A green and pleasant land 17:09.03N 033:18.46W
Seaflute
Sat 19 Nov 2016 16:37
Atlantic. I just wanted to tell you a bit about the Cape Verdes, having
heard very rude comments about them I wasn't very hopeful of an enjoyable
visit, so I thought of it as just a quick stop, refuel and provision for the
big bit of water. Mindelo marina is located on Sao Vicente which seems to
have quite a good infrastructure, the Marina is only 3 years old so
everything was in good order. The volcanic landscape is very rugged with
sparse vegetation & small towns dotted here & there. We decided to book on
an ARC organised tour of the neighbouring island of Santo Antao, an hours
ferry ride across the bay. Having easily slipped back into my late morning
sleep ins I found the 05.30 start a bit hard. The view of the south of the
Island from our side looked very imposing & not that verdant but we had been
assured that we would be impressed. We took our seats on the small coach on
the other side & settled in for the ride. We had a great guide who gave us a
potted history of the place, discovered by the Portuguese in 1462 where the
population gradually increased from 1548. It must have been a difficult life
with nothing to start a livelihood in a confined space (700 square
kilometres)subject to movements & natural disasters. The north & south are
divided by an amazing mountain range, if you've ever seen Jurassic park that
will give you an idea of the scenery in the north of the Island. Our first
stop of the morning was at a sugar cane distillery where they produced a
Rum, that they call Grog, of 42% which we were encouraged to taste while we
had our coffee. Needing the facilities I discovered a spider of Jurassic
proportions in the sink so Dave had to stand guard over it with a big stick
while I hastily did what I had to do. We continued further north and higher
into the hills & mountains, the further north and the higher we climbed the
greener it became. This side of the Island is lush and beautiful with small
sugar cane plantations, where they grow corn, cassava, yam and fruits like
banana and mangoes. At lunch time we stopped at a small restaurant and
sampled the local dish of Cachupa, a thick soup where everything is thrown
in, vegetables meat & fish whatever they have to hand. It was delicious,
they served it with braised cabbage & various types of fish. For afters we
had goats cheese drizzled with cane sugar syrup, also delicious. From the
restaurant and back in the coach we started the climb proper. Everywhere you
looked the scenery was magnificent, jagged mountains with green terraces all
down the sides planted with cane or corn. The higher we climbed the denser
the pine trees became, and the view even more breath taking sometimes with
sheer drops on either side of the road. The poor French lady behind us was
concentrating on looking away from those drops until the road followed a
high ridge along the top, with incredible sheer walls either side, that was
when she started to whimper. Eventually we stopped on a high ridge
overlooking a volcanic valley that looked for all intents & purposes just
like Switzerland with lush green fields in the bottom with cows that looked
like little bugs. The clouds were rolling over the opposite edge of the
crater and Tom was able to get some great footage of it in time lapse. This
is a place we would definitely like to come back to, to do some proper
exploring.
Since then we had been busy getting ready for the next leg of our journey
the 2090 nautical miles to St Lucia. We left at 13.00hrs local time with
very light winds, which unfortunately have continued so we have motored for
some hours. Dave and Tom are keen to make best progress which has meant them
often being on deck at nigh to trim sails and gybe the genoa pole when the
wind direction changes substantially. We are slowly settling in to a routine
with our watches & galley duties and enjoy it when we get a visit from the
wildlife. Dolphins, seabirds and flying fish are regular visitors but on
Thursday we had a pod of whales swimming about 50 meters off our port side.
It was lovely to watch as they stayed at the surface for a long time. We
have been managing to fish most days and getting frustrated at only catching
quite small Mahi Mahi. But yesterday as one of the reels screamed off there
was definitely something on the line bigger and more determined to get away.
We slowed the boat as quickly as we could and then Tom had a great battle to
land a 15kg Tuna which has fed us since. We had lovely fresh tuna steaks
lightly seared for supper and Dave has just served up smoked tuna with mango
salsa for lunch, delicious.
I still can't believe I am 500 miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean with
another 1600 still to go to the other side! I'm genuinely worried I am
becoming a real sailor!
Bye for now
Lots of love Lindy
