Cabo Verde Islands

These islands are a new destination for Ramprasad.  Before coming here I knew little about them apart from the fact that quite a few cruising yachts come here on their way from the Canaries and that they are fairly dry and poor islands situated more that 300 miles West of Cap Vert (or the Green Cape) on the Western tip of Africa near the Senegalese capital of Dakar. They are 10 populated islands properly in the trade wind belt at around 16 degrees North and were discovered by the Portuguese in the 16th century, then populated partly by African slaves and colonised until the demise of the Salazar regime in 1975.

   The first of the Cabo Verdes which we saw was the Westernmost and Northernmost of the Horseshoe shape archipelago called Santo Antao. It is a high and hilly island with 5 peaks of over 1500 metres and the use of electric light in the scattered communities made it visible to us at night at a distance of about 40 miles!

A view of Santo Antao as we entered the Canal de Sao Vicente

As the morning developed some of the other islands appeared including Sao Vicente whose main harbour Mindelo we were heading for.

Sao Vicente is almost as hilly but not so high and big as Santo Antao

We entered the bay in which Mindelo is situated past Ilheu do Passaros which had been our waypoint for the last 8 days.

Ilheu dos Passaros just outside Mindelo

We went past the headland and the wind became fluky. A gust hit us and with the mainsheet a bit tight we healed over and the glass coffee pot took a tumble in the galley and smashed itself to smithereens! We started the engine, got sails down and looked around the yacht anchorage for somewhere suitable. We spotted "Adverse Conditions" an American yacht which had left Las Palmas on the same day as us and was checking in with the same radio net (organised by another American yacht called "Starcruiser" then in Puerto Mogan in Gran Canaria). We got useful advice related to dinghy parking and security, then found a suitable spot and dropped the hook. After a bit of tidying up, dinghy inflation and lunch we went ashore and checked in with the authorities. I filled out the form for the Maritime police - thoroughly read the rules of the port under supervision and signed my name to the fact that I had read and understood the rules - then submitted my ships registration papers as security against payment of harbour dues on departure. We then proceeded to the immigration department, a small office just inside the port gates, where I was at first criticised for not having my ships registration papers available for inspection and then got away with saying that my passport's place of issue was London (- it actually says "UK Passport agency" which doesn't quite fit with a "place of issue") Fortunately we got both "in" and "out" stamps and didn't have to leave any vital documents there so I judge that we don't need to go back to that office to check out!  Now that we have left the European Union and the fairly lax attitude in the Canaries we are back into the pre-modern paper-chase of international yachting!  

The yachtsman's dinghy dock at Mindelo on an uncrowded day showing a couple of local boat boys and the government office block in the background in which the Policia Maritima can be found. The larger local wooden boat on the left is Neilton's. He and his associate Jeremy S are boat boys we feel we can recommend! 

The wreck of the concrete pier at Mindelo next to the dinghy dock with the yacht anchorage behind. We could see that some preparations had been made for repairs - with a pile of gravel and 2 cranes at the pier end - but further progress was not apparent!

The mermaid at the bar in the Club Nautico, Mindelo and a family in the shade a little further along the waterfront 

Another waterfront scene looking towards the back of the fish market

A relief sculpture outside the Syrius Club - Mindelo has a very active music and dance scene

Some of the Azuleros in the market at Mindelo

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