Luc Callebaut, who is sailing with the fleet, reports.
Santiago
Sailing from Fogo, it took the fleet a lot of tacking to clear the north of Fogo as the island did not want to let us go! It was very entertaining to see the boats passing so close and a never-ending ballet of tacking, both eyeball sightings and on the AIS display!
With the aid of some iron sail, we got a better angle & speed in a diminishing afternoon wind. The few arriving after dark were guided in by Robert on BnG who had been here for a few days already.
Tarrafal bay is a very scenic bay with only a very gentle swell. Plenty of space in good sand to anchor the fleet. Everyone has the best night of rest here.
Waking up in this scenic bay, most of us took an island tour with Pedro, a young enterprising guide. We stopped in a national park and hiked to some stunning viewpoints, we drove inland all the way south to Praia and had lunch in local restaurants facing a pebble beach.
In the afternoon, we drove along the East coast, had a walk in a nice little black sand beach where local kids were playing and visited the traditional village of Rabelados in Achada de Espinho Branco.
We came back at sunset, tired but happy to visit this beautiful green island. If you wonder why the Cape Verde islands are called green, visit Santiago and see wild vegetation as well as all the family gardens!
Back onboard, boats were tricked or treated by the Halloween Barbados 50 crew.
Sao Nicolau
We all had a nice fast overnight sail from Santiago with the wind dying down about 10nm from the shore.
Papagaio Beach is a perfect out-of-the-way anchorage with the nearest town 3nm away. The wide anchorage area is less than 15m deep and thus can easily accommodate our 15 yachts now. Everyone enjoys the swimming, snorkelling and the general view.
The beach is also home of sundowners drinks and nibbles shared together every late afternoon. A perfect place to end up a fun and memorable Cape Verde cruise …
Tomorrow, most of us will sail back to Mindelo to provision and get ready for the passage to Barbados, now less than 1 week away!
- Barbados 50: Cruising the Cape Verdes (report from Santo Antão and Brava)
- Barbados 50 Cruising to Fogo
- Cape Verde Sojourn, by Jimmy Cornell
Barbados 50 is sponsored by Barbados Tourism Marketing and Tenerife Port Authority.
