Nics Diary - Part 8 Cape Verdes

Nics Diary – Part 8

Places Visited:

Cape verdes; Sal & Sao Vicente

Just a brief update before cross the Atlantic to the Caribbean:

We had quite a calm 6 day sail from the Canaries to the Cape Verdes. It has been great to have Iona and James to help out and once our rotas were put in place, everything ticked over nicely. James caught us a nice fish for dinner (possibly a derado??), and it was so nice to have the time to experiment with my cook books. I made a lovely steak, mushroom and red wine pie, a trifle, and Iona made a yummy banana cake. What a difference to my last 5 day sail when it was just Stevie and I.

Well done James  - It was yummy!!

I did get quite a fright on one of my night watches, when there was a bit thud on the deck, followed by a lot of fluttering noises. I jumped out of my skin! Sneaking around with the torch to investigate, I found a flying fish and a nice big puddle of blood on the deck. The poor thing had flown splat right into the boat, killing himself almost instantly. Apart from that, there hasn't been much wildlife around in the water.

We met up with my sailing instructor Steve, and his wife Chris in Tenerife and again in the Cape Verdes. They have sailed from Troon (in August), and are also headed for the Caribbean  It has been great so see familiar faces from home, and to catch up on their sailing stories and adventures. Hopefully we will meet up again on the other side.

James, Steve & Chris

After over 6 months of sailing in the med, the Cape Verde islands make me finally feel like I am abroad. We visited a beach which had beautiful turquoise water and white sandy beaches, and great surf. This place just misses the tropical green look. Unfortunately the town keeps loosing electricity which is a bit of a nuisance, as there is only one port in the whole place where you can plug in for internet (unless you pay a fortune at the marina).

Anyway, we have restocked with some interesting local produce for our Atlantic crossing, and we plan to leave tomorrow. I am really looking forward to reaching the other side, as I feel like I have been waiting and planning this trip for a long time now.  Lets go!! Stevie is baking me a cake on route for my birthday, and I have a small tipple to celebrate the birth of my first nephew – I hope all goes well Zoe x

Hopefully internet will be a little easier on the other side, and I look forward to Skypes when I get there. Merry Xmas to you all, will be thinking of you Nic xx

The 4 of us - still getting along great!