Mindelo, Cape Verde Islands
The ODA diary
Erik L. Roede
Fri 15 Nov 2013 16:32
Amazingly enough, we were in the lead in our class (17 boats) the first two days out of Las Palmas, and after nearly five days at sea we crossed the finish line in fourth place, beaten only by three X-yachts. We even beat the other Swan 53, brand new this year!
The Cape Verdes has become a vacation destination for Europeans relatively recently, and it has been interesting to spend these five days here getting to know a little about this former Portuguese colony situated off the coast of Senegal in Western Africa. Very poor, but very welcoming and friendly people.
We have met new friends on the other boats and the farewell dinner the last night here was fun. Today the starting gun goes off at 1 pm, this time for the 2100 nautical mile race across the Atlantic Ocean to St. Lucia in the West Indies. If the weather holds up and we don't make any major mistakes, we plan to spend 13 days at sea.
You can also follow us on the ARC+ website, www.worldcruising.com/arc and choose ODA under Teams in the FleetViewer.
Good bye, Europe!