We’d hoped to leave Tenerife on November 16th so we would have some play time in Cape Verde before our crew arrived on the 29th. We actually did leave on the 16th but we aborted about 15 miles in due to the heavy winds and unfriendly waves (neither of which were predicted).

Thankfully, there was an anchorage a short distance from us so we tucked in there. We ended up staying three days, leaving on the 19th.

The anchorage in the day:

Leaving the anchorage on the 19th:

The first part of the passage (on the second try, that is) went very well. We made great time with one reef in the main and a full genoa.

We take our usual shifts when it is just the two of us: Michael takes the 8:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. shift and I take 2:00-8:00 a.m. shift. We don’t have assigned shifts during the day but someone is always watching the helm.

We lost the wind after the first day and ended up motoring quite a bit. When we arrived in Cape Verde, we learned that many other boats had the same experience. In fact, several of the boats participating in the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) – that started in the Canary Islands with the intention of going directly to St. Lucia – had the same experience we did (although they left Tenerife before we did) and ended up diverting to Cape Verde to purchase more diesel and wait for a weather window.

We were visited by dolphins twice on the passage. Each time there were a lot of dolphins! Best of all, they stayed for at least 15 minutes each time. What a treat!!!

We got to Mindelo, Cape Verde on the 26th after first going to an anchorage in Porto Novo on the 25th.

Coming into Porto Novo:

Our first sunset in Cape Verde:

We made the short trip to Mindelo the next day and checked into the marina.

Coming into Mindelo:

We were glad to have a couple of days to continue prepping for the journey across the Atlantic. We’d already done a fair amount of provisioning but needed to do more. We also re-inventoried all of our boat parts and our food and did some maintenance. Michael starting arranging to have some work done on Seahike as soon as we arrived. We pretty much worked non-stop until our crew, Steffan and Vicki, arrived.