Endeavour of Cork - Day 1&2 Cape Verde

Day 1 Cape Verde

we arrived, finally!

A rollercoaster ride, in 23kts of wind and mega-swell between the islands, at 5am in the pitch dark - well done Conor on getting us in in one piece!!! Not for the faint-hearted.

We tied up and fell into the bunks for an hour or so, then set about getting laundry sent off, getting showers (freezing cold! but still the best thing EVER), getting breakfast in the town - which was more of a challenge than I'd ever had guessed! We picked a cafe that seemed to be part of a hotel, other tables were dining on what looked like quite a feast, but we managed to coax only a small plain omelette, some bread, and a few milky coffees out of them. Even the butter had to be specifically asked for. However it set us up for the day.

The others set off to run up a mountain, or some other such energetic activity - I elected to stay at the boat (mountains and midday heat don't mix in my book!) and wash the decks which were strewn with the bodies of kamikaze flying fish and the muck off the lines that we picked up in the marina. That in itself turned into a mammoth task, first I had to beg around other boats for an adaptor to fit the hose fittings, then there was no credit on the marina card for water, then when I finally got the water running I realised I was just wasting gallons of the stuff as I couldn't stop the water running to scrub the decks or do anything else without leaping off the boat, which involves waiting for the boat to get blown close to the pontoon and then jumping and hoping to land on the pontoon and not in the water, and the reverse to get back on board - and remember this is all being charged for by the litre! So I abandoned that task half done (apologies to the others!!) and went off to explore around the town.

It's small, quiet and appears to be very poor. What they make of us yotties turning up en masse I don't know, but I can only imagine it must be a boost to their economy for the week we're here.

There's a floating marina bar nearby, which is full and buzzzing the whole time - at least it's a familiar feeling for us as it bobs up and down, but it makes for interesting departing after a few beers, apparently someone fell off it last night!! He was hauled back up again, no harm done. But you'd need your wits about you walking around here, I don't think I've ever come across a windier or bouncier marina in my life!

There's a reception of some sort for us all in the bar at 6.30pm, which will be a chance to catch up with all the other crews that we got to know in Las Palmas, and see how everyone got on and compare tall tales.

Nice to be back on dry(ish) land again, tomorrow the hard work starts to get ready to set off again next week!
- Mairead

Day two Cape Verde -

Got some great live music on the Mindela main street last night: The whole population out dancing till near midnight - unforgettable. The legs held out for the dancing even though they'd endured a 10 km. walk over the mountains of Cape Sao Vicente. Five of us took off on foot with a really good walking tour guide from the island called Valeria. Left Mindela heading north through some really poor suburbs and into a mountainous landscape with some steep climbs over loose rock and sand. Our descent to the other side of the island brought us to a small village with about a million dogs (well nearly) running around the place. We got to a wild and windy beach with lots of kitesurfers doing their thing. They were in their element. We continued for another couple of kms. to "the tidal pool" - nicely sheltered from the waves to have a swim followed by a well deserved beer and some food. Going to get the most out of these legs knowing they'll be confined to the restrictions of boat deck for the next couple of weeks at least.
Got in a few more boat preparations today: Replacing halyards and main sheets, foredeck netting, bit of electrics, set up a proper uphaul and downhaul for the spinaker and even scrubbed the deck. Missed the sundowner so its now time for a well deserved beer. Day off boat duties tomorrow. Four of the Endeavour gang are going on a day tour to one of the other islands. Anais is having a crisis wanting to go rockclimbing, surfing, mountain biking - lets see how much she'll fit in. I'm going to have a few swims on a fantastic beach about 15 minutes away and watch Cape Verdians do their Monday thing while I have few coffees, beers, bit o' grub and I'm looking forward to it.
- Dermot.