Mindelo and prep for our Atlantic crossing

We’ve been in Mindelo for two weeks as I write this. The weather forecasts are such that it would be fine to head off almost any day later this week. However, it is Mindelo Carnival. The Carnival, in and of itself doesn’t concern me particularly when it comes to planning an ocean crossing, however, when you are married to the mate – things change! The mate, being as she is, loves all things about carnivals, fiestas and dancing. So much so that it became clear early on in the proceedings that I not only had to take weather, routing, boat prep etc etc into account for an ocean crossing, but I had to factor in the Carnival too! Needless to say, the mate will tell you all about it (the Carnival that is)…

Lion King troupe

Our departure is likely to be Sunday 26^th February (subject to change - as all yachting things are) and we expect it to take around 14 to 18 days. The weather forecasters are unable to decide amongst themselves if there will be lighter winds for a few days or whether there will be enough wind to make sensible progress. It’ll probably be the latter as the whole year has had plenty of wind so far. Anyhow, if we get lighter airs for a few days, we’ll just put up with the lolling around in the swell as motoring for a time is a non-starter when the distances involved are as they are (2100NM rhumb line or 2350NM probable as we head south west first). Who knows, the mate might even bake some bread!

Whilst parked up in Mindelo, we’ve been lucky to make some good friends. An American couple running charters and their mentor and friend John Kretschmer. For those who don’t know, John is a very famous American yachtsman and author and he is next to us in the marina. John has turned into a decent chum and is a fountain of all knowledge. Sadly he was dismasted in Sal and is awaiting delivery of a new mast from Sweden. Since that’s going to take a few weeks yet, he’s offered to do some weather routeing for us. What that means is that although we get good Grib data ourselves on a daily basis, it’s still difficult for us to see the larger picture, so John has offered to do that and offer suggestions to our route along the way – what a great chap!

We’ve also met a rather nice Youtuber. Youtube is a big thing amongst sailors these days, and Mads, as he is known, has made some remarkably good episodes – in fact we’ve been watching him for a couple of years. Sadly, Mads is stuck in Mindelo for another couple of weeks with some boat issues; he’ll get it all sorted out, as he’s a capable chap, but it’s inconvenient for him nevertheless.

OK as the carnival is in full swing today (Tuesday) with the prize giving tomorrow, I will clear off and leave it to the mate to let you know all about it. But, before I go, I’ll just say that when we leave we intend to upload, to our blog, brief daily reports and positions – so please feel to follow us across the Atlantic ocean…

Reservations Mindelo style!

Wowzers, the good people of Mindelo really know how to throw a party! I could tell it was going to be good when people started reserving their pavement spots along the parade route days in advance. Carnival things kicked off on Friday with a procession of school children dressed as penguins etc! The processions all started just outside the marina, which was pretty handy and (given that things were running to a very loose schedule) meant that we would wait until we heard noise before heading out. Saturday evening was the teachers with some amazing costumes (I think it might have been a Disney theme) and musicians on a lorry with massive speakers (turned up to 11) playing the same song (an up tempo version of Hakuna Matata) for almost two hours as the procession inched its way through town. Sunday was drumming, lots and lots of drumming. Playing the same song on rotation seemed to be a Carnival theme as Monday evening’s parade with a Samba band was accompanied by singers on a loop playing atop a mobile bandstand/fruit basket! This parade saw the start of feathers (lots of feathers) and sparkles – amazing costumes. However, the grand finale on Tuesday eve was truly amazing. So much work had gone into the costumes and floats and the atmosphere was super. We were surrounded by happy locals who were very proud of their island. Skip was standing next to a guy grinning from ear to ear who tapped him on the shoulder and said “São Vicente” and gave him a fist bump. One of the samba dancers twirled by wearing lots of feathers and sparkles and little else – the lads in front of me went wild and she replied by doing even more shimmying. All in all a superb evening.

A blur of Carnival feathers

Spectacular Carnival float

We are now looking forward to a few quiet days to rest and prepare for the long passage ahead. The wind has been howling through the marina pretty much constantly since we arrived and the boat is covered in sand/grot both outside and in. Thankfully it is forecast to calm down on Friday so she can have a pre-passage clean. We exchanged one of our gas cylinders yesterday for the grand price of £3.50 – this would have cost £45 in the UK! Food and drink in the ‘supermarkets’ isn’t that cheap but eating out seems to be. We aren’t doing too badly with provisioning for the passage – I just need to decide how many kilos of cheese to ship… It was a little rough to show Skip my fishing skills on the passage here so hoping for better on the next leg. Watch this space!