Cape Verde – Sailing Azimuth

December 22, 2022December 22, 2022

Atlantic Crossing

Last time we left you in Mindelo in Cape Verde, just about to set off across the Atlantic to Martinique. In this post, we will tell you about what it was actually like to do the crossing.

The North Atlantic has been with us pretty much all the way from the UK. Ok, so they call it the Irish Sea, or the Bay of Biscay, but hey its all the North Atlantic really! However, this sail is the one that everyone thinks about and is certainly the one that we have been building up to for the years now. It used to feel daunting, but not so much anymore. All those long sails to get to Cape Verde have been great preparation and practice for the big one.

For the past month I had been watching the weather like a hawk between Cape Verde and the Caribbean. It had been comforting to see the trade winds blowing strong and continuously, and I had started to assume that we would be able to leave anytime we liked with guaranteed winds. Oh how wrong I was! After we arrived in Mindelo, the weather started to change dramatically. Two huge lows appeared in the Atlantic to the North of us and promptly kicked the Azores high out and hoovered up all the trade winds! Oh no! We had agreed to meet our family for Xmas in Martinique on the 22nd December, and now it looked like we were going to struggle to get there in time!

We spent many hours pouring over Windy and took some advice from sailing friends. It looked like if we pretty much left as soon as possible, there might be a small opportunity to get across the pond as long as we headed South from the Cape Verde towards the 10th degree parallel (Mindelo is at about 15 degrees). There would be just enough wind to get us south, and once there, a small band of trade winds would get us across until we decided to sail North again to Martinique.

The decision was made … it was go now, or probably not make it in time!

It actually felt great to be finally leaving. We had plenty of supplies onboard. Probably hadn’t done all the boat jobs we needed to, but we had ran out of time. The crew was in a buoyant mood as we hoisted the sails and glided out from the harbour at 4pm on Wednesday, 30th November, 2022. It wasn’t long until land slipped away to the horizon and we faced the majesty of the Atlantic Ocean ahead of us.

So the main question onboard for at least the first 5 days was “Why are we still heading South?!” Initially we were making good progress in a South Westerly direction, trying to get down to 10 degrees North of the Equator where we hoped to find wind to take us West. The crew schedule had been decided for watches and everyone was settling in to the rhythm of life at sea. No one was sea sick even though it was quite rolly to start with. It took at least 48 hours for everyone to stop feeling quite so tired and get in to the swing of things.

On Day 2 we were greeted by an enormous pod of Atlantic Dolphins, and a pod of as yet unidentified whales (we think pilot whales perhaps) who stayed with us for a couple of hours and entertained the crew with pirouettes and riding the bow wave. Day Three and the wind continued to drop. We had turned further South to try and get to the 10th Parallel but had now slowed right down, so on Day 4 when there was literally only a puff of wind left we decided to drop the sails and take the opportunity to go for a swim in 5000m of water! What an amazing feeling! Quite scary and exhilarating at the same time. We reckon we are now true earth explorers … surely the only people to have ever swam in the ocean here….

Our good friend Charlie had our backs. Our satellite phone was refusing to download the weather, so bless him, Charlie became our weather guru on the trip. Every couple of days he would phone us up and get our position. He would put that in his weather routing software and send us instructions by text message everyday as to where to head for the best wind and sea conditions. Absolutely brilliant! I fully intend to return the favour one day when they cross in their boat Aquamarine. Couldn’t have done it without you mate 🙂

With the light winds we carried on heading South West and on Day 5 we dropped South of the 10 degrees and turned more west much to the delight of the crew. It felt better to be going almost in the right direction towards the Caribbean! The highlight of Day 5 was that Caleb caught two fish!. We had been sailing through the Sargasso weed all day and fish had been all round the boat. The trolling line had been out all day and eventually the fish bit. Two small Mahi Mahi were caught in 10 minutes. It was a delicious dinner!

Down here nearer the equator it was HOT! In the day the temperature soared and the deck saloon heated up nicely. We started to get some wind behind us though but kept having to switch sail plans to adapt to its changing direction by 30 degrees or so on a whim. We also had some large squalls passing through to. Huge angry grey clouds would form in the afternoon and if you got in their way the wind would veer and gust up to 30 knots or more giving us some welcome speed and cooling us down.

We continued to head slightly south of west for several more days and crossed 9 degrees north on Day 8 and finally reached our most Southerly point on Day 10, 8 degrees 30 minutes North of the Equator. For those of you who don’t know what that means, there is one nautical mile in a minute of arc and 60 minutes in a degree, so we were 510 nautical miles North of the Equator at this point. From here on, we pointed the boat directly at Martinique and waited for the trade winds to re-establish themselves.

On Day 11 we reached the half way point! Time for a party! The beer flowed, the party snacks were cooked and Ailsa’s delicious Moroccan Tagine was served for tea. Those not on watch were in bed for 8pm…. rock and roll!

Life on board was pretty sweet. Everyday was easy going with everybody relaxing; reading books; catching up on sleep; removing the flying fish from deck; cooking; eating; drinking; fixing sails and tightening ropes; stopping things squeaking and knocking and the obligatory game of cards called Skip-bo (or sometimes known as Spite and Malice) which became a daily ritual and quite ferocious! Infact that tradition is still going on now as I write this, and scores are being recorded!

Here’s a video montage of daily life onboard Azimuth. It hopefully gives a little insight in to the trip. Dolphins, swimming in 5000 metres of water, putting up the cruising chute, catching fish and surfin’ the waves.

From here on it was plain sailing. The winds started to pick up and become more reliable on a broad reach. The wind gradually increased from 15 to 20 to 25 knots. Azimuth loves “20 knots right up the bum”. And she was dancing along surfing the waves. On Day 14 we passed 3/4 way. This was celebrated with the cooking of a Sunday roast with all the trimmings. A remarkable feat by Ailsa given the way were were being chucked about on the waves at this point!

On Day 14 we also got hot by a huge squall and had an hour of Chaos. The wind peaked at 38 knots and the sea became a torrent of spray and rain. Day 16 and Tom and Ailsa witnessed a new speed record from Azimuth as she surfed down an enormous wave hit 16.8 knots. You could almost hear Azimuth giggling!

The faithful autopilot had been making some strange noises for a few days and on Day 16 it started to make some horrible grinding sounds. The gearbox had all but given up. We were still 100 miles from Martinique at this point, so we decided it was time to hand steer from here. We took turns of 30 minutes each over the next 20 hours. It was actually alot of fun. At night we the star Polaris (the North Star) as a guide against one of the stantions to keep Azimuth on the right course.

Finally that night we sighted land! The lights of both Martinique and St Lucia were twinkling on the horizon and the lighthouse guided us in. We slowly sailed round the South of Martinique and waited for the sunrise to get in to the Anchorage at Fort de France. Infact the last hour was pretty crazy…. 35 knots on the nose and sharing the water with a huge cruise liner and tanker.

The sunrise was magnificent and a toast was drunk when the anchor was dropped. What an awesome sail!! Well done to the magnificent crew!!

Well, what an amazing feeling to have made it all this way. Check out the route on the front page of the website as to the whole distance. Here is the stats for this trip:

Join us next time as we explore Martinique!

December 1, 2022December 20, 2022

Cape Verde – No Stress!

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!

November 20, 2022December 20, 2022

Madeira to Cape Verde

Last time we left you in Madeira, and its been a while since we updated you all with our progress. Life has been pretty hectic, so its nice to catch up and tell you a bit more about our adventures.

We had to wait a long time for the right winds to leave Madeira and head south for the Canaries. Finally the South Westerlies that had set in for at least two weeks subsided and the weather looked set for an easy passage south.

So we set off on the first leg of the long journey to Cape Verde. Join us then as we take you through the fun and the trials and tribulations of life at sea!

LEG1: Madeira to Lanzarote

We were sad to leave Madeira. What a fantastic place! And we had made some new freinds too. But the lure of the Atlantic crossing still beckoned, and we still had a lot of miles to sail to the Cape Verde Islands.

As you leave Madeira heading south, the first place you see is the dramatic Islas Desertas, part of the Madeira Archipelago. The wind was fluky as we sailed down these islands, and the mountains hung their heads in the cloud. We were rewarded with a rainbow, before land slipped away to the horizon and all we had was sea all around us.

Its 273 nautical miles from Machico to Rubicon on the South end of Lanzarote and it took us around 48 hours. The first part of the trip, we had great winds and we sped along at 8 knots. Then the high pressure kicked in, and we were becalmed for at least 12 hours, our speed down to 3.5 knots. It didn’t matter though, it was still great sailing ghosting along in the sun on a calm sea.

About half way across, we picked up a passenger. A small bird that looked absolutely exhausted! He sat with us for a day whilst we gave him some bread crumbs and some water and he seemed to get more and more chirpy and bolder and would sit right next to you.

He left the following day and not long after that we sighted land with the usual cry of “Land Ahoy!”. Always a great feeling after many hours of sailing. We dropped the hook (always a great feeling too!) just outside the entrance to Rubicon Marina.

So we know many of you told us that the Canary Islands are beautiful and that we should spend lots of time there! Well unfortunately it didn’t quite work out that way for us?! Our intention all along had been to meet up with our good friends Charlie & Jen somewhere in the Canaries. Unfortunately time was moving on. Charlie and Jen couldn’t make it for over a week, and we were looking at the weather for getting further south to the Cape Verde and it looked great at that moment, but not in a weeks time!

The other factor was our outboard engine. Bought new in 2022, it had decided to strip its impeller and was now unusable. The anchorage was incredibly rolly, which made attempts to bush fix the problem very difficult and frustrating. In the end, it was impossible for us even to get to shore, the wind was too strong to row in!

A plan was slowly hatched…. Charlie and Jen managed to book a week in Cape Verde! So our minds were made up. We moved to another anchorage for the next night that was much flatter. Got a great nights sleep, and then got the boat ready to leave for the Cape Verde!

LEG2: Lanzarote to Cape Verde

This next leg was to be our longest sail so far. Some 900 nautical miles from Rubicon to Palmeira on the Island of Sal. The first job on leaving is to pull up the anchor …. we were both excited to be leaving on a long journey. Thwarted! The anchor was firmly stuck in 12 metres of water! It took a good 45 minutes of driving in circles and straining of the chain until it finally came free. Not a great start!

Eventually though we were off and sailing a broad reach down the side of Fuerteventura. The crew were in good spirits too after a stressful start!

It was to be six wonderful days at sea with light winds and seas and all the joy of the remoteness of the world. No seasickness. We ate really well. We sat in the bow everyday watching the flocks (?) of flying fish jumping out of the way as Azimuth ploughed through the waves. We enjoyed the heat of the sun as we got ever closer to the equator. And at night we enjoyed the glorious stars and moon that lit up the sea.

Three nights in to the trip, I was on watch at one in the morning when a loud bang and the sound of the mainsail falling down interrupts my semi awake state! I didn’t want to investigate what had happened until the morning as going out on deck on my own at night is not safe, so we continued to sail on the Genoa. Daylight arrived and we found that our brand new main halyard had completely chafed through. The mainsail had dropped, but also the main halyard had disappeared in to the mast. Not the sort of thing that is easy to fix! Fortunately Azimuth has a topping lift for holding up the boom. However, this is a lighter rope than the main halyard (also brand new) and I didn’t feel like risking chaffing through this line too as we still had three more days of sailing ahead. So that morning, we spent a couple of hours removing the new topping lift and replacing it with Azimuths old main halyard (actually made of carbon fibre). Main sail was re-hoisted and we were off again.

Every year, there is a large yacht rally called the ARC where hundreds of boats pay an exorbitant amount of money to cross the Atlantic together leaving from the Canaries. We had decided not to join this as when I enquired as to the cost I was told it would be £5000 for Azimuth and 4 crew! There is also an extension to this rally called the ARC+ where a smaller number of boats cross the Atlantic from the Canaries via Cape Verde. We were aware that they were leaving around the same time as us. So one day we zoomed out on the chartplotter and discovered that we were being chased down by the ARC+ fleet!

They never caught us though 🙂

Channel 16 on the ships radio is supposed to be used for distress purposes only. This is strictly enforced in Europe and people can be fined for misuse. It seemed that there was little enforcement in Morocco or Mauritania as we sailed down their coasts. We had the constant chattering and bizarre messaging between we presume the fisherman. People were playing music over the channel?! and on one occasion, we were entertained by someone playing the accordion! The other entertainment was provided by the Moroccan Navy in their “Warship” speaking in pigeon English with numerous Cargo vessels and shooing them out of Moroccan territorial waters.

We sighted land early in the morning on the 6th day. Land Ahoy!

We sailed all the way to the entrance of Palmeira to be faced by a huge number of boats at anchor and what looked like no space. Here we were then, pretty exhausted, thinking what do we do now? A little boat comes along side and “Jay Ramos” introduces himself as the man that can provide anything you need directly to your boat and offers to help us anchor. He guided Azimuth right inside the anchorage and tells us to squeeze between a small yacht and a beaten up old metal fishing boat and drop the hook. It didn’t quite go to plan though. A gust of wind swings us round and we nearly collide with the fishing boat. I decided that this was not a good place to anchor and we head back out much to the annoyance of Jay who confidently tells me he has been doing this for ten years and he knows what he is doing! However he did find us another spot much further out and then charged us for the privilege of his services! Oh and we did buy a Cape Verde courtesy flag from him too.

Next time join us as we tell you about our adventures in Cape Verde!