probably would have been better off leaving about two days later because there was generally more wind behind us. I will certainly get a 14 or 20 day grib forecast to get as clear of a picture of the weather situation further ahead.

But from a comparison of the different downloaded gribfiles, the change in the weather pattern wasn't really predicted when we set off. So it wouldn't have changed our projected departure date.

The only thing I can add to my defense is this: the day we left, about 12 yachts did the same. So we weren't the only ones making a slow crossing.

Two thousand Miles

When I came to Cabo Verde, I didn't know much about it. It was my first encounter with Africa and as such, I came with apprehension.

But much of what I read is true, and nothing I read grasps the nature of these islands. After a month of cruising and visiting the different islands, this place is Africa and at the same time a lot different from my image of Africa.

So will I visit again? Probably. Will I go on to visit other African countries? Possibly.

And that is in itself a huge difference from the way I regarded the dark continent before; I see hope and joyful people.

And even though Cabo Verde remains an oasis because of its peacefulness, I hope it has a bright future and I may come back to witness it.



Tomorrow we will set off for that other continent, a new world. A long stretch of very little but water separates us from there. We will keep in touch with our closest ones, but we'll meet again on the other side. Grenada is our destination, if all goes well.

Flying North, Heading West

After saying our goodbyes, Ingrid took the plane home for another three weeks of work. I stayed on beautiful Boavista which we also will be leaving for Mindelo later today. The crew for the crossing is now complete with Mariette having arrived Friday.

There is still plenty to do, our trusted outboard having refused to start for the last two days, with a new vane cover which is slightly larger than the wind vane that came with the Hydrovane and with plenty of supplies to get.

But we are now definitely heading West, and will be doing so for quite a while, until we reach Grenada sometime late December.

On our last trip West and before returning East to Boavista, we visited the beautiful Monte Gordo National Park with a hike up to the top and a wonderful walk along a valley along tropical fauna and flora. Sau Nicolau was an island we hadn't had the time to visit, and it was well worth it.

On a trip in Boavista itself, Ingrid and I visited the desert and some oasis near Santo Tirso. This island is very arid but to visit an oasis in the middle of the stony plain is more than worth the while.



So after being in the Cape Verdes for more than a month, next stop is Mindelo where we'll depart for our ocean crossing, 2200 Miles West. After preparing for this for the last 10 years, it's a small step to take us just that bit further.

Beating East

After Mindelo, we sailed back East to Boavista. It was a 130 Mile beat with about 12 hours of motoring into the trade winds and swell.




We got some dolphins along the way, which was a nice diversion.

Pico de Fogo

After Santago came Fogo and on Fogo, there is a volcano. So we visited the volcano, in two groups so as not to leave the boat unattended. I stayed on board the first day and had a good time snorkeling and enjoying the island life.

The second day, Spencer and I got serious and we climbed the volcano. It's the toughest hike on Fogo and takes up to 6 hours. We started early and with the help of our guide we climbed the 1200 Metres up the slope of the mountain. We were glad to bring plenty of water as the sun rose over the crater rim. A short traverse over a lapili field - which are very small lava particles - almost brought me to my knees, as I was sliding down 90 percent of each step. It was described in the guidebook as the heaviest part of the climb, and this was no lie.



The rock climbing was on the limit of what I could do, but this was mostly due to all the loose rocks requiring the utmost concentration.



After three hours, we reached the crater mouth and had a magnificent view of the inside. The height is over 2800 Metres and for the first time, I experienced a lack of oxygen on this height. Also, the smell of sulphur was overwhelming.



After some food and a lot of water, we started the trip down. The first part is relatively hard, with a lot of loose rocks but luckily not too steep. It is an entirely different path from that to climb the volcano, to minimize the risks. After that, there is just endless fields of lapili, which you can run down as fast as you dare. Some parts we ran down hand in hand with the guide untill I got tired from running. The trick was braking in the gravel whenever you got up to too high speed.





After 30 minutes, we were down to a road leading to Châ de Caldeirao, the village on the floor of the ancient crater. We drove back to the boat to rest from our ascent of this master of all volcanic cones.

Jousinho o ladrão

Sorry, this post has been removed.

Island life

Africa indeed. The first impressions of Cabo Verde were mixed. The towns are typical, the people very friendly with a can do attitude. We quickly took to the ways and had a lot of fun.

Sal is a barren place, but when we arrived it was all saints and the locals in Palmeira were having parties for three days. All the action was on the shore next to the fishing quai. There was dancing and drinking and a lot of talking and we got a lot of conversation going with many people. We went to a very nice Italian restaurant and learned that there is a large group of Italians in Sal, and this is great as it adds to the already warm atmosphere.

The anchorages until now are relatively secure, but we might have to employ boat minders later on, after losing a pump while ashore in Palmeira.

Next stop is Santiago on the Southern group of islands, and then Fogo before returning to Mindelo where Philip will catch a plane back.

But for now, it's the easy island life. Mais tarde!