Crossing the Atlantic – Part 2

What an adventure this has been and so much more has happened since we posted our last blog at the end of March. We have crossed the Atlantic Ocean and arrived in the Caribbean, already 7 weeks ago. When looking back at the photos, we realised how amazing this time has been.
But let’s go back to where we left off in the Canary Islands, waiting for the perfect weather window to set sail to Cape Verde Islands, 800 nautical miles to the southwest. This area is famous for big weather systems that build in the north Atlantic and funnel over the Canary Islands and down the African coast. By choosing the right weather window we should get following winds and seas, and hopefully a fairly quick passage.

We were watching the weather carefully and finally decided to set off in 15 to 20 knot northerly winds. It seemed perfect, and on reading back in my log, I noted, “beautiful sailing conditions, surrounded by literally hundreds of dolphins”.
The following day, the winds increased to 25knots and brought horribly confused seas, but Mai Tai sailed fairly comfortably with the number 3 jib and 3 reefs in the main, wind vane steering.

We could see that a BIG weather system was developing and approaching quickly from the north, so we decided to run for protection toward a huge bay on the coast of Mauritania. Very few cruisers have ever come here as it is really just a desolate commercial fishing harbour surrounded by Sahara Desert, but we did not plan on stopping for a holiday. We just wanted to anchor in a protected bay until the storm abated.

As we approached Cape Blanc on the Mauritania coast, we began to see that many local fishing boats were also heading to the same bay, racing to escape the approaching weather. It was moving fast and we were getting concerned that we were not going to beat it as we sailed for protection and safety. The winds were veering to the northeast, and visibility was decreasing as the storm picked up the Sahara dust and nearly blotted out the lowering sun. We knew that when we rounded Cape Blanc, we would have another 8 miles to motor directly into the wind. If we did not get in ahead of this weather, we would be motoring into 30 knot winds, something Mai Tai does not do well.

As we rounded Cape Blanc and motored very slowly into the increasing wind up the coast to the village, we were greeted by a boat load of local fishermen, singing and wishing us a warm welcome. And thousands of black flies!!! They covered the boat within a few minutes. Never have we seen such a swarm of flies before!

It was 8 miles up to the very industrial/fishing village of Nouadhibou. I called on VHF Ch 16 to request permission to anchor, but there was no response. The predicted winds were increasing but we made it to the bay just before dark. We were very relieved to drop anchor in this very protected bay in front of the town surrounded by lots of huge fishing boats. Not a single other sailboat, just Mai Tai. The winds howled for the next three days.
A small boat from Port Authority pulled alongside, came on board to see we weren’t smuggling anyone, and told us it was OK to be here as long as we didn’t go ashore. He asked why we had not called them, and we explained that we had as we approached the port. It turns out that they only have one VHF radio, a handheld unit, and they keep it at their base in Cape Blanc, 8 miles away. So, since we called from just outside the harbor, and not at Cape Blanc, they did not hear us. The young man told us to flash a light toward the beach if we needed anything and he would come out in the small launch.

The seas in this protected bay were calm, but the winds were blowing straight from the Sahara Desert, 30 gusting 40 knots, loaded with Sahara sand and dumping it all over our lovely clean boat. How disheartening. There was nothing we could do, but close up all the hatches with screens over the vents and watch it happen, wearing dust masks, left over from our painting project, when going outside.

Our friends who were still back in the Canary Islands, were also getting the dust, hundreds of miles away.
On the 3rd day, the winds changed, the seas calmed, so we decided to head back down the channel to Cape Blanc and continue our passage to Cape Verde Islands, nearly 500 miles away.

Yeah.. We are finally back under way towards Cape Verde Islands.

After 4 days of smooth steady sailing, we approached Mindelo on the island of Sao Vicente around 2 am in the morning. What a thrill to see the welcoming lights ahead of us after so many nights at sea. However, it is not advised to enter this harbour by night due to multiple hazards, including sunken ships. So, we hove-to a few miles outside of the harbour and stood watches while we waited through the night.

This is a popular stopover for the many cruisers heading west across the Atlantic. Also, this is where the ARC boats (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) meet to leave for their Atlantic crossing each year. We were happy to clear into the country through immigration and customs and catch up with other sailing friends while we cleaned up Mai Tai

The beat of drums and loud music alerted us to something going on in town, so not wanting to miss out on all the fun, we took our dinghy ashore to go see what was happening.

It was the last day of Carnaval, and we found ourselves in the middle of a parade lining the main streets. Such fun. We were the only tourists to be seen.

Mindelo is such a delightful town with the colorful buildings and street art everywhere, local music heard from every bar.

A large image of singer, Cesaria Evora, adorns the town square, in honour of her music and of where she was born and grew up. I have always loved her music and was happy to go visit her house to learn more about her.

Street vendors selling fruit, vegetables and fresh fish add lots of local colour to the scene. They are always ready with a big smile and greeting and a bunch of colorful trinkets.

We soon found a great bunch of cruising friends to hang out with, meeting almost daily in the local floating restaurant bar at the marina.

Planning hikes out to the lighthouse for the ladies

We are all waiting for the right time to set sail to complete our trans-Atlantic crossing, get work done on our boats, reprovision for at least 3 weeks at sea, or waiting for packages to arrive. It is a perfect place to be for this.

Lane had arranged to have some equipment and spare parts to be shipped here, so we had to wait for these to arrive. It is never certain how efficient the postal/courier service is going to be in these out of the way islands, but he did eventually receive everything he ordered.
While waiting for these to arrive, we left Mai Tai in the marina, in order to take a trip over to a neighboring island called Santo Antao, Portuguese for Saint Anthony. Santo Antao, is a unique mixture of ancient volcanic and tropical valleys with deep ravines and cliffs overlooking the sea. The northern side of the island is lush tropical forest, and vegetable gardens planted on terraces on the steep land. All the work is done by hand.

It is not possible to anchor off this steep volcanic island, so we took the local ferry and booked 4 nights up in some remote lodges in order to enjoy the spectacular hikes there. We joined with another couple of cruisers for this adventure. It was pouring with rain, but this did not spoil our adventure, even though it did render our very steep hiking paths very slippery.

The Island is covered in sugar cane with which the local make a famous Grogue, a potent artisanal sugarcane liqueur. The sugarcane is crushed to retrieve the juice before being distilled to produce a fruity alcohol between 45 and 50%.

What a fantastic experience that was on Santo Antao. We understand why people all say that it is an island not to be missed when visiting Mindelo on Sao Vicente Island

Now, back in Mindelo, our parts had arrived, so we bade farewell to many of our new friends, completed our provisioning for a 3-week passage across the next part of the Atlantic towards the Caribbean, and waited for a good weather window to leave.

Our next blog will be from Martinique.