16:53.208N 24:59.480W

Mindelo Cape Verdes and 3000 milestone reached                                                                                                                                          22nd November 2014

3075 miles from Ramsgate by Log.

            After a great last night out in Palemeria we have arrived at Mindelo and a very strange trip it was. We departed Palmeria Sal at 1130 for the 118 mile trip over to Mindelo expecting to arrive in time for breakfast the following morning.

Happy campers at Palmeria’s restaurant                                                Our Taxi back home after the meal

                                                                                                                   (I suspect some drunken driving was going on)

Unfortunately the wind went light on us and so we were limping along at 2 Knots at times, Norma grabbed the slow sailing record by managing 0.3 Knots for 30 minutes. I eventually gave up and we ran the engine for about six hours in total which pushed our average up to 5.1 Knots for the trip and got  us in at 1300. Overnight we were surrounded by strange flashes in the water as whatever fishy battles were going on under the seas lit up the bio luminance in great splodges of green light. When we shone the large spot light out over the water we were surrounded by little red fish eyes glowing in the dark, literally hundreds of them, all very strange and quite spooky. Several flying fish landed on deck but we threw them back in this time apart from one unlucky chap that we found in front of the forward hatch the next day (see pictures). Two new species to add to the list though; as we approached Mindelo harbour a shark measuring about 6 foot swam towards the boat before lazily turning and moving away, so that was swimming in the harbour definitely off the menu. As we came onto our mooring a very large Turtle surfaced right next to us chewing away on some delicacy he had found before diving back under not to be seen again.

Another great picture, Paul with Flying fish                                             Approaching Mindelo, there is a shark in the water right there,

                                                                                                                     honest a big one with big teeth!!

            The harbour is very hot and sticky with an atmosphere that is not quite so friendly as Palmeria which is a shame. When you walk out of the marina you are immediately accosted by well dressed, well fed kids, begging for money which is obviously there main job in life and not a very savoury gauntlet to have to run. Also the marina is very commercial with prices to match, and water is charged by the litre as an extra, even in the showers! Even with the glitzy office building it still has not got working internet which is something we have become used to, the marina staff finally accepted that it wasn’t working and directed us to a café over the road which has good internet. Unfortunately Norma picked up a bug and had to take to her bed for the day. By the following morning the list of instructions were being issued to the crew at a fast and furious rate and poor old Peter and Steve were jumping around so the general consensus is that she is on the mend. In fact as I sit here she is poking Tony with a stick through the forward hatch in a vain attempt to get him out of bed.

We have a few maintenance tasks to try and complete before the big off, the first being to get out of Norma’s way, the second to buy some rivets for our kicking strap plate that we managed to pull off in a gybe on the way over. The third is our secondary battery charger that has given up the ghost, so I will try to get that fixed on Monday. Apart from that it will be last minute shopping, a whistle stop sight seeing tour and then hopefully set sail for Barbados on Tuesday or Wednesday, all very exciting.

Morning in Mindelo marina and Norma is out of her sick bed and so is Tony after a poke with a sharp stick.

As always I will update on progress and do a blog before we sail. No doubt from the cafes free internet over the road

Email:

Spectra {CHANGE TO AT} mailasail {DOT} com

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If you want to send normal email pics attachment etc.

Paul {DOT} russell732 {CHANGE TO AT} hotmail {DOT} co {DOT} uk and I will pick it up when I am on WiFi