Arrived Cap Verdes 16:45N 22.59W

Intrepidofdover
Andy Gibb
Thu 9 Dec 2010 22:56
We arrived in the island of Sal, north eastern Cap Verdes at 5pm today, Thursday 9 Dec, after a trip of some 900 miles from the Canaries. We were concerned for the past day or two whether we would make it into Palmiera bay before dark, as it is small and a bit too difficult to come in for the first time in the dark which might have meant a night lurking outside. Happily the wind kicked in Wed evening and kept up more or less OK so here we are.
There are about 20 yachts in the small anchorage here so it took us a while to find a satisfactory place for Intrepid but we successfully dropped the hook, blew up the dinghy and took off for the shore. Deby hailed a mini bus which was bound for the `capital' Espargos and persuaded the driver to take us on to the airport where we had to check in. Great surprise from immigration - it looks as if most yachts do not bother, but as Jim is sadly leaving us here he had to check in before he can leave by plane. All done successfully we returned to Palmiera, which is a small port area with an oil tank farm and were greeted in a friendly manner by an Italian restaurant chef (?). So we had our very welcome beers and an excellent Italian meal (we are anything if not multicultural on Intrepid) and are now about to have a full night's sleep for the first time in a week.
Tomorrow we go round to Santa Maria in the south of the island and stay in Sal or Buonavista for the next few days.
All in all an excellent trip, with good fish and good bread (thanks Jim and Deby).
Nicky