Diary 5 November - 8 December
Thursday 5th November 2009, 0900
Dakar, Senegal
Posn: 14deg39'.41N 17deg25'40W
We arrived at the anchorage in Dakar at 1400 on Tuesday. There had been cloud about and the occasional thunderstorm - we hoped to catch the rain to wash off the desert sand from Minnie B but to avoid the lightning. We were successfulwith the latter but not the former. The fisrt 500nm had been exhilirating sailing and Minnie B was flying along - we were in the top five and then seven for a long while. Then on Monday evening the wind died and we had to motor - the wind returned as we neared Dakar so the final miles were under sail.
Whilst Gilli and Sally stayed on board on Tuesday evening, we went out for dinner (along with half the fleet) to a Senegalese restaurant, "Loutcha", where the food was huge, cheap and tasty. First though we had to run the gauntlet of trinket sellers and people wanting to act as our guides. We managed to shake msot of them off but some persisted adn walked with us to the restaurant. There were few street lights, but the miriad of bank signs lit the pavements, which in turn had many people bedding down for the night. All reminiscent of our visit to India back in February.
We are anchored in front of the Presidential Palace and a swish hotel, where we have the use of the swimming pool and the wifi. The hotel is also in the centre of town and near the Kermel market, a supermarket (all Europeans and the richer Senegalese), and the main commercial area. We have a water taxi to bring us ashore as there iis quite a swell and a couple of dinghies have overturned when trying to land on the beach. Best to be prudent.
There is a women's shopping trip this morning (Phil doing boat jobs) and we will do some sightseeing tomorrow before leaving for the Saloum river and delta on Saturday, which promises to be a fascinating experience.
This is the tropics- it's hot and humid. Very hot and very humid. But then it is nice just being able to dive in the sea from the back of the boat and not experience that sharp intake of breath from the shock of the cold.
Dakar, Senegal
Posn: 14deg39'.41N 17deg25'40W
We arrived at the anchorage in Dakar at 1400 on Tuesday. There had been cloud about and the occasional thunderstorm - we hoped to catch the rain to wash off the desert sand from Minnie B but to avoid the lightning. We were successfulwith the latter but not the former. The fisrt 500nm had been exhilirating sailing and Minnie B was flying along - we were in the top five and then seven for a long while. Then on Monday evening the wind died and we had to motor - the wind returned as we neared Dakar so the final miles were under sail.
Whilst Gilli and Sally stayed on board on Tuesday evening, we went out for dinner (along with half the fleet) to a Senegalese restaurant, "Loutcha", where the food was huge, cheap and tasty. First though we had to run the gauntlet of trinket sellers and people wanting to act as our guides. We managed to shake msot of them off but some persisted adn walked with us to the restaurant. There were few street lights, but the miriad of bank signs lit the pavements, which in turn had many people bedding down for the night. All reminiscent of our visit to India back in February.
We are anchored in front of the Presidential Palace and a swish hotel, where we have the use of the swimming pool and the wifi. The hotel is also in the centre of town and near the Kermel market, a supermarket (all Europeans and the richer Senegalese), and the main commercial area. We have a water taxi to bring us ashore as there iis quite a swell and a couple of dinghies have overturned when trying to land on the beach. Best to be prudent.
There is a women's shopping trip this morning (Phil doing boat jobs) and we will do some sightseeing tomorrow before leaving for the Saloum river and delta on Saturday, which promises to be a fascinating experience.
This is the tropics- it's hot and humid. Very hot and very humid. But then it is nice just being able to dive in the sea from the back of the boat and not experience that sharp intake of breath from the shock of the cold.
Tuesday 10th November 2009
Posn: 14deg00’.80N 16deg41’.88W
We have been immersed in Senegal for five days – a feast for all the senses and coming face-to-face with people who subsist, have limited health and education facilities and are incredibly warm and welcoming. Thursday saw us on a wild-goose chase trying to get Norma’s Orange mobile connection sorted – failed but we had a guide to the Orange shop and then had a drink with him at the French Culture Centre.
Posn: 14deg00’.80N 16deg41’.88W
We have been immersed in Senegal for five days – a feast for all the senses and coming face-to-face with people who subsist, have limited health and education facilities and are incredibly warm and welcoming. Thursday saw us on a wild-goose chase trying to get Norma’s Orange mobile connection sorted – failed but we had a guide to the Orange shop and then had a drink with him at the French Culture Centre.
On Friday 6th November we took the ferry to Goree Island, a short 20 minutes ride. Goree is famous for being a slave holding and embarkation centre and the “Slave House” still stands as a memorial to all those who suffered. Goree also has both Dutch and French buildings as the French wrested the island from the Dutch back in the 17th century. We had a guide, Moustapha who showed us all the interesting sites – the basalt flows similar to the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, the gun emplacements of the Vichy French from World War II which have been taken over by local artists, the cliffs used for filming “The Guns of Navarone”, the Slave House and other museums. We were, at times, surrounded by hawkers and we did make some small purchases. Moustapha took us to a restaurant where we had superb prawns and he got his lunch with us. Without denying the horror of slavery, there is a bit of licence with the tale of Goree, in that there is a door marked as the last exit before shipment but boats could not have been landed on the rocks and the numbers alleged to have gone through the island are astonishing given that the Slave House could only hold 300 at a time. But these are minor quibbles given the scale of the tragedy.
At 0600 on Saturday we left Dakar in 18kts NE wind and had a superb reach for the first part of our 60nm trip to the Sine-Saloum delta. The sun shone, Minnie B romped along and all was well. We made water as doing so in the delta could clog the watermaker filters. By 1240 though the wind had backed and then died so we motored along with the rest of the fleet. We were led through the very shallow entrance to the Saloum by the village of Djifer, where we anchored. We had seen lots of pirogues, of all sizes, out fishing as we approached the Saloum and Djifer is a very busy fishing village
.
Just as we anchored, poor Edith from “Harmonie” (an aluminium Azzuro 42) which was anchored ahead of us, had taken a swim, not thinking about the 2-3kts current running, and was swept down onto our anchor chain. We threw her a rope and got her to the stern and onto Minnie B – she was in a bit of a state of shock but her husband Denis came on board and a cold beer resolved matters. Now this is the third time we have rescued Edith and Denis, since in Dakhla on two occasions their outboard motor packed up and we had to tow them. We reckon we own their boat by now with all this salvage and life-saving.
We signed up for a trip to the village of Mar Lodj, for Sunday Mass. We were ashore by 0800 along with many from the Rally to board our pirogues – yup, we got the boy-racers again and they set off at top speed with spray flying.
After 40mins we disembarked and then boarded horse-drawn carts to take us to the church. There was just enough space for us all in what is quite a large round church and people wanted to know our names – the welcome was enthusiastic. Colin, a new crew for Mina 2, had brought a large poppy for each of the four British boats and they were duly worn since this was Remembrance Sunday. The singing was delightful, led by a substantial choir – mostly in Wolof, the local language. A Christian church is quite rare in this Muslim country and the people had European names: Anna, Marie-Claire, Edouard, David, Pascal. We were then taken on a tour of the village: no running water, no sewerage system, but some solar-powered street lights, some houses with generators and TV aerials and everyone with a mobile phone. It’s not Coca-Cola that rules the world, it’s Orange and Vodaphone.
We were also shown two baobab trees that have grown together and become joined. The villagers see them as a symbol of the Christian and Muslim dimensions of the village and the religions living in harmony – seems like the world needs lots of joined up baobab trees.
Then it was lunch, picnic-style in the courtyard of a house. Rugs were laid out but with so many Rally people there we squatted on walls and wherever we could get shade from the fierce mid-day sun. We were served with large platters of prawns sautéed in garlic and lime, which we shared among small groups, then couscous with grilled fish, carrots and a parsnip-like vegetable and a murderous piri-piri sauce on the side. To finish we had fresh bananas. It was all washed down with bottles of Gazelle – one of the local beers. There are two beers here - Gazelle when you favour quantity and Flag when you favour quality.
We were then taken to the out-of-town shopping centre where the local women traders were very fierce. A couple of trinkets were bought after some stringent bargaining. Then it was back to the pirogues for the return to Djifer. Our boatmen decided to offer us a swimming stop which actually turned out to be because they were Muslims and wanted to pray. Nevertheless we took the opportunity to jump in – big mistake. The water was barely waist deep but there were razor sharp clam shell on the sea bed and Phil landed on one resulting in two deep cuts in his heel. Then a little girl cut her foot on a shell so those not in the water stayed in the pirogue and everyone else gingerly made their way back to the boat. Gilli has been a star, cleaning and taking care of Phil’s foot and it is healing well.
Monday 9th November saw us leave Djifer at 0800 and motor 6nm up river to the Hakuna Matata camp (a tourist “hotel”, restaurant and bar). We had our skippers’ briefing about the trip to Cape Verdes and then chilled out for the rest of the day until the party ashore in the evening. Now, this was a sight to behold as people were going ashore in smart tops, swimming shorts/bikini bottoms and then putting on smarter bottoms having left the dinghy tied to a decrepit pontoon and waded ashore in knee/thigh deep water. We ate from a buffet of barbecued goat with salad and rice, with a dessert of pancakes and watermelon. All washed down with red and rose wine of dubious distinction. We were entertained by local dancers, drummers and fire-eaters, then back to Minnie B around mid-night.
We were up again early to-day as we had to be ashore by 0730 to board our pirogue up some of the small tributaries of the Saloum River. These are called ‘bolongs’ and are lined with mangroves, which in turn have lots of oysters growing on their roots. The main purpose of this trip was bird-watching. There were some 17 of us on the pirogue with a very nice driver. We were very lucky too as Colin (Mina 2) is a keen bird-watcher and knew his stuff. He was able to identify the many different types of heron, osprey, oyster-catchers, kingfishers and other wading birds. We were well-rewarded by seeing two Goliath Herons which are over 5 feet tall. We saw people fishing from small pirogues powered by paddle and pole and eventually arrived at a village - Falia. This was a treat as we encountered authentic Senegal and our arrival had not been anticipated by the villagers. The water-side was covered in piles of oyster and clam shells which are broken up and mixed with cement to make building materials. There were pirogues being painted and repaired. Our driver conjured up a guide who took us to the village health clinic – a waiting porch and three rooms with one health worker. The main health problems are malaria, diarrhoea, and forms of pneumonia. They were organising HIV testing that evening although some claim it is not such a big problem in Senegal – hard to believe. However, the biggest issue is population growth and there are major efforts to reduce family sizes, but since Senegalese men can take up to four wives and may typically have five children with each (down from 9-10 a few years ago) then there is a lot of educating to do.
Then we visited the local school and joined an infants’ class, where the teacher explained the education system and we sat with the children. It was a bit of an “Aaah” moment. There are clearly not enough books or writing materials, and when we talked to some of the local people accompanying us about arranging for some to be sent, we received conflicting advice: “the teacher is not from this village and will give the materials to his wife to sell”; “the teacher is a good man and will use the materials for the children”. Hm. Seems it is always best to work through charities, which is what we did in India.
All of us felt that this visit to Falia was the highlight of our trip to the Saloum, for both the wildlife and seeing an authentic Senegalese village.
Wednesday 11th November 2009, 1130 UTC
Posn: 14deg05’.987N 17deg01’.460W
We are on passage from Sine-Saloum back to Dakar we have 7kts wind NNW – on the nose, so we are motoring with the mainsail up but not doing much other than steady Minnie B. Lunch has just arrived in the form of a decent sized bonito. We had two lines out – one on the rod and reel and another one with a couple of metres of bungy attached to a cleat. The bungy did it. By the time we noticed, our fish had expired from the exhaustion of fighting the bungy so we didn’t need to use our new method of dispatching the fish: cover its eyes and it dies of goodness knows what. We have been reprimanded by Ian, back in NI, for our use of alcohol – he favours the blow on the head with the winch handle, but it’s so messy. Anyway, we will try the cover over the eyes for the next one and get a peg on the line so we know when we have caught something.
Last night was a lot of fun as there were about 20 of us on Mina 2, Tim’s Oyster 485, for a party. He had fairy lights from stem to stern and the boat looked very pretty. The craic was good as there was a mix of Brits, Swiss, Belgians, Dutch and French. We all seem to be acquiring drink whose provenance is questionable: we have “Mr Bronson” brand gin that costs £5 a litre and is bottled in Senegal, and Malcom from Vita had some 10 years old malt whisky (“Black Swan” brand, or some such) that cost £5 for 75cl. We have not come across Senegalese wine, but what we drank at the party ashore definitely had a “local” sensation on the palate. Wine boxes are also the way to go as once removed from their boxes, the bladders mould to fit the spaces – is this the origin of the term “getting bladdered”? Fortunately, on this occasion, Suzanne from Suzy Too had made houmous and Norma had baked a pizza, which soaked up at least some of the alcohol.
Anyway, we have less than 40nm to our anchorage at Dakar and hope to be in just after 1900 as it gets dark.
Thursday 12th November 2009, 1000 UTC
Posn: 14deg39’.41N 17deg25’.40W
We arrived back in the Dakar anchorage last night at 2030 and are pretty much back in the spot we occupied before leaving for Sine-Saloum. The fish ended up being saved for dinner – delicious. Then we settled down to Gilli’s and Sally’s last night on board – so much had been talked about the film “Out of Africa”, with the memorable line from Meryl Streep playing Karen Blixen: “I had a farm in Efrica” - it’s the pronunciation of ‘Africa’ that does it. So, we had to watch it – no prizes for guessing how many of the four of us nodded off.
The final approach to the anchorage was very tricky as there are masses of shore lights including some for nightclubs and restaurants using red and green. In addition there is a lot of traffic so we had the radar on to help the final 5-6nm.
We are provisioning Minnie B to-day with food, drink and diesel. She also needs a good clean so we may have to use some of the water in our tanks. We leave for Cape Verdes islands on Sunday so we can make water again then. So far we are very pleased with the watermaker as it is producing about 35 litres an hour against a specification of 28 litres an hour. It’s a Spectra ... for those who are interested.
Sally and Gilli are packing to-day and round off their visit with a cocktail party at the French Embassy – so that will be a nice send off. They have made many friends on this trip and all who have met them will be sad to see them leave for UK. They have been great crew and great company. A bientot, as they say around here.
Posn: 14deg05’.987N 17deg01’.460W
We are on passage from Sine-Saloum back to Dakar we have 7kts wind NNW – on the nose, so we are motoring with the mainsail up but not doing much other than steady Minnie B. Lunch has just arrived in the form of a decent sized bonito. We had two lines out – one on the rod and reel and another one with a couple of metres of bungy attached to a cleat. The bungy did it. By the time we noticed, our fish had expired from the exhaustion of fighting the bungy so we didn’t need to use our new method of dispatching the fish: cover its eyes and it dies of goodness knows what. We have been reprimanded by Ian, back in NI, for our use of alcohol – he favours the blow on the head with the winch handle, but it’s so messy. Anyway, we will try the cover over the eyes for the next one and get a peg on the line so we know when we have caught something.
Last night was a lot of fun as there were about 20 of us on Mina 2, Tim’s Oyster 485, for a party. He had fairy lights from stem to stern and the boat looked very pretty. The craic was good as there was a mix of Brits, Swiss, Belgians, Dutch and French. We all seem to be acquiring drink whose provenance is questionable: we have “Mr Bronson” brand gin that costs £5 a litre and is bottled in Senegal, and Malcom from Vita had some 10 years old malt whisky (“Black Swan” brand, or some such) that cost £5 for 75cl. We have not come across Senegalese wine, but what we drank at the party ashore definitely had a “local” sensation on the palate. Wine boxes are also the way to go as once removed from their boxes, the bladders mould to fit the spaces – is this the origin of the term “getting bladdered”? Fortunately, on this occasion, Suzanne from Suzy Too had made houmous and Norma had baked a pizza, which soaked up at least some of the alcohol.
Anyway, we have less than 40nm to our anchorage at Dakar and hope to be in just after 1900 as it gets dark.
Thursday 12th November 2009, 1000 UTC
Posn: 14deg39’.41N 17deg25’.40W
We arrived back in the Dakar anchorage last night at 2030 and are pretty much back in the spot we occupied before leaving for Sine-Saloum. The fish ended up being saved for dinner – delicious. Then we settled down to Gilli’s and Sally’s last night on board – so much had been talked about the film “Out of Africa”, with the memorable line from Meryl Streep playing Karen Blixen: “I had a farm in Efrica” - it’s the pronunciation of ‘Africa’ that does it. So, we had to watch it – no prizes for guessing how many of the four of us nodded off.
The final approach to the anchorage was very tricky as there are masses of shore lights including some for nightclubs and restaurants using red and green. In addition there is a lot of traffic so we had the radar on to help the final 5-6nm.
We are provisioning Minnie B to-day with food, drink and diesel. She also needs a good clean so we may have to use some of the water in our tanks. We leave for Cape Verdes islands on Sunday so we can make water again then. So far we are very pleased with the watermaker as it is producing about 35 litres an hour against a specification of 28 litres an hour. It’s a Spectra ... for those who are interested.
Sally and Gilli are packing to-day and round off their visit with a cocktail party at the French Embassy – so that will be a nice send off. They have made many friends on this trip and all who have met them will be sad to see them leave for UK. They have been great crew and great company. A bientot, as they say around here.
16th November 2009, 1600UTC
Posn: 15deg40'.5N 20deg32'.0W
We are 128nm from the island of Boa Vista in the Cape Verdes, sailing in NE wind of 10-12kts - a beam reach with full main and full genoa. Our boat speed is 6.5-7kts and it has been like this since 1930 last night with the wind veering somewhat and also increasing to 15kts during the night when boat speed was over 7.5kts. We have our towed water generator out, the windpilot working away and one fishing line (no takers to-day so far though).
This is fantastic sailing.
We left Dakar at 0835 yesterday (15th November) having been delayed while all of our passports and boat papers were sorted by the authorities. We had a decent sail until 1620 when the wind gave up the ghost, so all the boats resorted to engine. When it did fill in we had great boat speed and course and were up at the front with a couple of other boats at0900 this morning. Brilliant. But, of course, ce n'est pas une course.
We said our sad farewells to Gilli and Sally on Thursday evening after the French Embassy cocktail party which turned out to have been downgraded to drinks at a local sports club and the Embassy doorman dropping in to say hello. That last bit is an exaggeration - the First Secretary spoke and warned us about Dengue Fever in the leeward Cape Verdes Islands. We are not going there. In fact one person has contracted Dengue Fever and their boat remains in Dakar as she is quite unwell. It is caught from certain daytime mosquito bites, so it's not contagious ... we think ...er ...??
We had a fabulous 3.5 weeks with Gilli and Sally and we were sorry to see them go, but there will be plenty more opportunities in the future.
On Friday we went on a trip with most of the crews to the Lac Rose - hm. Just a hint of pink at one end. Apparently, the rain from the rainy season combined with overextraction of salt and minerals is making it more like the Lac Gris. We visited a village founded in the 1950s by a refugee Ethiopian family - while the sleeping huts are bigger than our forecabin, the people do have to work all day, all week just to get by. The norm is 2-4 wives per man and 4 children per wife. No wonder life is hard for them. Then, we were driven recklessly around some sand dunes in our 4X4 Unimog trucks - yet again we got the boy-racer. He did win though -every event out here involving an engine is a race.
In the afternoon we visited the Bandia nature reserve and saw giraffes, rhinoceros, zebras and lots of deer/antelopes. It was good, but it is essentially an large-scale zoo, albeit that the vistas with lots of baobab trees and giraffes and zebra is quite evocative of something more natural in East or South Africa.
Saturday was clean the boat and finish provisioning - the air is generally filled with dust so Minnie B gets filthy. We wash her down with salt water and then do a rinse with fresh water in the cockpit, the stanchions, guard rails and blocks. Seems to work but now, again we have dust everywhere - must be the Sahara desert.
On Saturday evening we went (along with a RIDS crowd) to the French Cultural Centre to a concert with an outstanding band called Orchestra Baobab. Brilliant music - fusion of jazz, African, salsa and rock. Well worth looking for a CD - we didn't have time as the water taxi finished at 2330.
We hope to arrive in Mindelo, Sao Vicente on Wednesday 18th - still 260nm to go. Let's hope the wind holds.
Posn: 15deg40'.5N 20deg32'.0W
We are 128nm from the island of Boa Vista in the Cape Verdes, sailing in NE wind of 10-12kts - a beam reach with full main and full genoa. Our boat speed is 6.5-7kts and it has been like this since 1930 last night with the wind veering somewhat and also increasing to 15kts during the night when boat speed was over 7.5kts. We have our towed water generator out, the windpilot working away and one fishing line (no takers to-day so far though).
This is fantastic sailing.
We left Dakar at 0835 yesterday (15th November) having been delayed while all of our passports and boat papers were sorted by the authorities. We had a decent sail until 1620 when the wind gave up the ghost, so all the boats resorted to engine. When it did fill in we had great boat speed and course and were up at the front with a couple of other boats at0900 this morning. Brilliant. But, of course, ce n'est pas une course.
We said our sad farewells to Gilli and Sally on Thursday evening after the French Embassy cocktail party which turned out to have been downgraded to drinks at a local sports club and the Embassy doorman dropping in to say hello. That last bit is an exaggeration - the First Secretary spoke and warned us about Dengue Fever in the leeward Cape Verdes Islands. We are not going there. In fact one person has contracted Dengue Fever and their boat remains in Dakar as she is quite unwell. It is caught from certain daytime mosquito bites, so it's not contagious ... we think ...er ...??
We had a fabulous 3.5 weeks with Gilli and Sally and we were sorry to see them go, but there will be plenty more opportunities in the future.
On Friday we went on a trip with most of the crews to the Lac Rose - hm. Just a hint of pink at one end. Apparently, the rain from the rainy season combined with overextraction of salt and minerals is making it more like the Lac Gris. We visited a village founded in the 1950s by a refugee Ethiopian family - while the sleeping huts are bigger than our forecabin, the people do have to work all day, all week just to get by. The norm is 2-4 wives per man and 4 children per wife. No wonder life is hard for them. Then, we were driven recklessly around some sand dunes in our 4X4 Unimog trucks - yet again we got the boy-racer. He did win though -every event out here involving an engine is a race.
In the afternoon we visited the Bandia nature reserve and saw giraffes, rhinoceros, zebras and lots of deer/antelopes. It was good, but it is essentially an large-scale zoo, albeit that the vistas with lots of baobab trees and giraffes and zebra is quite evocative of something more natural in East or South Africa.
Saturday was clean the boat and finish provisioning - the air is generally filled with dust so Minnie B gets filthy. We wash her down with salt water and then do a rinse with fresh water in the cockpit, the stanchions, guard rails and blocks. Seems to work but now, again we have dust everywhere - must be the Sahara desert.
On Saturday evening we went (along with a RIDS crowd) to the French Cultural Centre to a concert with an outstanding band called Orchestra Baobab. Brilliant music - fusion of jazz, African, salsa and rock. Well worth looking for a CD - we didn't have time as the water taxi finished at 2330.
We hope to arrive in Mindelo, Sao Vicente on Wednesday 18th - still 260nm to go. Let's hope the wind holds.
21st November 2009
Mindelo Position 16 deg 53’.17N 24 deg 59’.50 W
We arrived in Mindelo at 1000 hours on Wednesday 18th November. We had a great sail here, with good wind on the beam most of the way, and Minnie B performed extremely well. We had spent a good part of last Sunday evening sailing close to several of the other “group one” rally boats which left with us at 0800 hours that morning. However, once the NNE wind picked up around 1930, we found we were sailing faster than the others – perhaps they had reefed down for the night while we hadn’t? – and by Monday morning we were out on our own, just glimpsing Francois’ “Pilhoue V” ahead. After that, we saw almost no sailing traffic of any kind, bar one naval vessel and one cargo ship in the distance.
We continued with full main and genoa, and a NNE wind which varied in strength between 11 and 16 knots, on a heading of 299 degrees, to our waypoint off Boa Vista island. We calculated that at our current speed, we would reach Mindelo during the hours of darkness on Tuesday night/ Wednesday morning, so finally took in a reef in the main on Tuesday afternoon so that we would slow down sufficiently to arrive in daylight. Inevitably the wind eased during the night for a few hours, to delay our arrival at the marina until 1000. Nicholas, from the rally “Organising Committee” was on the pontoon to greet us with the news that we were the third boat to arrive from group one, and fifth overall. Since then we’ve had many comments about how fast we were on that leg – though of course, it’s not a race!
The arrival of the rest of the rally boats on the pontoon during Wednesday prompted “party time”! Having been at anchor and on passage for almost three weeks, being altogether again in a marina has become an excuse for many drinks and lunch-and dinner-parties. We kicked off with a farewell drink on Minnie B for Lammert and Sue, the crew members on African Seawing, who have been with the rally since Madeira, but who departed on Wednesday evening. They have been great company and we were very sorry to say goodbye. We hope we’ll keep in touch.
On Thursday, we had a walk around Mindelo, which is much nicer than we had expected, with many lovely buildings in the Portuguese style. The pilot book had warned of crime, pickpockets and poverty and while the last is evident, it would seem that so long as one takes the usual precautions regarding money, cameras and jewellery, it’s no more dangerous here than in many European cities.
We then began a round of partying starting with lunch with Edith and Denis on “Harmonie” . It was good to spend some time with them conversing in the by now normal mix of English and French and we felt we knew them much better by the end of the meal. Like almost all the people on the rally, they are very easy going and relaxed. Lunch was followed by early evening drinks on African Seawing. On Friday we managed to get quite a few jobs done around the boat before lunch on “Pilhoue V” – a delicious meal prepared by Francois and his crew, comprising tuna sashimi, then barbecued lobster and finishing off with papaya. Francois is a very genial host and we will now have to consider how to return all this hospitality. The French really do know how to turn simple ingredients into a taste fest.
Andy and Sue from “Spruce” – old friends from Madeira – arrived yesterday so they joined the party on “Suzie Too” before dinner with us on Minnie B for a good catch up. Today, we had a walk round town with them , and lunch at the “Club Nautico” – a rather jolly open air bar which has live music in the evenings.
We now feel well rested and will spend a couple of days completing more maintenance on Minnie B in preparation for the crossing. Martha from African Seawing has been organising a group trip to the next island, San Anton, and we will take the ferry on Tuesday and stay in a hotel for a couple of nights, which is a luxury many of us are looking forward to!
Mindelo Position 16 deg 53’.17N 24 deg 59’.50 W
We arrived in Mindelo at 1000 hours on Wednesday 18th November. We had a great sail here, with good wind on the beam most of the way, and Minnie B performed extremely well. We had spent a good part of last Sunday evening sailing close to several of the other “group one” rally boats which left with us at 0800 hours that morning. However, once the NNE wind picked up around 1930, we found we were sailing faster than the others – perhaps they had reefed down for the night while we hadn’t? – and by Monday morning we were out on our own, just glimpsing Francois’ “Pilhoue V” ahead. After that, we saw almost no sailing traffic of any kind, bar one naval vessel and one cargo ship in the distance.
We continued with full main and genoa, and a NNE wind which varied in strength between 11 and 16 knots, on a heading of 299 degrees, to our waypoint off Boa Vista island. We calculated that at our current speed, we would reach Mindelo during the hours of darkness on Tuesday night/ Wednesday morning, so finally took in a reef in the main on Tuesday afternoon so that we would slow down sufficiently to arrive in daylight. Inevitably the wind eased during the night for a few hours, to delay our arrival at the marina until 1000. Nicholas, from the rally “Organising Committee” was on the pontoon to greet us with the news that we were the third boat to arrive from group one, and fifth overall. Since then we’ve had many comments about how fast we were on that leg – though of course, it’s not a race!
The arrival of the rest of the rally boats on the pontoon during Wednesday prompted “party time”! Having been at anchor and on passage for almost three weeks, being altogether again in a marina has become an excuse for many drinks and lunch-and dinner-parties. We kicked off with a farewell drink on Minnie B for Lammert and Sue, the crew members on African Seawing, who have been with the rally since Madeira, but who departed on Wednesday evening. They have been great company and we were very sorry to say goodbye. We hope we’ll keep in touch.
On Thursday, we had a walk around Mindelo, which is much nicer than we had expected, with many lovely buildings in the Portuguese style. The pilot book had warned of crime, pickpockets and poverty and while the last is evident, it would seem that so long as one takes the usual precautions regarding money, cameras and jewellery, it’s no more dangerous here than in many European cities.
We then began a round of partying starting with lunch with Edith and Denis on “Harmonie” . It was good to spend some time with them conversing in the by now normal mix of English and French and we felt we knew them much better by the end of the meal. Like almost all the people on the rally, they are very easy going and relaxed. Lunch was followed by early evening drinks on African Seawing. On Friday we managed to get quite a few jobs done around the boat before lunch on “Pilhoue V” – a delicious meal prepared by Francois and his crew, comprising tuna sashimi, then barbecued lobster and finishing off with papaya. Francois is a very genial host and we will now have to consider how to return all this hospitality. The French really do know how to turn simple ingredients into a taste fest.
Andy and Sue from “Spruce” – old friends from Madeira – arrived yesterday so they joined the party on “Suzie Too” before dinner with us on Minnie B for a good catch up. Today, we had a walk round town with them , and lunch at the “Club Nautico” – a rather jolly open air bar which has live music in the evenings.
We now feel well rested and will spend a couple of days completing more maintenance on Minnie B in preparation for the crossing. Martha from African Seawing has been organising a group trip to the next island, San Anton, and we will take the ferry on Tuesday and stay in a hotel for a couple of nights, which is a luxury many of us are looking forward to!
Thursday 26th November 2009
Mindelo, Sao Vicente, Cape Verdes
Words do not do justice to the amazing visit to Sao Antao. We had been told it was superb, but it was an SEE rating – that’s substantially exceeds expectations, and it doesn’t get better than that.
So what was it? Well, the island is a short ferry ride (one hour) from Mindelo and the intrepid group under the leadership of Marta (African Seawing) was up at dawn on Tuesday to catch the 0800 ferry. The company (some say bad company) comprised Marta and Frank, David and Suzanne (Suzie Too), Andy and Sue (Spruce), and Tim and Neal (Mina 2) – all with varying amounts of luggage for our two nights on Sao Antao. It seemed that we had enough for a week, whereas we were unsure what kind of odours Tim and Neal would be giving off as they had so little baggage.
We were met by our guide, Sonya, and a bus for twice the number of people. Porto Nova, where we landed is not up to much and the southern side of the island is quite barren, albeit the main scenic feature is the vast number of new houses springing up. The approach to building is get some money and get started – this means there are lots of part-built houses that are grey because the breeze blocks and cement have not been plastered and painted. When they do get enough money to paint then the colours are vivid greens, blues, reds and yellows.
Our bus straightaway climbed the cobbled road towards the ridge that splits the island in two, and what a treat – there were forests, gorges, ravines and the near-perfect volcano caldera into which we walked. The views were spectacular. Some of the houses now changed too and were of stone walls, with roofs thatched in banana leaf and sisal. The land became more cultivated and we had our first views of the extensive planting of sugar cane (more about this later). Sonya kept stopping the bus so that we could take photos and make a small contribution to the local economy by buying drinks and snacks at the tiny one-room shops that appeared to be everywhere.
We stopped at Ponta do Sol on the northern coast for lunch of fish, rice and yams and had a walk round – lots of new developments in housing, but also some new shops that are modern but mostly waiting for occupants.
Then it was off to our hotel. Phil had been looking forward to a gin and tonic on the veranda. The first we knew that we may have to adjust our expectations on this one, was when the bus stopped beside a narrow stone path and Sonya introduced the porters who would carry our bags. She said it was a short 15 mins walk. She did not say that the path was near vertical. However, as we had decided we were intrepid, off we set. By the time we all gathered at the Casa das Ilhas it was clear that there would be no gin and tonic, but the views up and down the valley took our breath away – actually, it was the climb that took our breath away. We recovered quickly and met Kate who is Belgian, and runs the place. Here is the website casdasilhas@yahoo.fr – visit this place. No, not just the website, the actual place. The bar is the fridge for beer or grog (and soft drinks) and Kate operates a trust system so you take what you want, record it in the book and pay at the end of your visit. Our rooms were simple, but spotless and oh, the view from the window. We had more fish for dinner with all of us sat around one big table. We were joined by Francois (Pilhoue V) who was travelling alone, but by 2000 it was clear that everyone was tired and waiting for someone to be the first to call it a day. By 2015 we couldn’t keep going so we apologised and started the rush for bed.
Dawn brought cocks crowing and the views. Sonya arrived with another guide, Ronnie (pronounced Honey) and we set off for what we understood to be a three-hour walk. We were walking though a highly cultivated valley with dry stone walls creating layer upon layer of terraces. We saw a very rich diversity of crops that were new to us: breadfruit, manioc, yams, papaya, coffee, and sugar cane with its feathery flowering tops. There were four hundred years-old dragon trees and round nearly every corner we came upon stone houses with thatched roofs. This side of the island gets lots of rain between August and October, and the steep valley sides have many dried up waterfalls bearing testimony to just how much water falls here in this period. Everywhere there were people working their crops or just hanging out – they were polite and friendly, if a bit shy. Many go barefoot and they are essentially subsistence living, working the main fields for absentee landlords and raising crops for themselves on small parcels of land.
We stopped for lunch in the courtyard of Senhora Vittoria’s house and she made coffee for all of us. We visited other houses and many had electricity and running water. After lunch we were to head for a small village and meet our transport back to Casa das Ilhas. This was when our walk gradually changed from a rating of Moderate, through Difficult, then Very Difficult to You Have Got To Be Joking. Basically our guides stopped being guides and became guessers. We had three ravines to cross to get to the village so we ended up experiencing canyoning, rock-climbing and cutting our way through the sugar cane - well, the last is a bit of an exaggeration. We eventually arrived at the village, found a bar and quenched our thirst with copious amounts of beer followed by tasting the home-made grog (not for the faint-hearted and remarkable how something so pungent can be made from something so sweet – the sugar cane). Andy, Tim, Neal and Frank decided they had not had enough and walked back to Casa das Ilhas while the rest of us wimped out and got on the bus.
We had bought wine from the bar, and this washed down our dinner of chicken and chick pea stew. Then people who shall remain nameless bought bottles of grog and Francois bought punch for the ladies. James, Adam and Yvonne (Vita) had arrived that afternoon and they joined the party. Now, it’s very interesting that home-made grog does not produce a hangover. We should all have had serious headaches but remarkably there was just a small degree of fatigue this morning. We caught the 1000 ferry and were sad that our short vacation was over. Sao Antao was a big hit and we would (a) go back for another visit, and (b) recommend it to everyone.
So, now we complete our preparations for the big crossing and await the arrival of John and Beth
Mindelo, Sao Vicente, Cape Verdes
Words do not do justice to the amazing visit to Sao Antao. We had been told it was superb, but it was an SEE rating – that’s substantially exceeds expectations, and it doesn’t get better than that.
So what was it? Well, the island is a short ferry ride (one hour) from Mindelo and the intrepid group under the leadership of Marta (African Seawing) was up at dawn on Tuesday to catch the 0800 ferry. The company (some say bad company) comprised Marta and Frank, David and Suzanne (Suzie Too), Andy and Sue (Spruce), and Tim and Neal (Mina 2) – all with varying amounts of luggage for our two nights on Sao Antao. It seemed that we had enough for a week, whereas we were unsure what kind of odours Tim and Neal would be giving off as they had so little baggage.
We were met by our guide, Sonya, and a bus for twice the number of people. Porto Nova, where we landed is not up to much and the southern side of the island is quite barren, albeit the main scenic feature is the vast number of new houses springing up. The approach to building is get some money and get started – this means there are lots of part-built houses that are grey because the breeze blocks and cement have not been plastered and painted. When they do get enough money to paint then the colours are vivid greens, blues, reds and yellows.
Our bus straightaway climbed the cobbled road towards the ridge that splits the island in two, and what a treat – there were forests, gorges, ravines and the near-perfect volcano caldera into which we walked. The views were spectacular. Some of the houses now changed too and were of stone walls, with roofs thatched in banana leaf and sisal. The land became more cultivated and we had our first views of the extensive planting of sugar cane (more about this later). Sonya kept stopping the bus so that we could take photos and make a small contribution to the local economy by buying drinks and snacks at the tiny one-room shops that appeared to be everywhere.
We stopped at Ponta do Sol on the northern coast for lunch of fish, rice and yams and had a walk round – lots of new developments in housing, but also some new shops that are modern but mostly waiting for occupants.
Then it was off to our hotel. Phil had been looking forward to a gin and tonic on the veranda. The first we knew that we may have to adjust our expectations on this one, was when the bus stopped beside a narrow stone path and Sonya introduced the porters who would carry our bags. She said it was a short 15 mins walk. She did not say that the path was near vertical. However, as we had decided we were intrepid, off we set. By the time we all gathered at the Casa das Ilhas it was clear that there would be no gin and tonic, but the views up and down the valley took our breath away – actually, it was the climb that took our breath away. We recovered quickly and met Kate who is Belgian, and runs the place. Here is the website casdasilhas@yahoo.fr – visit this place. No, not just the website, the actual place. The bar is the fridge for beer or grog (and soft drinks) and Kate operates a trust system so you take what you want, record it in the book and pay at the end of your visit. Our rooms were simple, but spotless and oh, the view from the window. We had more fish for dinner with all of us sat around one big table. We were joined by Francois (Pilhoue V) who was travelling alone, but by 2000 it was clear that everyone was tired and waiting for someone to be the first to call it a day. By 2015 we couldn’t keep going so we apologised and started the rush for bed.
Dawn brought cocks crowing and the views. Sonya arrived with another guide, Ronnie (pronounced Honey) and we set off for what we understood to be a three-hour walk. We were walking though a highly cultivated valley with dry stone walls creating layer upon layer of terraces. We saw a very rich diversity of crops that were new to us: breadfruit, manioc, yams, papaya, coffee, and sugar cane with its feathery flowering tops. There were four hundred years-old dragon trees and round nearly every corner we came upon stone houses with thatched roofs. This side of the island gets lots of rain between August and October, and the steep valley sides have many dried up waterfalls bearing testimony to just how much water falls here in this period. Everywhere there were people working their crops or just hanging out – they were polite and friendly, if a bit shy. Many go barefoot and they are essentially subsistence living, working the main fields for absentee landlords and raising crops for themselves on small parcels of land.
We stopped for lunch in the courtyard of Senhora Vittoria’s house and she made coffee for all of us. We visited other houses and many had electricity and running water. After lunch we were to head for a small village and meet our transport back to Casa das Ilhas. This was when our walk gradually changed from a rating of Moderate, through Difficult, then Very Difficult to You Have Got To Be Joking. Basically our guides stopped being guides and became guessers. We had three ravines to cross to get to the village so we ended up experiencing canyoning, rock-climbing and cutting our way through the sugar cane - well, the last is a bit of an exaggeration. We eventually arrived at the village, found a bar and quenched our thirst with copious amounts of beer followed by tasting the home-made grog (not for the faint-hearted and remarkable how something so pungent can be made from something so sweet – the sugar cane). Andy, Tim, Neal and Frank decided they had not had enough and walked back to Casa das Ilhas while the rest of us wimped out and got on the bus.
We had bought wine from the bar, and this washed down our dinner of chicken and chick pea stew. Then people who shall remain nameless bought bottles of grog and Francois bought punch for the ladies. James, Adam and Yvonne (Vita) had arrived that afternoon and they joined the party. Now, it’s very interesting that home-made grog does not produce a hangover. We should all have had serious headaches but remarkably there was just a small degree of fatigue this morning. We caught the 1000 ferry and were sad that our short vacation was over. Sao Antao was a big hit and we would (a) go back for another visit, and (b) recommend it to everyone.
So, now we complete our preparations for the big crossing and await the arrival of John and Beth
28th November 2009
Mindelo
We are now in serious preparation mode as we leave for Brazil on Monday. Our friends, John and Beth, arrive tomorrow and we are looking forward to sailing with them.
We don't have much sense that Christmas is coming soon as Mindelo hasn't been festooned with Christmas lights and there's none of the Christmas goods about. Nor are there Christmas carols and songs to put you in the mood. The music is local - a mix of fado, african, jazz and rock - and it's live in all the bars and restaurants. Great atmosphere.
There was a bit of a disaster on Sao Antao for Simone on the boat 'Tanagra' as she fell and broke her ankle. They had been on a walk like us but were just arriving back at the road to meet their taxi. So, she flies back to Switzerland tonight and will rejoin in January in Brazil - they have enough crew. When we heard about this we were very careful on our walks. Then a crew member on 'Ti-Ouane' fell on the ramp from the jetty to the pontoons and broke his leg in two places - he flew back to France. He was due to leave anyway so the people on Ti-Ouane have enough for the crossing.
All the talk at the moment is about the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) - otherwise known as the doldrums or Pot Noir in French. The question is where is it narrowest - well somewhere between 26deg W and 29 deg W - that's a 240nm wide gate so it's a bit tricky. It moves about a bit too - one day 27deg looks right and then 29deg looks OK. We will just have to keep getting the weather forecasts - Navtex-like and GRIB files. We have around 700nm to the northern edge of the ITCZ so that will take us around 5 days. We will set a course due south and just see what is best as each day's forecast comes in.
We had our Skippers' (and partners') meeting yesterday morning to talk about the trip, and we have been press-ganged into being the VHF Net controllers for Group 1. The fleet has been split into three groups according to boat speed: Gp 1 leaves Monday, Gp 2 Tuesday and Gp 3 Wednesday. The reason for us being Net controllers is that everyone thinks we can speak good French - well, Norma can. We also have our secret weapons - John and Beth, who are completely fluent.
Minnie B is now well provisioned with food and drink. We are carrying some extra water in bottles just in case we have any problems with watermaker and tank. One of the boats has found they have seawater in their fresh water tank - ouch.
Last night there was a reception for the Rally boats at a very flash new bar/restaurant/shopping/swimming pool complex adjacent to the marina - it is not yet open fully but they did a special event and the Mayor of Mindelo came along and said how welcome we all are. He said a lot more but it may have been in Portuguese or Criol (the local language) and then it was translated into French - no English. We understood the sentiment.
We had an interesting chat with Patrick - the Rally boss - we had heard he called the English "glauish" (not sure about the spelling). We made enquiries with some of the French participants who smiled and eventually spilled the beans that it's a Breton term meaning "pricks". So, we then introduced Patrick to the term "cheese-eating surrender monkeys". But then added that he is actually more like an Orang-Utan.
We have a very good relationship with Patrick - we introduced him to Trafalgar Day on 21st October in Tenerife. He likes us as all the Brits/NI boats just get on with whatever comes and don't moan ... unlike some of the other participants ... we understand ...
There's a concert at the marina to-night so will either just sit on Minnie B and enjoy the sounds or wander up to have look.
We should be in Salvador da Bahia around 15th-18th December if all goes well.
The website will be regularly updated during our crossing - we will report on the anticipated visit from Neptune.
Mindelo
We are now in serious preparation mode as we leave for Brazil on Monday. Our friends, John and Beth, arrive tomorrow and we are looking forward to sailing with them.
We don't have much sense that Christmas is coming soon as Mindelo hasn't been festooned with Christmas lights and there's none of the Christmas goods about. Nor are there Christmas carols and songs to put you in the mood. The music is local - a mix of fado, african, jazz and rock - and it's live in all the bars and restaurants. Great atmosphere.
There was a bit of a disaster on Sao Antao for Simone on the boat 'Tanagra' as she fell and broke her ankle. They had been on a walk like us but were just arriving back at the road to meet their taxi. So, she flies back to Switzerland tonight and will rejoin in January in Brazil - they have enough crew. When we heard about this we were very careful on our walks. Then a crew member on 'Ti-Ouane' fell on the ramp from the jetty to the pontoons and broke his leg in two places - he flew back to France. He was due to leave anyway so the people on Ti-Ouane have enough for the crossing.
All the talk at the moment is about the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) - otherwise known as the doldrums or Pot Noir in French. The question is where is it narrowest - well somewhere between 26deg W and 29 deg W - that's a 240nm wide gate so it's a bit tricky. It moves about a bit too - one day 27deg looks right and then 29deg looks OK. We will just have to keep getting the weather forecasts - Navtex-like and GRIB files. We have around 700nm to the northern edge of the ITCZ so that will take us around 5 days. We will set a course due south and just see what is best as each day's forecast comes in.
We had our Skippers' (and partners') meeting yesterday morning to talk about the trip, and we have been press-ganged into being the VHF Net controllers for Group 1. The fleet has been split into three groups according to boat speed: Gp 1 leaves Monday, Gp 2 Tuesday and Gp 3 Wednesday. The reason for us being Net controllers is that everyone thinks we can speak good French - well, Norma can. We also have our secret weapons - John and Beth, who are completely fluent.
Minnie B is now well provisioned with food and drink. We are carrying some extra water in bottles just in case we have any problems with watermaker and tank. One of the boats has found they have seawater in their fresh water tank - ouch.
Last night there was a reception for the Rally boats at a very flash new bar/restaurant/shopping/swimming pool complex adjacent to the marina - it is not yet open fully but they did a special event and the Mayor of Mindelo came along and said how welcome we all are. He said a lot more but it may have been in Portuguese or Criol (the local language) and then it was translated into French - no English. We understood the sentiment.
We had an interesting chat with Patrick - the Rally boss - we had heard he called the English "glauish" (not sure about the spelling). We made enquiries with some of the French participants who smiled and eventually spilled the beans that it's a Breton term meaning "pricks". So, we then introduced Patrick to the term "cheese-eating surrender monkeys". But then added that he is actually more like an Orang-Utan.
We have a very good relationship with Patrick - we introduced him to Trafalgar Day on 21st October in Tenerife. He likes us as all the Brits/NI boats just get on with whatever comes and don't moan ... unlike some of the other participants ... we understand ...
There's a concert at the marina to-night so will either just sit on Minnie B and enjoy the sounds or wander up to have look.
We should be in Salvador da Bahia around 15th-18th December if all goes well.
The website will be regularly updated during our crossing - we will report on the anticipated visit from Neptune.
Tuesday 1st December 2009, 1400 UTC
Posn: 14deg17'.6N 25deg11'.4W
We are 155nm into our 2200nm trip towards Salvador da Bahia, Brazil - so that's 7 per cent of the journey complete. We left Mindelo yesterday morning and were sorted and sailing by 1200 UTC - incidentally, Ship's time i.e. where we are, is one hour behind UTC at present.
When we left we immediately had 18-20kts Easterly wind and with a short choppy sea between Sao Vicente and Sao Antao we had a reef in the main and in the genoa. As the afternoon wore on the wind was up to 22-23kts and a second reef went into both sails. We were cracking along at 7.5-8kts and in the first 24 hours covered around 150nm. This is good … but … what is given can also be taken away and the wind is down to 5kts. Doh.
During the night we had the autopilot on as our fine-tuning of the Windpilot was … well … coarse. By dawn we had the Windpilot strutting its stuff.
John and Beth arrived with us on Sunday morning and we spent the day settling them in and doing our final preparations. In the evening we had other rally crews for drinks to meet John and Beth - Minnie B can hold 18 people in the cockpit. Really.
Then we went to Mindelo's best restaurant: Gaudi where there was a crazy 85-years old violinist and various singers and musicians. Our food was great but somewhat late as they lost our order. OK, modify best? No, we had a great evening, being joined by Tim and Neal.
Monday morning brought excitement in the air - we had some provisions to collect: 3kg of frozen Brazilian Filet Mignon. Morale is very high on this boat as we have just had some for lunch. We may have to eat the rest very quickly as it is defrosting faster than we expected. John and Beth's passports were very effectively dealt with by Jacqueline of the RIDS Organising Committee and the local Immigration people. Then it was lots of handshakes, kisses and hugs with "See you in Brazil" being the call. Then we slipped our lines and out into the bay to stow fenders and ropes and finally point Minnie B towards the ocean
And, that is where we are now having left behind the leeward islands of Cape Verde and taking with us many happy memories.
Posn: 14deg17'.6N 25deg11'.4W
We are 155nm into our 2200nm trip towards Salvador da Bahia, Brazil - so that's 7 per cent of the journey complete. We left Mindelo yesterday morning and were sorted and sailing by 1200 UTC - incidentally, Ship's time i.e. where we are, is one hour behind UTC at present.
When we left we immediately had 18-20kts Easterly wind and with a short choppy sea between Sao Vicente and Sao Antao we had a reef in the main and in the genoa. As the afternoon wore on the wind was up to 22-23kts and a second reef went into both sails. We were cracking along at 7.5-8kts and in the first 24 hours covered around 150nm. This is good … but … what is given can also be taken away and the wind is down to 5kts. Doh.
During the night we had the autopilot on as our fine-tuning of the Windpilot was … well … coarse. By dawn we had the Windpilot strutting its stuff.
John and Beth arrived with us on Sunday morning and we spent the day settling them in and doing our final preparations. In the evening we had other rally crews for drinks to meet John and Beth - Minnie B can hold 18 people in the cockpit. Really.
Then we went to Mindelo's best restaurant: Gaudi where there was a crazy 85-years old violinist and various singers and musicians. Our food was great but somewhat late as they lost our order. OK, modify best? No, we had a great evening, being joined by Tim and Neal.
Monday morning brought excitement in the air - we had some provisions to collect: 3kg of frozen Brazilian Filet Mignon. Morale is very high on this boat as we have just had some for lunch. We may have to eat the rest very quickly as it is defrosting faster than we expected. John and Beth's passports were very effectively dealt with by Jacqueline of the RIDS Organising Committee and the local Immigration people. Then it was lots of handshakes, kisses and hugs with "See you in Brazil" being the call. Then we slipped our lines and out into the bay to stow fenders and ropes and finally point Minnie B towards the ocean
And, that is where we are now having left behind the leeward islands of Cape Verde and taking with us many happy memories.
Thursday 3rd December 2009
Position 9 deg 24'79N 26 deg 25'66 W
This is the fourth day of our crossing and all is well. Having studied the forecast for the position of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, we have decided on a more westerly route than most of the other rally boats in our group, it would appear. Time will tell if we have made the right choice! Both yesterday and today, the wind has been ENE, 10-15 knots and we are currently sailing goosewinged, with the genoa poled out - very comfortable and averaging 6kts. Later today, when we reach 26 degrees 30', we will turn south to where, we hope, the ITCZ will be small and hence, in theory, more easily negotiated. We are well rested and well fed, still finding new ways to cook our brazilian beef! We have settled into a routine of 2 hour watches, and Norma is finding that a collection of women's magazines donated by Suzanne from Suzy Too is helping to pass the time during what, to date, have been uneventful nights. Long may it continue!
Position 9 deg 24'79N 26 deg 25'66 W
This is the fourth day of our crossing and all is well. Having studied the forecast for the position of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, we have decided on a more westerly route than most of the other rally boats in our group, it would appear. Time will tell if we have made the right choice! Both yesterday and today, the wind has been ENE, 10-15 knots and we are currently sailing goosewinged, with the genoa poled out - very comfortable and averaging 6kts. Later today, when we reach 26 degrees 30', we will turn south to where, we hope, the ITCZ will be small and hence, in theory, more easily negotiated. We are well rested and well fed, still finding new ways to cook our brazilian beef! We have settled into a routine of 2 hour watches, and Norma is finding that a collection of women's magazines donated by Suzanne from Suzy Too is helping to pass the time during what, to date, have been uneventful nights. Long may it continue!
Sunday 6th December 2009, 1900 UTC
Posn: 02deg56'.39N 27deg29'.75W
We have never sailed in the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone before - the ITCZ, Le ZIC, the doldrums, Le Pot Noir. Well, it's no great shakes in fact it's not scoring very high on the fun scale. We currently have 1kt north-going tide - should be west-going. We have southerly wind F3 - should be East or South-East. Last night we had torrential rain - yippee, the sand from the Sahara and the dirt from Dakar has been washed off. But visibility was zero and there was an impenetrable wall of radar clutter around Minnie B. Any ships out there? Hard to say when that happens and we did see one very large merchant ship some 4nm away to-day. The problem with Le Pot Noir - we think this gives a flavour of the zone - is that there are no signs or nobody comes along and says you are now entering or you are now leaving. We think we may be nearly out of it. All the info suggests we should be but where are the SE Trade winds? We are actually motor-sailing in order to get out as fast as possible.
We hd a couple of flashes of lightning last night but nothing close. Nevertheless, the handheld VHF, handheld GPS and satphone went in a tin and along with the EPIRB, they all went in the oven for safe-keeping.
We are all a bit tired to-day because we had a lot of sail changes yesterday and we were putting in and taking out reefs in the night - the cruising chute was up and down twice and we had the genoa poled out and then not. This is sailing.
Our concern at the moment is not to get too far west, having followed the forecast on the GRIB files and come west earlier than many other boats. Not sure our gamble will pay off so we are being slightly prudent in our course.
Morale is very high despite having now finished the Filet Mignon - maybe it's because we started into our whole leg of Serrano Ham which is suspended in the saloon. We anticipate reaching the Equator early on Tuesday 8th Dec and will be on the lookout for a visit from King Neptune. We had better have some suitable offerings ready.
Posn: 02deg56'.39N 27deg29'.75W
We have never sailed in the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone before - the ITCZ, Le ZIC, the doldrums, Le Pot Noir. Well, it's no great shakes in fact it's not scoring very high on the fun scale. We currently have 1kt north-going tide - should be west-going. We have southerly wind F3 - should be East or South-East. Last night we had torrential rain - yippee, the sand from the Sahara and the dirt from Dakar has been washed off. But visibility was zero and there was an impenetrable wall of radar clutter around Minnie B. Any ships out there? Hard to say when that happens and we did see one very large merchant ship some 4nm away to-day. The problem with Le Pot Noir - we think this gives a flavour of the zone - is that there are no signs or nobody comes along and says you are now entering or you are now leaving. We think we may be nearly out of it. All the info suggests we should be but where are the SE Trade winds? We are actually motor-sailing in order to get out as fast as possible.
We hd a couple of flashes of lightning last night but nothing close. Nevertheless, the handheld VHF, handheld GPS and satphone went in a tin and along with the EPIRB, they all went in the oven for safe-keeping.
We are all a bit tired to-day because we had a lot of sail changes yesterday and we were putting in and taking out reefs in the night - the cruising chute was up and down twice and we had the genoa poled out and then not. This is sailing.
Our concern at the moment is not to get too far west, having followed the forecast on the GRIB files and come west earlier than many other boats. Not sure our gamble will pay off so we are being slightly prudent in our course.
Morale is very high despite having now finished the Filet Mignon - maybe it's because we started into our whole leg of Serrano Ham which is suspended in the saloon. We anticipate reaching the Equator early on Tuesday 8th Dec and will be on the lookout for a visit from King Neptune. We had better have some suitable offerings ready.
Tuesday 8th December 2009, 1800 UTC
Posn: 01deg04'.4S 28deg31'.7W
Yes, that's south of the Equator and what a tale we have to tell. Now we know that you have heard of tired, long distance sailors starting to hallucinate, but the events of the last 24 hours have been no hallucination. All four of us witnessed these strange and startling happenings and Norma, John and Beth had the most incredible of encounters (Phil was off watch asleep).
It all started about 1800 UTC yesterday when a pod of about 20 dolphins arrived. They did the usual racing to the bow and bearing away, three at a time leaping and diving, several breaching and leaping clear of the water. Then, the oddest thing, we all said together, in unison, at the same time, "they're Neptune's scouts". The next thing we knew was we all felt a message being communicated: "King Neptune's coming and you'd better be ready". What a shock - most unnerving. We still had 60nm to go to the Equator.
Out came the bottle of Dom Perignon 1999 to chill. At this stage we would like to thank George for his kindness in presenting this to Phil on his retirement from work. This wine is full of life, with a fresh nose that dances through a spiral of aromas, blending hints of angelica, dried flowers, pineapple, coconut, cinnamon, cocoa and tobacco. With a fullness in the mouth, its earthy, smoky, pearly complexity rises to the surface, underscored by the vibrant warmth of peppery spice. The sensation of intensity develops and melts into a deep rounded heart, with fruity, exotic maturity and the slight touch of aniseed. This sensation, almost unsettling, is even more pronounced in the finish, while the notes of spice, still present, remain discreet, with toasted, iodine flavours. Perfect for King Neptune.
So there we are 0615 UTC bang on the Equator when up pops this bearded, crowned figure carrying a trident. He hops on board and demands tribute. A glass of the DP did it, but there must be some Irish in him as he demanded Guinness too. He stayed awhile and after some persuasion agreed to have his photograph taken with Norma, John and Beth. He even popped back later in the day for another photo-shoot just to ensure we had the evidence. Photos will be posted when we reach Salvador.
So, now we are sailing along at just over 6kts in bright sunshine with a course of 215M. Minnie B is slightly heeled but we are comfortable. The wind is still south of SE but the forecast is for it to back and we hope to get onto a beam reach tomorrow or the next day. We still have over 1000nm to go but we are past some important milestones and morale couldn't be better.
Posn: 01deg04'.4S 28deg31'.7W
Yes, that's south of the Equator and what a tale we have to tell. Now we know that you have heard of tired, long distance sailors starting to hallucinate, but the events of the last 24 hours have been no hallucination. All four of us witnessed these strange and startling happenings and Norma, John and Beth had the most incredible of encounters (Phil was off watch asleep).
It all started about 1800 UTC yesterday when a pod of about 20 dolphins arrived. They did the usual racing to the bow and bearing away, three at a time leaping and diving, several breaching and leaping clear of the water. Then, the oddest thing, we all said together, in unison, at the same time, "they're Neptune's scouts". The next thing we knew was we all felt a message being communicated: "King Neptune's coming and you'd better be ready". What a shock - most unnerving. We still had 60nm to go to the Equator.
Out came the bottle of Dom Perignon 1999 to chill. At this stage we would like to thank George for his kindness in presenting this to Phil on his retirement from work. This wine is full of life, with a fresh nose that dances through a spiral of aromas, blending hints of angelica, dried flowers, pineapple, coconut, cinnamon, cocoa and tobacco. With a fullness in the mouth, its earthy, smoky, pearly complexity rises to the surface, underscored by the vibrant warmth of peppery spice. The sensation of intensity develops and melts into a deep rounded heart, with fruity, exotic maturity and the slight touch of aniseed. This sensation, almost unsettling, is even more pronounced in the finish, while the notes of spice, still present, remain discreet, with toasted, iodine flavours. Perfect for King Neptune.
So there we are 0615 UTC bang on the Equator when up pops this bearded, crowned figure carrying a trident. He hops on board and demands tribute. A glass of the DP did it, but there must be some Irish in him as he demanded Guinness too. He stayed awhile and after some persuasion agreed to have his photograph taken with Norma, John and Beth. He even popped back later in the day for another photo-shoot just to ensure we had the evidence. Photos will be posted when we reach Salvador.
So, now we are sailing along at just over 6kts in bright sunshine with a course of 215M. Minnie B is slightly heeled but we are comfortable. The wind is still south of SE but the forecast is for it to back and we hope to get onto a beam reach tomorrow or the next day. We still have over 1000nm to go but we are past some important milestones and morale couldn't be better.