Mindelo Marina
Ile Jeudi
Bob and Lin Griffiths
Fri 1 Feb 2013 18:44
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Friday 1 February 2013
We went in to the marina about 10am to be greeted
by helpful marineros. Two in a dinghy took lines from our bow and tied
them to a buoy before we reversed back to the pontoon where another took our
stern lines. The staff in the marina office were friendly and helpful and
we were checked in after about 20 minutes (Las Palmas marina takes at least 40
minutes after queuing for at least that long again). The toilet and shower
facilities were better than either Las Palmas or Puerto de Mogan. In Las
Palmas even the toilet roll holders were padlocked - and usually
empty!
I trotted off to the other side of the bay to check
in with Immigration. This is the first time we have been out of Europe
since June 2011 when we were in Turkey but entry was straightforward with the
usual form filling and declarations that we weren't bringing in forbidden goods
or smuggling people (a big problem here apparently). Then on to the Port
Police to complete a different and more detailed set of forms after which the
'Ship's Papers' are kept until 24 hrs before we clear out again.
Everything was friendly and efficient and was completed in 20 minutes. How
refreshing.
Having cleared in it was time to hoist the
Cape Verde courtesy flag:-
 We then had lunch at the bar on the floating
pontoon at the marina. Lin is under that
umbrella in the middle:-
 We both checked out the local brew
'Strella':-
 Into town after lunch to find our bearings.
Mindelo feels reminiscent of the Caribbean with the style of buildings and
the dusty streets. Cape Verde was a Portugese colony until independence in
1975 and it is now an African state. Lots of old colonial style buildings
as well.
The streets were pretty deserted after
lunch:-
 The building on the waterfront on the right was
once the customs house and is modelled on Lisbon's Torre de Belem:-
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