BRITISH SOLDIER ARC / CAPE VERDES BLOG - DAY 15 (SUN 5 DEC)

Britishsoldier
Mon 6 Dec 2010 19:42

BRITISH SOLDIER ARC / CAPE VERDES BLOG - DAY 16 (MON 6 DEC)

At last!  We have arrived in St Vincent, Cap Verde.  2365 miles later...

Land was first sighted by the Starboard Watch at first light this morning and was silhouetted by the rising sun in the East. The cry 'land ahoy' brought the Port Watch out on deck in record time. In fact, I don't think either watch has ever voluntarily got out of their bunks, especially when not on duty.

We were escorted the final miles by a school of Pilot Whales and a pod of Dolphins. The wind, as usual, was on the nose making the final approach a slow and tedious business. We decided to motor but had to anxiously monitor the fuel level in case we ran dry before reaching the marina. It was also strange to have to check the depth on entering the marina after sailing for a fortnight in 4000m of water.

The Cap Verdes are not the lush Caribbean islands we've been dreaming about earlier this trip but are very impressive - volcanic rocks rising 1800m out of the sea. However, thoughts in recent days have focussed on cool beer and steak dinners so the Cap Verde Islands do not disappoint. The skipper summed our arrival perfectly: although British Soldier hasn't reached the Caribbean (yet) we have achieved our primary objective of having fun safely.

So the next few days are spent cleaning up,drying out the boat and preparing her for a month alongside.  Following some repairs, the plan is to sail her 2000 miles across the Atlantic in Jan/Feb.  Anyone interested...?!

Signing off for the final time,

Graham, Tim, Brian, Jamie, Roddy, Sarah, Dom, Simon, Gary and Becky

P.S.  Many thanks for all those emails.