Sal
Scot Free III
Frank & Anne
Mon 24 Oct 2016 22:49
We want to arrive in Palmeira, Sal at first light, and it's an 18 hour sail, so we were going to wait in the volcano until midday, but the swell is getting worse, not dangerous, just uncomfortable, so we left early, at about 10:00hrs. Once we were about 8 miles offshore, the seas calmed and the wind dropped to a pleasant 15 knots. It was an uneventful passage and a cracking sail.
We still can't get used to the equal 12 hours of daylight and darkness. No twilight, just "click" and it's dark at 6 pm. We kept up a good speed during the night and were now a bit early to arrive in daylight ("click" 6am) so we did a big dog-leg to waste a couple of hours.
No sooner had we dropped anchor in the harbour than Jai arrived in his fishing boat. He seems to be the "one-stop-shop" of the local service industry. Water, diesel, gas, laundry, rubbish disposal, boat minder, and the offer of a €3 dinner at his house (wine included, 1 glass!). 200 litres of water? No problem. It arrived in 20 litre containers. Jai had a pump which we fitted to my filter and tanks were duly filled.
It's not just the locals who are resourceful. We are anchored close to very small boat with three young Frenchmen heading for the Caribbean. We spotted them in town purposefully pushing an empty wheelbarrow. A few minutes later they were back with the wheelbarrow full of paint tins and brushes. It seems they were "singing for their supper" in Bar Lavento, the local French bar/restaurant, by painting a couple of murals.
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