Porto da Palmeira & Vila do Espargos (Part 2)

Porto da Palmeira office of the Polícia de Ordem Publica at the red arrow   

Boom end back in position   

The Polícia de Ordem Publica office was now properly manned and so we were able to do the arrival paperwork for BV, however, we were told that we needed to return to the office next door at 9am the following morning so that we could complete our immigration formalities.

Back aboard BV we turned our attention to the problems we had arrived with. It was far too windy to take down the genoa to sew the split seam, so instead we took a look at the back of the boom to sort out the jammed reefing line. With an extension rope sewn onto the offending reefing line, we removed the four bolts which allowed us to pull off the whole end fitting and extract the ‘snakes wedding’ of lines and blocks that live inside the boom. The number 2 reefing line had got twisted up, come off its block housed in a sliding metal car and was jammed tight between the car’s wall and the block. We worked the line free and then bent the cheeks of the metal car flat again in a vice to try to prevent the same thing from happening again. Having done all of that, and successfully put the boom back together, we rewarded ourselves with sundowner drinks.

Porto da Palmeira bakery and gas shop (blue outlined building under the palm tree)   

In the morning we reported to the immigration office promptly at 9am. We completed the issued arrival cards and then the policeman carefully transcribed all the information, and details of BV, onto another form. That complete, he stamped our passports, making us legal to explore the islands [Ed: errr!] We checked out the bakery and gas shop but decided that the village bread was not worth bothering with; much better is apparently available in Vila do Espargos. We didn’t really need any anyway and so, having already visited the main town and the port, we decide that we would returned to BV to try to fix the genoa. Unfortunately, we are actually in the Trade Winds belt now and, funny old thing, the wind blows! So much so, that it wasn’t calm enough to take down the genoa (albeit it was actually blowing a lot harder than is usual). Instead we read and did some admin tasks to fill the day.

Repairing the genoa [Ed: the pictures make it look as if I’m doing the work but,
in fact, Reg drives the sewing machine]    

We were lucky that first thing the following morning (Sunday 17 Dec) there was enough of a lull to get the genoa down. The stitching along one of the seams had opened up along a 30cm length but we had caught it in time and there were no tears or damage to the sail cloth. So, working the sewing machine on the foredeck we sewed up the seam and added a reinforcing patch for good measure. We then spent another hour or 2 checking the other seams and adding some extra stitches in a couple of places. Our efforts attracted the attention of the owner of a nearby yacht, who popped over to have a look at the sewing machine and ask lots of questions about it.

As we worked the wind had risen again so we bagged the genoa to try to keep some of the all-pervading red African dust off it, and left hoisting it for another lull, perhaps another day. The red dust (brought from mainland Africa on the easterly harmattan wind) has covered everything in the short period that we have been here. All the standing and running rigging which we cleaned in Las Palmas has gone brown, as have exposed areas of the sails and the deck looks filthy and desperately in need of a good hosing down. We have been forcibly reminded of Barry Hurley telling us when we were in Malta that the locals there wash down their boats before going out sailing rather than afterwards as in most of the rest of Europe!

Local fishermen at work. They have one man snorkelling to spot the fish and then lay
the net in a circle around the shoal following the snorkeller’s directions    

So with the various repairs/maintenance tasks complete, we had time to watch some of the local fishermen at work. They laid and retrieved their nets a couple of times (once in the middle of the harbour, rather to the consternation of the harbour authorities) before deciding that they had enough to sell/eat and calling it a day. We, however, started to make some plans for exploring some of the rest of the archipelago. Unfortunately, whilst digging the sewing machine out from the deepest darkest recesses of one of the lockers, I found evidence of a small leak in the generator’s exhaust water separator box. The best way to solve the problem will be to have the offending joint re-welded, and that means that we need to include in our plan arriving in Mindelo with sufficient time around the Christmas bank holiday period to find a welder and have the work done. It shouldn’t be an impossibility but it’s another constraint. But then they do say that long-distance cruising is just boat maintenance in interesting/exotic locations!

Porto da Palmeira, Ilha do Sal, Cape Verde Islands