After a few days out of Las Palmas, our engine wouldn’t start one night when we ran out of wind,  and also wanted to charge the batteries. But even with much bleeding and following every fuel line we finally gave up and went into severe energy saving behavior.  Flashlights only at night, minimal water pump usage, and steering the boat to maximize wind and solar energy. We decided to head to Cape Verde, where the cruising guide describes a marina owned by a German who has decades of engineering experience. We began an email conversation with him,  Kai Brossmann, and by the time we arrived in the harbor, and after some very tricky sailing around over a hundred anchored boats and ships, we were safe in a slip with workers aboard.

It turned out that we took on really bad fuel with lots of water and sludge from Las Palmas, and so did many of the ARC boats, some with serious problems!  Ours was bad enough!  The water caused a shaft to break in the fuel injector pump!  Which could have meant waiting for a “part” to be sent which translates to “4 to 6 weeks” and also loss of crew. But Kai Brossmann being very helpful,  and the attitude of his workers being “if it’s made by man we can fix it “( I like this) they found a shaft from another diesel engine somewhere on the island of Sao Vincente and had us back and running in a matter of days.  I won’t ask about the guy who owns that now shaftless fuel pump however.

Not all was so great in Mindelo,( the capital city,) however.  Robert’s wallet was stolen form my backpack while I was out shopping for produce from the ladies in the street.  There were many witnesses, and the police even know the thief’s name (Patrick Ramano) but I haven’t gotten the wallet back, yet.   I did spend enough time hanging around the police station to the point where they all know me now, (one cop even sang the Sao Vincente New Year’s song to me) and the commandant said he would mail the wallet back if (when) they find it.  The reason I remain so optimistic is one police officer came to the marina and left a note for the security guard that the wallet belonging to “tenacity” (that’s us) was found.  But  being New Years eve and day, the police staff was understaffed and tired, didn’t know about that message, and our wallet was probably siting under a pizza box, only to be found this coming week after we are gone!

But still, Mindelo is a beautiful, very African looking city with Portuguese Architecture, cobblestone street, lots of ladies selling produce  in the streets, a busy harbor and a very busy market area selling everything from flip flops,  funky shoes,  wooden caved sculptures, African beads, belts, shirts, stuff and more stuff, all ready to bargain. Also they are selling fruits, veggies, fish, and misc junk on the streets. A real treat for my eyes!!

After saturating our efforts at the police, getting our needed exit stamps, loading up on some more fresh food, and tons of wonderful photos we took off and are now sailing merrily along in the trade winds with only 1562 miles to go to Antigua!!