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

And, here is a picture of the former high school gymnast who likes to go up the mast! He swapped out our main and spinnaker halyards for new ones. Oh, and the genoa furling line. (I also like to go up the mast, but I have never swapped out a halyard. I need to learn to do that!)

And here is Seahike with a couple of ceiling panels removed as they worked on the AIS.

Beauty break: we always had lovely sunsets in Mindelo!

It took quite a bit of time to re-inventory our boat supplies, but we are glad that we did. We found a few discrepancies. That said, our inventory spreadsheet was remarkably accurate after using it for 2+ years!

We also took the opportunity to better organize all of these supplies as we checked them off and put them away. Now we just need to keep them that way!

Boat supplies everywhere! 🙂

Art break: I couldn’t find any information about the artwork below, but I like it. The men are life size.

There are a couple of sea turtles by the marina. They occasionally stick their heads out of the water for a breath of air. I took a lot of photos of water (ha ha!) but managed to catch a head. 🙂

We visited the floating bar several times. If you go at the “wrong” time you will not get a seat. It is very popular! We shared a beer there the night before we set sail for the Atlantic crossing (picture in the next post).

There is also an extremely small floating chandlery. They don’t have much. They have a larger store about an eight-minute walk away. It also doesn’t have much. But we did hire them to make a new emergency tiller for us and they did a great job!!

Pictured below is the Statue of Diogo Afonso. It faces Porto Grande Bay in Mindelo. Diogo Afonso was a Portuguese explorer in the 15th century. He discovered the island of São Vicente, on which Mindelo is located.

Here are some pictures of Mindelo at night. So pretty! And festive!

I don’t know if there is sometimes water running out of the faucet, but this statue of a woman with a bucket is pretty cool:

That’s it for Mindelo!