Sailing to the Cape Verde Islands (Part 2)

Tuesday was also notable as the day that we almost caught a monster fish. The reel screamed as several hundred metres of line shot out from it but the fish managed to get off the hook before it could be reeled in. From the strain on the rod it was definitely a big beasty!

So, as Tuesday ended and Wednesday began we had a roller-coaster ride through the dark propelled by 25-30knots of wind. Georgina continued to do all of the steering and, being controlled by the wind, the stronger the wind was, the more powerful the steering. With the increase in wind we also got a matching increase in swell and waves, with the swell reaching 3-4m metres. That induced a lot more roll into BV’s motion but at least the sails didn’t flap. In the middle of the night a 65m sailing vessel ‘Sorlandet’ appeared on our AIS. She was about 11nm behind us but our speeds were so closely matched that it took her the best part of 16 hours to overhaul us en route to Praia, Isla Santiago.

Not a lot of genoa left!    

The wind stayed the same throughout Wednesday 13 and so theoretically we should have been making excellent progress along our track. However, the dawn light allowed us to see that a seam on the genoa near the leach had started to part. To protect the sail we rolled away ¾ of our genoa. We were sorry not to be able to use most of the sail but it was far better than having the sail rip across from leech to luff. Our thoughts began to turn to our arrival time in Porto Palmeira. Our pilot book talked of unreliable lights on navigation marks and unlit ships’ mooring buoys and recommended a daylight approach. At some stage we’d need to decide if we should slow down to time our arrival in daylight or just expect to heave to when we were close to Ilha do Sal. As a further complication, we discovered that the number 2 reefing line had somehow jammed solid inside the boom. At last light we disconnected those reefing lines from the sail so that, without clearing the jam, we could either use full sail, 1 reef or, as we were, 3 reefs in the main.

It was just as well that we did that work on the number 2 reefing lines: overnight the wind reduced and Nicky shook out the 3^rd reef in order to keep our speed up. It was another night of fast and furious sailing but, come the morning, there were also routine checks to do and a look around the decks just before breakfast revealed that a flying fish had jumped on board during the night. We’d read that this often happens when bluewater sailing and that the fish fry up well for breakfast. Ours was rather small and with just the one we stuck with our usual breakfast fare.

For additional excitement, at 9am we were joined by a large pod of Atlantic spotted dolphins. Highly acrobatic they seemed to spend more time in the air than in the water but that didn’t stop me from getting lots of pictures of just splashes! The 3 photos here are my best ones.

With 70 miles to go our thoughts turned again to our ETA. Our increased speed had made our arrival time tantalisingly close to dusk. Ideally, we’d just unroll some more genoa, speed up a knot or 2 and guarantee that we’d make it into port before last light.

BV bowling along with 3 reefs in the main and a scrap of genoa unrolled   

Clearly, with the weak seam in the genoa that wasn’t an option so instead we loosed the final reef from the main to keep BV bowling along. That final day felt like a race against time as we tried to get to Porto Palmeira before dark. To give ourselves every possible chance we hand-steered for the final 6 hours or so but, in the end, we couldn’t quite make the harbour before nightfall. It was a close-run thing though. We actually reached a position just off the breakwater about 15min before nightfall but getting the sails down and sorting out the anchoring equipment, as well as waiting for a ferry to leave, all took valuable time and by the time that we were ready to make our approach into the harbour, it was properly dark.

Land Ho! Ilha do Sal in the Cape Verdes Islands   

By that time, however, we had decided that it was not unreasonable to make an attempt at a night approach. Though the pilot book was not overly enthusiastic about the idea, we knew that there had recently been some pretty major works in the harbour, so it was most likely that the notoriously unreliable navigational lights would be working. We also had the benefit of a tanker being moored at the end of the dangerously poorly marked oil pipeline. So, after 813 nautical miles and 130hrs we crept cautiously into Porto Palmeira, Isla do Sal and found a small space, close to the ‘big’ ship channel in which to drop our anchor. The next day (Friday) we would have arrival paperwork to complete, a genoa to stitch and reefing line to fix but our immediate priority was a celebratory glass of fizz ……… and a shower!

Porto Palmeira anchorage on Ilha do Sal   

Stats:
Day 1.  (Sat 9 Dec 1030-2359) 82nm
Day 2.  (Sun 10 Dec 0001-2359) 164nm
Day 3.  (Mon 11 Dec 0001-2359) 128nm
Day 4.  (Tue 12 Dec 0001-2359) 146nm
Day 5.  (Wed 13 Dec 0001-2359) 159nm
Day 6.  (Thu 14 Dec 0001-2000) 134nm
Total distance: 813nm in 130hrs, av speed 6.3kt
Max speed recorded by GPS: 14.5kt surfing down a wave.  Yee-ha!

Porto Palmeira, Ilha do Sal, Cape Verde Islands