December 19:

We began our visit to Barbados anchored on the northwest side of the island, in the bay by Port St. Charles and Heywoods Beach. This provided easy access to check into the country. We also had easy access to a restaurant with a Santa Claus (as seen in pictures in our last post).

But first, we needed to start the dinghy motor. It started but it wouldn’t rev up at all. So we made an exceptionally slow trip to land to check in. Then we took an exceptionally slow trip back to Seahike. In the meantime, we had a lovely (albeit, very expensive) lunch at the little restaurant with Santa Claus.

Steffan and Michael did some brainstorming about the outboard motor. Steffan checked the spark plugs but said they looked good. If I recall correctly, he also replaced a filter. I know that Steffan removed, disassembled and cleaned the carburetor. And Michael posited that perhaps we’d gotten some bad gas the last time we bought it. So we emptied out the old gas (into one of our empty jerry cans) and took another slow trip to the fuel dock with our empty jerry can to get some brand new gas. The combination of new (good) gas and a clean carburetor (with none of the bad gas left on it), did the trick. We now had our dinghy motor back at full speed!

Continue reading →

We had a dream crossing! We expected it to take 16 days (with a max of 20), but it took 13.5 days. The weather was great and our new spinnaker (which we used for the first time) was fantastic!

Let’s go back a bit, though.

We knew we needed to arrive in Cape Verde (from the Canary Islands) on or before November 29th. Two of our friends (one was our former sailing instructor) were meeting us at the marina in Mindelo, Cape Verde on the 29th. We arrived on the 26th.

We spent the days prior to the 29th prepping for the crossing so we didn’t have time for any fun. 🙁 We cleaned Seahike inside and out, updated our insurance, hired a weather router, did some provisioning (we’d already bought quite a bit of food and beverages but needed more), swapped an empty butane tank for a full one, re-inventoried all of our boat supplies, inventoried our food and beverages (after buying more), changed the engine oil and gear oil, and had some work done on Seahike:

1. New main halyard
2. New spinnaker halyard
3. New genoa furling line (we’d already gotten a new one but it turned out to be too thin – we needed a larger diameter)
4. New AIS (ours was still working, but not good enough)
5. Cleaned her bottom

We’d had our life raft inspected in the Canary Islands. It has now been certified for three years.

Continue reading →

I talked about arriving in Mindelo in the last post, and I will talk about what we did to prepare for the crossing in the next post, but I haven’t shared anything about Mindelo. I am using this post to share the town and some of our time there – in a very random order – with you.

The statue you see below is the Eagle statue, or Águia (Eagle) Mindelo. It is a homage from the city of Mindelo to Sacadura Caral and Gago Coutinho. It is a commemoration of the 76th anniversary of the first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic. It is even on Facebook! I like the FB entry:

The Majestic Águia Mindelo Statue: A Beacon of Inspiration 

In the heart of Mindelo stands a symbol that reaches for the skies and embodies the spirit of this remarkable city – the Águia Mindelo Statue

Guardian of the Harbor: Perched at the entrance to Mindelo’s harbor, the Águia Mindelo Statue has greeted sailors, travelers and dreamers for generations. Its wings outstretched, it stands as a guardian of this bustling maritime hub

A Tribute to Aviation: This stunning sculpture pays homage to the pioneers of aviation who dared to defy gravity and soar into the unknown. It’s a tribute to the first flight from Portugal to Brasil in 1922 and also a tribute to human ambition, innovation and the unwavering belief that the sky is not the limit

Wings of Freedom: The Águia Mindelo Statue represents the freedom of the open skies, the limitless possibilities that lie beyond the horizon and the courage to chase one’s dreams, no matter how high they may seem

A Place of Reflection: Whether you’re a local or a visitor, take a moment to pause by this iconic statue. Reflect on the journey that brought you here, the dreams you harbor and the adventures that await you

Continue reading →