By the way, where is Cabo Verde ??

• SAL
• Boa Vista
• Sao Nicolau
• Santa Lucia
• Sao Vicente (work in progress)

THE CROSSING : We left Tenerife in the afternoon of May 9th, a couple of hours after "Joline", another wooden French boat we met some time ago. On board Joline, are Patrick and Viviane, and their two young children, Max and Mano (2 years old and 5 months old!). We had planned to sail closely and keep in touch with the VHF -it's always nice to have company around and share each others' experience and infos- but during the first night, we lost eyesight and contact and never saw them again until we arrived in Cabo Verde. So much for the company...
On our first night, we tried to put on the auto pilot, but it wouldn't work ! The truth is that we forgot to connect a plug... Neverthless, we spent the first two days steering 4 hours at a time each, day and night, of course. It was good practice for me, but really, two days was enough. On saturday, we tried again, with the plug connected, and we were able to rest and relax a little more. Jojo (the auto pilot), actually steered all the way to Cabo Verde except for the last night when the wind got too strong. The pilot's fuse blew twice !
A week sailing goes by so fast ! Maybe because we get into a routine that goes on until the end of the trip (keeping watch, daily radio contacts, frequent meals, reading, and simply enjoying the scenery). Only the weather and the strength of the wind changed. On the last night we had force 6 to 7 with a big waves from the back, which made sailing very uncomfortable. Rolling, rolling, rolling...
During one of his watches Ludo go totally soaked by a wave which flooded the cockpit, this happens too often, it's time we think of something to stop the water from coming in this way...

A pretty big wave coming from the back...

We did have some company after all ! No picture can discribe what one feels in front of dolphins swimming around the boat !

THE ARRIVAL : We arrived just before sunset, a week after the departure. There was just enough light to recognize Joline anchored in the bay since dawn the same day. It was pretty windy, but the air was warmer. Once anchored, the quietness of the boat surprised us. She had been moving and making noises for a week, and her sudden immobility maked us feel as if we were floating in the air...

FIRST IMPRESSIONS : Green (Verde) is not exactly what comes to one's mind when arriving to Sal. The first thing we saw was a perfectly cone-shaped volcano, then two more, then some land. Usually, as the boat makes headway, life in some way begins to appear. It's really fun to watch shapes and colors appear, and little by little houses and trees become distinguishable. But here, nothing like that ! Almost until we reached the bay of Palmeira, it all remained the same. Three volcanos and dirt ! Nothing else. Life appeared once in the bay. A colorful and very different life than that of Canarias.

Arrival on May 16th, 2002

Let's be honest : at first sight, Palmeira doesn't strike by its beauty and gorgeous beach. On one side is a pier with containers piled up, on the other side, right along the beach, in the middle of some dried up trees, rises the island's petrole stock. In the bay there are quite a few boats among them two or three very old and rusty ones. I wonder how they manage to float !
The village, with its coloured houses and stoned streets is very pleasant. Children play everywhere, some dunkeys and chicken walk freely around, an old lady sells bread on a bench, near a guy who sells very old second hand shoes.
Palmeira is a good place to enter Cabo Verde. The anchorage is good, clearance papers were made at the airport nearby, and we began to practice portuguese and creole with the local people who have been very patient with us ! I can't say that our three months in Lisbon did us a lot of good in that respect...

But, when it comes to fishing, Ludo is doing a lot better ! On his first day out fishing, he came back with 4 kilos of fish. He had never caught fish this big in Canarias. We made our first barbecue on the beach. Delicious !
On the next day, Viviane went fishing with Ludo for the first time, and had been in the water 5 minutes and she caught a fish that fed 14 people !!!
Life here is really "tranquilo, tranquilo" for us, and that's what we needed. Tudo bom !

A week after our arrival, Ludo began to work on a wooden boat with our friend Patrick. The job lasted 4 months. During that time, coming to this beautiful anchorage with clear water on the weekend was very nice. A long-narrow beach goes all the way to the south of the bay where we can see some of the first hotels built in this area. This bay will probably become like the south of Canarian islands, totally dedicated to tourism. But that should take a few years. Those who want to enjoy this bare landscape have time to do it.
One day, we found on the beach a big turtle shell. There were pieces all around it. It's hard to kill a turtle and to break it's shell. It's also strictly forbidden as turtles are a protected species. But there are always tourists who are ready to pay a lot of money to eat it, and people who are ready to take a chance to go to jail...
But we also see turtles swimming around the boats and in the water when we go snorkelling. That's a quite unforgettable sight. The way they swim and move around is beautiful !
This bay is known for having a lot of fish and sharks. But the sharks usually come around here at night. We haven't seen any during the day. Nevertheless, when Ludo goes fishing underwater he never keeps the fish he catches on him. He always puts them on the dinghy.

Too bad this is not a good place to anchor, it would be very nice to be here on board Askoy...
A short dam offers some protection from the north for small fishing boats, and makes a nice swimming pool for local children. There is a very well located italian restaurant, but don't expect to pay normal local prices there.
The landscape around Pedra de Lume is incredibly dry and desolate. A ten minute walk takes you to the saltworks located inside a crater. Pedra de Lume was used for many years for exporting salt, which forms naturally in the crater. Today, the antique wooden transporting machinery is falling apart. It gives the place a somewhat eerie atmosphere. Visitors can swim in the basins. The high concentration of salt in the water makes swimmers float a lot more than usual. It's a strange and amusing feeling. Once out of the water, it's important to rince out the salt from the body (even in sea water).

Here's another nice place not too recommended for boats... The anchorage is beautiful but northeasterly swell often works into the bay and rolling is almost inevitable. Plus, landing on the superb white sand beach can be difficult as there is nearly always some surf. As a matter of fact, windsurfing is the principal attraction of this first serious venture into the tourist industry. Most of the businesses are run by Italians, one big hotel by French people.
In September takes place the very renowned music festival of Santa Maria which we had the chance to see. A large stage is set on the beach, with a multitude of little stands selling food and drinks all around it. As the evening goes on into the night, people can dance, sit at a table and eat, sit and lay down on the sand. Here and there, children sleep on covers while the parents either work or have fun. Music groups coming from everywhere in the world play on stage all night. The festival lasts two to three days, and many people go there with tents and stay there the whole time. The atmosphere was great and friendly.