16:53.206N 24:59.425W

Well , here we are still in Mindelo three days after our departure date  of 19/11/20. The reason we are still here is that our Covid test results have still not arrived ! It would appear that despite all kinds of promises no one has actually done anything with the test swabs and they have been sitting in a cupboard since Tuesday. We have had the Minister for Health and the Minister for Tourism involved to no avail. Some of the ARC participants are spitting feathers , demanding answers and asking for refunds but so far the best excuse for the cock-up is “ This is Africa “.

For our part Jan and I have really benefitted from the delay , giving us time to get the boat sorted without being left behind, plus the fact that it really is no hardship being marooned on this wonderful island.

To summarise , when about 80mile from MIndelo at approx. 1.00a.m. last Sunday Janet woke me to say the boat was flooded and indeed it was , almost to the floorboards. We eventually pumped it out and discovered it was a minor leak of about a litre a minute. One of our fellow competitors on the catamaran Aria kindly turned round and escorted us into the marina.

My diagnosis was that it was the stern gland leaking as the water only came in while engine was running and in gear and we had this changed , this didn’t stop it though and it looked like the water was coming from around the stern tube where it was bedded into the hull so a diver went down and found a hairline crack which he stuffed with epoxy putty as a stop gap ( provided we didn’t motor ) until we got to St Lucia . This didn’t stop it either , so more intense investigation located a small hole in the exhaust hose which was pumping water into the boat right at the stern above the propshaft.

One hour later , hose replaced and no leak. The engineers are installing a new alternator and charge controller as I type so that we can charge the batteries from the engine.

The service facilities here have been fantastic , nothing too much trouble , and nothing impossible.

We have been out to visit S.Antao which is a neighbouring island. The island has a massive mountain ridge straight down the middle and due to the prevailing winds it is bone dry on one side and lush and fertile on the other . Sugar cane is a major crop which is used to make Groghe , a local rum.

Mindelo itself is a very poor island with lack of water being a serious issue – it hasn’t rained here for four years! The farmers use allsorts of inventive ways to irrigate their crops but at the moment it seems to be a losing battle.

The people here are very proud of their island and immensely grateful for our presence- evidently we are the first group of tourists they have seen this year.

It is now Sunday morning and there are still major disagreements about whether we should go or stay , once again the promised PCR test results failed to turn up this morning and it appears that there is no reasonable chance of them ever turning up.

Our smart alternator and charge controller installation is nearly finished so we will spend the rest of today testing the system and putting everything back in its proper place ready to leave tomorrow

The very damaged Vende Globe yacht Corum was here for a couple of days and was loaded onto a ship yesterday for transport back to France, very sad to see such