Mindelo, Cape Verdes to Martinique, Caribbean

Belem Castle Mindelo style

 Our intended short stay in Mindelo had to be extended to a week as Jeremy went down with diarrhoea. Whether it was something he’d eaten, the water he’d drunk or a virus, we’ll never know. Anyway, he sensibly confined himself to SD for two or three days, while I went ashore and caught up with emails etcetera in the marina bar. While he was poorly the cold tap washer on the galley sink disintegrated. Jeremy hauled himself out of his sick bed to replace the washer. There were none of the same size in our stores, so he had to cut down a larger one. Later, we were able to buy new tap washers ashore. We met several British crews and all showed concern. It was such a shame that we could not socialise with them. We first met Graham from Zephyr at Marina Lanzarote and we still owe him a beer from then. Perhaps we’ll meet again in the Caribbean.

View over Mindelo anchorage

Mindelo was a good place to stock up on food, water and diesel. There were various cafes for eating out, but the one we liked best was called La Pergola in the French Cultural Centre. While some people in Mindelo were obviously very wealthy, there were beggars on the streets and warnings about thefts from yachts. The marina had a secure dinghy dock but you had to pay 4 euros each day for this. In the past, local guys earned a living “watching” dinghies for less than 1 euro per dinghy per day.

Eating out again at La Pergola

We weighed anchor at 0700 on Saturday 18^th February, catching the last of the SW going stream of the tide, which runs quite strongly between the islands of Sao Vicente and Sao Antao. We had two reefs in the main sail and a very small genoa on a beam reach, making 8 knots on the GPS. Once clear of the islands two pods of dolphins came to play in the bow wave. We wondered if they were warning us of bad weather ahead, but all was OK for the first week, except for the rivets holding the staple for one of the lazy jacks disintegrating. Jeremy managed to replace the staple using self-tapping screws and secure the lazy jack. By the evening, the mainsail was down and secured to the boom, two poles were up on each side of the mast, the full genoa was flying to port and the hanked on no.2 jib was flying to starboard. We had the same rig for the whole crossing, merely furling or unfurling the genoa as the wind conditions changed.

Mindelo sunset

 It was my turn for the diarrhoea, which started the next morning. So much for thinking I’d escaped! Fortunately, I wasn’t as bad as Jeremy had been and still did my watches. Our trusty Hydrovane steered SD; the wind was generally 10-14 knots and the swell was small.  Venus led the way in the evening followed by a spectacular display of stars. We saw the Southern Cross to port and the Great Bear to starboard. Gradually, we became used to our watches of two hours each during the day and three hours each at night.

After four days at sea we saw our first ship, which passed safely 1.7 miles away. We only saw three more ships and one yacht during the whole passage. The swell began to build and came from the NW, so it hit us on the starboard side, while the wind and waves came from astern. Each morning and evening I heard Zephyr and Miles report their positions on the SSB radio. We can only receive on ours, but it was comforting to know that other vessels were out there. Our courses widened after a few days as they were bound for Barbados.

Massive amounts of seaweed which were not there in 2008

 During the second week of the passage we had stronger winds and bigger swells. I felt like I was on a swing boat as we rocked and rolled. In order to sleep, I used cushions and a pillow down the sides of the pilot berth to stop me rolling around. Jeremy tried to do likewise in the stern cabin. The cooker gimballed like a mad thing, bashing to its full extent and back again. One day I noticed that one of its supports was coming loose. Jeremy managed to mend it by removing the cooker and tightening up the nut and bolt fixing, which was inside the adjacent food cupboard.

Two delicious loaves a la Kathy

 We had many squalls with varying amounts of wind on them. After they passed, they often took the wind with them and we seemed to be forever reefing down or shaking out reefs. We were both thrown off our feet at different times. I was catapulted across the cockpit and saved from injury by Jeremy sitting opposite, hitting his chest was preferable to slamming into the winches. I have a pulled muscle in my buttock, but otherwise I’m OK. At times we had winds approaching gale force and 4 metre swells with breaking waves on top that thundered past like roaring waterfalls.

Rocking across the Atlantic

All our fresh food came to an end but we had plenty of tins and dried goods. We made bread every other day, so we didn’t go hungry. It was great to see Martinique in the mist ahead on our last day and to pick up mobile phone signals. We anchored in Marin harbour at the second attempt after 15 and a half days at sea.

The beach at Le Marin, Martinique

We checked in on 6^th March and a day later Jeremy had a broken tooth repaired at a local dentist’s surgery. It had been broken for nearly a month. It was good to be back in France with delicious bread and lashings of Camembert washed down with vin de table. Cheers.

Believe it or not - the entrance to the chandlery!