We left La Gomera on sat the 6th December at about 5pm to head for the Cape Verdes Islands. It is our longest crossing so far at 800 miles which we reckon should of take between 6 and 7 days.
We stocked up with a load of fresh produce a few days before in San Sebastian and had a massive dinner of eggs and chips before leaving ( because we cannot cook proper chips out at sea - it would be highly dangerous and if sym does not have chips for over a week he starts to get moody and get the shakes!!)
We checked the weather before leaving and for the first four days it was going to be quite windy about 25 knots which about a 2 metre swell. We left behind our mates on yacht Doris cos they were still in the middle of doing their diving course and there was some quite bad weather coming in so we could not hold on any longer.
Our other friends Lori and Annina from Yacht Aliisa left early in the morning and were a good 50 miles ahead of us. We caught up with them by the first night and had radio contact which was pretty cool. We were travelling well quick between 7 and 8 knots making about 140 miles for the first two days We lost Aliisa on the radio by the evening of day two and for the rest of the whole trip we did not see another boat. It was eerily quiet, defo the quietest trip we’ve been on so far.
Sym did some fishing and on the third day caught us a bullet tuna fish which was so tasty we I chopped its head off and gutted him and sym cooked it with Garlic and Lemon. Then the next day he catches 2 dolphin fish. Firstly we were not sure what they were so had to check in on our mates Brendon and Jewels from back home to Google it to check out whether it was edible. ( so the satellite phone has come in very handy indeed)It ended up being an amazing tasting fish so we ate one and kept one hoping that we would be able to trade it for a lobster with one of the locals when we arrived (wishful thinking )
By the last day ( day five ) we could not wait to get there, id had enough of the swells and sea state. We would catch the odd wave that would send the boat flying and flood the cockpit. It got all our bedding soaking and the cats were not very happy when they got a spray . We saw our first load of flying fish on this trip and they were nuts little suicidal things. Every morning we would wake up and there was some in our cock pit. The cats did not seem that bothered by them though. The only thing they were bothered about the tuna( surprise surprise) they don’t half have expensive taste ( sym says they are posh pusses). Wolverine will only eat prawns if they are the king ones
We are both so excited about making landfall, primarily because its 800 miles further south than the canaries and we were looking forward to some sun, cos the last few days in La Gomera was overcast and quite chilly. Would you believe it if I was to say that it never rains in Cape Verdes, some years suffering with a massive drought problem, yet the first day we arrive its chilly and it rains. How nuts is that!
We finally arrive at Mindelo harbour and drop hook about 5 am. The trip into the harbour was not that amazing as some of the leading lights were broken and there were ferries anchored up in the entrance covering all the navigation lights .
Woo Hoo, we arrived to our destination after five - not so lush days at sea.
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