Day 6 arrive in Sal, Cape Verdes

Innamorata
Steve & Carol
Sun 4 Dec 2011 18:43
16:45.20N 22:58.82W
We had a good last 24 hours journey with the wind picking up to force 5/6 gusting 7 by the time we arrived at Sal. The night was uneventful  except a poor flying fish landing on deck, I wondered what the strange noise was, luckily it seemed to manage to fling itself back into the water, however at day light another very dead one was found on the other side of the boat! This morning we saw lots of flying fish as well as some very playful spotted dolphins who were surfing the big waves and leaping in the air.  We got here at 1600, 6 days and 2 hours after we left San Sebastian, and anchored amongst the other boats here – there are quite a few boats we recognise from various places but no British, American or New Zealand boats. We seem to have anchored amongst boats with children on board, the parents must all be mad, its hard enough to look after ourselves at times without worrying about children especially little ones!
First impression on Sal was not great we couldn't see the island until we were 7 miles off due to poor visibility, there is a fine red dust on the boat from Sahara sand blown on the easterly wind and the harbour itself has a sunken ship in it! We will no doubt get a better look tomorrow when we clear into the country at customs.
The tow generator did a grand job of keeping the batteries topped up and as its windy it is now converted to its wind mode and working well, a good investment.
Once again thanks to those who sent us messages on our Sat phone its great to hear from you and thanks Cain for the regular weather updates.