Liftoff

Sarah Grace goes to sea
Chris Yerbury and Sophy White
Tue 6 Dec 2005 23:13
December ?6th Mindelo, Cape Verde
The dinghy is stowed on deck, the tanks are all full, the cupboards are bulging..... we sail tomorrow, weather permitting.  I feel sick with nerves.
The harbour here has many boats which have taken refuge, having suffered with hurricane Delta, some dismasted, others with exploded chain plates, or defective rigging.  Our friends took 16 days to get here from the Canaries,(as oppose to our passage time of 6 days) because of the hurricane.  There are many unusual weather events occuring here now, although hurricane Epsilon is meant to be dying down by Thursday, and going way west and north.  
It is cheering to hear other friends who are mid-Atlantic, and being very encouraging to us about departing now to join them in Carribbean.   We have bought some more fishing tackle to replace the lot that got eaten by some giant fish on the way down here, so one of these days we might suprise ourselves and actually catch a fish.  
We will try to do a daily posting whilst on passage!