Last time we left you we had just arrived in the Cape Verde after a six day sail from Lanzarote. In the post we will tell you about the stress free life in the Cape Verdes … or is that stresss (with a treble s!)
When we made it to shore in the dinghy in Palmeira, you are left in no doubt that this is Africa. The dock is awash with small wooden fishing boats, and a makeshift tent covers the guys gutting and descaling the fresh catch. Lots of people mill about in the fierce sun and a bevy of young boys fight each other to be the one to help you get in to to shore in your dinghy and tie you up, and haul you up the rough concrete dock! The first thing anyone said to us was ‘Cape verde – no stress’. Hence the title! We wander through the streets of ramshackle huts and concrete houses and stray dogs until we find the police building to check in. The check in process was not too bad, but its a bit concerning when the police inform you that they will be holding your ships papers (a very valuable document) and you collect it again when you check out (more on that later!)
There is not alot in Palmeira. A few small cafes / bars and a couple of very small “supermarkets” run by Chinese that do their best to supply all your needs. We decided to head to the next town called Espargos to find an ATM and sort ourselves out with a SIM card. mobile roaming in Cape Verde is extortionate! We managed to catch a minibus to Espargos, where the price for the 6km ride for two people is 1 euro.
Espargos felt a little more affluent than Palmeira, and once we had sorted the SIM and the money we found ourselves a nice cafe for lunch where a band was setting up to play live. It turned out to be awesome! Full of locals enjoying the music. We enjoyed it too and ended up spending all afternoon there with several beers and wines!
We had a few days to recover from our journey in Palmeira. Several attempts to fix the outboard too, and then it was time to sail to the South of Sal to the resort of Santa Maria to meet up with our friends Charlie and Jen who were flying in from the UK for a week.
Santa Maria
It was great to see our friends again! Charlie and I have spent many a year now dreaming and discussing sailing off in to the sunset, so it was great to share stories of our travels and bore them to death with all our photos.
Santa Maria at one time was probably a small fishing village. Now it is a resort with one design … to extract as much money from tourists as possible. Our first trip to shore to meet up with Charlie and Jen definitely put this mantra to the test when we were skilfully guided by a local to the market and duly ripped off for a hat, a bag and some shell bracelets to the tune of £30! Whilst we laughed about it afterwards, and Charlie and Jen rightly took the mick, the same thing would happen to them two days later involving the purchase of some wooden turtles! Apparently it is a right of passage for anyone visiting Santa Maria! Eventually you learn to nod and ignore the persistent traders as they battle to get you to see their wares at makeshift stalls that litter the resort.
It was an awesome week with Charlie and Jen. We very quickly discovered the Brazilian beach bar and the Caipirinhas served up which after two had you in the mood for anything. Chilling to the sounds of reggae from the local band and soaking up the atmosphere.
We visited plenty of restaurants , ranging from hotel and beach fare through to backstreet Senegalese food where the menu was “Chicken or Fish” served with rice and onions, all cooked in fiery spices. Italian food was consumed too, and on the last night we went to the trip advisor number one place where the food was excellent, although the location left something to be desired buried in the far back streets of the resort which left us all a little on edge as we walked in the dark.
The Beach on Santa Maria was superb. Charlie and Jen even swam out to our boat one day anchored 250m off the beach and enjoyed the crystal clear waters of the anchorage. 10m deep and you could see to the bottom.
Heres a dodgy video of me jumping off the roof of Azimuth. At least you get a feel for the colour of the sea and the surroundings.
One evening they came over for tea on board. Charlie and I bought fresh tuna steaks and red snapper from the fisherman on the Quay for next to nothing and we cooked up a feast onboard. The tuna was melt in the mouth and literally nothing could be fresher, 5 Euros for one kilo!
Charlie went for a couple of dives which he really enjoyed, and kindly sent me these pictures to share with you. Huge fish life all round the Island.
At night, the boat was surround by these crazy bright blue needle fish!
It wasn’t all plain sailing though of course. On the last night out, we got back to the Quay to find that our dinghy was gone! We had heard rumours that dinghy’s and engines had been damaged by the kids that play at the end of the pier, but we hadn’t heard of them being stolen. We luckily flagged down some other cruisers that gave us a lift back to Azimuth in the dark as it was 11pm by that point and we didn’t think we would have much chance of getting back to Azimuth any other way. Charlie and Jen had continued to look for our dinghy on the beach and report the theft to the police. Eventually they went back to the Quay to find our dinghy had miraculously reappeared… although the outboard was damaged and unusable (I had only just bloody fixed it that day!). Bless him, Charlie rowed it out to Azimuth for us, and then we attempted to row him back to shore but couldn’t make it because the wind was too strong. I got the canoe out instead and we paddled Charlie back to the Quay. Charlie we owe you one big time mate!
Perhaps you are now starting to get the feeling that maybe there is a little more than no stress in Cape Verde?!
All good things come to an end. We want to thank Charlie and Jen for coming out to visit us. We had an awesome time!!!
When the guys left, we were still reeling from the previous nights stress of having our dinghy stolen and recovered, so we decided to head round the corner to a much quieter anchorage and make a sharp retreat from Santa Maria. We still had three days before our crew Caleb and Tom were to arrive at the island of Boa Vista to help us cross the Atlantic.
Before we left Palmeira to go to Santa Maria we had checked out of Sal, just incase we didnt make it back to Palmeira again. As we understood it at the time, we were told that if we hadn’t left Sal within 48 hours it was OK, we could just come back and check out again….. This turned out to be the start of the next nightmare. We got back to Palmeira early morning, with plans to sail to Boa Vista that day. So we duly visited the Police station and queued for over an hour. It turned out our assumption had been very wrong. We were told that we had now been in Sal illegally for 10 days. We were then told we had to come back to the Police at 10am the next day where a decision would be made as to whether we should be fined or deported from Cape Verde forthwith with immediate effect! No Stress??
We skulked back to the boat, feeling terrible. The crew was arriving the next day in Boa Vista and we were stuck in Palmeira with our ships papers confiscated. We decided instead of moping about we had best assume the worst and go and stock up the boat assuming that we would be kicked out of the country the next day! We didn’t get a lot of sleep that night with the worry of what would happen the next day, and off we went to see the police in the morning. They made us wait for at least an hour before we were taken in to the office to see the chief. He gave us a severe telling off …. and boy did I grovel and say sorry a thousand times! Telling him this would never happen again etc etc! However, in the end, I noticed just a hint of a smile. He filled in a new clearance for Boa Vista and sent us on our way!
You didn’t see us for dust. Never have we jumped in the dinghy got back to Azimuth and pulled up the anchor so fast and we were on our way sailing south to Boa Vista with huge relief!
Boa Vista – New Crew!
The Anchorage at Boa Vista was very dramatic. A huge bay behind an island. A large offshore reef where kite surfers played in the huge rollers. The anchorage was subject to a large Atlantic swell which picked us up and had us surfing too on our chain. We had to move after the first night after we dragged about 50m (No Stress!). The next day we went to check in to Boa Vista with our valid paperwork. We eventually found the fancy police building and sat and waited for two hours with another cruiser named Sasha. We were then told to return that night at 6pm because the guy who did the chekin had lost his keys and couldnt get in to his office?! (No Stress!). So, we headed to the airport to pick up the new crew arriving from London. We managed to flag down one of those minibuses for the short 5km journey thinking that it would be cheaper than a taxi and then proceeded to get ripped off (No Stress!)
The guys arrived on time in thick jumpers and coats to the 30 degree heat! A taxi whisked us back to Sal Rei for a quick journey back to the boat to drop off their stuff. The engine ran out of fuel on the way back so we had to row the last half a mile. The wind was blowing a hooley and we managed to miss Azimuth altogether and then proceeded to be swept out to sea! (No Stress!). To our immense fortune, a fishing boat was just going past and we flagged them down for a tow back to the boat …. phew. Refill the fuel tank and off we go to check in at the police station with the new crew. Actually this time it went very easily.
Time to relax for a bit… a nice meal, some local beers and then back to the boat for an early night. However, the outboard had other ideas. Now the battery was flat. It was pitch back and it was a mile row back to the boat …. no way. Our new friend Sasha to the rescue. He was in the pub still and gave us a tow back to Azimuth! What a day??? (No Stress?!)
It was great to have the guys onboard. We decided we had had enough of Boa Vista (the little we had seen of it and it was time to sail to Mindelo on the Island of Sao Vincente. The staging point for the next leg the crossing of the Atlantic to the Caribbean.
Mindelo on Sao Vincente
Mindelo is Cape Verdes second largest town and we hoped a great place to stock up for the trip, fix a few boat issues, take on diesel and get on our way with No Stress!
We needed to be in Martinique by the 22nd of December because we had family coming out to stay with us for Xmas. As everyone knows sailing to a schedule is always not advisable. Low and behold the trade winds that should have been blowing strongly at this time of year also agreed and decided that they would stop!!!!
The Port of Mindelo is pretty stunning as you enter. It has a marina that was packed full of boats. The anchorage was also full to bursting but we managed to find a spot tucked in front of an upturned wreck of a fishing boat. That certainly set the scene. Thankfully Mindelo did turn out to be a little less stressful although worryingly (for Cape Verde) the people in the town certainly seemed to be struggling with life. This was the first place we had been where people were begging for food in the streets. It left you feeling very sorry as there was little we could do. I ended up buying a tin of baby milk for one guy who befriended us in the street. It was sad, one the one had you had the affluence of the marina and all the yachts at anchor who were passing through the port. On the other hand, there was clearly severe poverty and people struggling just to get by with their young families.
We found the local supermarket and fully stocked up on all the essentials we needed. Checking in and out was a breeze, and finally we had to make a judgment call. There were no trade winds for over a week for the direct route to Martinique, but if we sailed south, there may be a way through. The decision was made quickly…. time to go. (No Stress!)
Join us next time as we sail across the Atlantic Ocean to Martinique!