Landfall in Cape Verde
Scott-Free’s blog
Steve & Chris
Mon 20 Dec 2010 10:06
16:53.19N
24:59.48W
Monday 20th December
2010
Distance run in 24
hours: 70
Total distance
run: 873
Distance left:
0
The last 24 hours of
the passage drifted by as we ourselves drifted along in about 5 knots of breeze,
with the craggy islands
of the Cape Verdes slowly growing on the horizon. We were in
no hurry as arriving too soon would mean finding our way into an unknown harbour
in darkness, so we bided our time and made our approach with the
dawn.
The sun setting
just to the right of San Antao, Cape
Verde... ...leaving the
sky ablaze.
Approaching
Mindelo harbour on Sao
Vicente...
...the morning light weak, but the air warm and full of strange
smells.
The last 24 hours of
the passage were calm and peaceful and marked by several visits from friendly
and chatty dolphins. They stayed so long that we eventually gave in and
got the camera out...
By 0900 we were
safely tied up in Mindelo harbour, and broke out the now traditional 'safe
landfall' bottle of bubbly. Buck's fizz on deck on Scott-Free
with Rob & Sarah, Robert & Joyce was followed by a delicious scrambled
egg and bacon breakfast aboard Serafina.
The rest of the day
was spent doing admin at the marina office (no customs or immigration, it's
closed on Sunday!), tidying the boat, doing a couple of repair jobs, catching a
few zeds, and a very pleasant evening of drinks aboard Serafina
followed by a meal in a very nice restaurant overlooking the harbour, very
generously paid for by Robert, as this was to be their last evening before
flying back to the UK.
Off to proper bed,
in the aft cabin, for the first time in a week, and a very welcome 8 hours of
uninterrupted sleep.
This morning we
dropped the lines and have moved the boat to the fuel dock to await its opening
and fuelling up again for the next leg of the journey. That done, we will
move back to the pontoon for another night and think about whether to stay a few
days to look around or just get moving again. The call of the Caribbean is
loud....