Ninfea - Ninfea

We spent our time in Cape visiting the two islands of St. Vincent and St. Antoan. This last one is truly spectacular, all ridges end precipitous drops, sparsely populated by hardy mountain people. We saw more goats than people! Of the two island St. Antoan is the one that receives abundant water which justifies the qualification of Verde (Green) much more than St. Vincent, which is truly arid. The landscape reminded us of the Andes in Peru.We also spent time doing minor repairs to Ninfea, like replacement of a block on the main halyard and few other small things.We started again navigation on the 20th of November with a hair raising race in front of winds up to 35 kn and large waves helping to push Ninfea up to 11 kn. The first night was, like so many other departures from islands,. read more...

Ninfea - Arrival

Arrival! After  almost five days of sailing this morning we will soon be making land in Mindelo, Cape Verde. The days have gone by very fast and quite smoothly. For four days we have sailed at an average speed of 7.8 kn, a remarkable speed for our Amel 53. With a twin poled headsail and a wind speed in the 13-20 kn we have reached speeds exceeding 10 kn for short periods and almost always near or above 8 kn. The last day, however, the wind dropped to a miserable 7 to 10 kn, cutting drastically into our average, which will still be well above 7 kn. Life on board has been very pleasant, good conversation, quiet reading and an occasional hectic moment to change or reset sails. We have kept two rods out always, but the fishing has been modest. Two small dorados (mahi mahi) that have. read more...

Ninfea - 11 Nov - first day at sea

First Day at sea –November 10Yesterday November 10 at 1.00 pm we left Las Palmas and set sails for Cape Verde. The biggest challenge on the start was to avoid collision with the 45 boats all leaving at the same time through the narrow gate of the start line. We had two hair raising encounter with an onlooker who wanted a somewhat too close look at us and an ARC boat that approached us from downwind, starboard side. She only moved away after I shouted a “what the …” at the skipper at the top of my lungs! That was close!After we negotiated the classic acceleration zone at the southern tip of the island (20-30 kn) we settled on a more comfortable 14-18 kn, which is what we expect for the next 2-3 days. No squalls in the forecast so far.Marianto prepared a. read more...

Ninfea - First Day at Sea

First Day at sea –November 10Yesterday November 10 at 1.00 pm we left Las Palmas and set sails for Cape Verde. The biggest challenge on the start was to avoid collision with the 45 boats all leaving at the same time through the narrow gate of the start line. We had two hair raising encounter with an onlooker who wanted a somewhat too close look at us and an ARC boat that approached us from downwind, starboard side. She only moved away after I shouted a “what the …” at the skipper at the top of my lungs! That was close!After we negotiated the classic acceleration zone at the southern tip of the island (20-30 kn) we settled on a more comfortable 14-18 kn, which is what we expect for the next 2-3 days. No squalls in the forecast so far.Marianto prepared a “finger-licking-good” chicken for. read more...

Ninfea - Ninfea

Going Again   Yesterday June 10 at 12.00 we have left Santa Maria and the Azores for our final leg to Lagos in Portugal. Little over 800 nm and we complete the Atlantic crossing west to east. We have spent almost two weeks in the Azores and had the opportunity to see Faial, Terceira, Sao Miguel and Santa Maria. The Islands are volcanic and have been formed in succession, Faial being the most recent and Santa Maria the oldest in geological sense. Faial is also the most dramatic, with tall craters, two of them, and visible signs of recent volcanic activity. The islands continue to grow  east to west and the expert suggest that one day Pico, the tallest island just east of Faial will be joined with the same Faial which, in the meantime, would had a slice of land to the west. In. read more...