New Rigging and on to Mindelo – the passage from hell!

Once we returned to the pontoon after our near catastrophic rigging failure following the start of the ARC+ Rally from Las Palmas, we got in touch with the Oyster crew for some advice about repairs.  Although it was a Sunday afternoon, Eddy and Andy were there within the hour.  They checked out the damage, were obviously quite concerned but incredibly professional.  They were extremely reassuring and I found my heart rate beginning to return to normal.  They promised to be back first thing Monday morning.

Eight o’clock the next morning the team were there checking every bit of the rigging.  We wanted to replace all the Norseman fittings.  Essentially it was decided to replace all the rigging as it was over ten years old, except for the fore and back stays which had been replaced last year in Lefkas.  Oyster negotiated with Alisios, the rigging shop, for the work to be done.  They were brilliant.  In a day and one half they made up and replaced 7 new shrouds with swaged fittings.  Then the Oyster crew returned to tune the rigging and make the final adjustments.  By Tuesday afternoon the work was done and Songster was better than ever.

Will from Oyster and Reg watching the riggers

Andy up the mast

One of the men from Alisios

We could have left that afternoon and been only 2 days behind the fleet but we felt it was more prudent to get a good night’s sleep and have a full 12 hours of daylight to get into the groove of our 6 day passage to Mindelo.  At daybreak on Wednesday we once again dropped our mooring lines and left Las Palmas for Mindelo.

Leaving Las Palmas - take 2

There were about 3 other boats that did not start with the main rally.  They delayed their departure because they wanted a better weather window.  We had had a briefing from the meteorologist and the weather did look like it would be a bit less blustery on Wednesday than it was on Sunday when the rally started.  One of the boats, Catweazle left with us on Wednesday morning and we sailed in company for a few hours.

The passage to Mindelo was rough.  We headed south from Gran Canaria and went wide to avoid the notorious acceleration zone located southeast of the airport area.  About an hour into the passage the sea state became confused with 3-4 metre swells.  Suddenly I began to feel a bit queasy and then was hit by full on Mal de Mare.  I never had this before on Songster.  Fortunately it lasted for only 24 hours and then I had my sea legs.

Although I had gotten my sea legs back, the sea state never really improved for the whole passage; continuous confused seas with 3-4 metre swell and surface waves in different directions, winds gusting to 25 – 30 knots.  It was impossible to do anything below decks as we were being tossed about.  Everything had to be done by bracing ourselves against bulkheads and holding on with one hand.  Meal preparation which was just heating up our pre-prepared meals was still an ordeal.  

We had to wear full foul weather gear on night watches.  Songster, with its high freeboard, had never gotten more than a few drops of water in the cockpit during her sailing in the Mediterranean.  But the high freeboard was no match for the Atlantic conditions we were experiencing.  We were frequently getting waves splashing into the cockpit.  One night on my watch, a wave came right over the side of the cockpit, straight down the companionway and landed on top of Reg’s head as he lay sleeping in the lee berth.  Poor Reg got water in his ear and couldn’t hear for a few hours.  For the next 24 hours until conditions settled down a bit, we had to sail with the washboard in the companionway to keep things dry below.

For a video of the waves see: https://youtu.be/CWR2gry2lpE  

But the waves never look as big in the pictures.

On the approach to Mindelo the wind funnelled between the islands causing choppy seas and nasty gusts – just to end a bad passage with a final kick.  Finally after 6 days, 7 hours and 30 minutes we completed the 898 nm passage from the Canaries to Cape Verde.  It was a fast passage, averaging 5.9 knots, but a rough one!

Approaching Mindelo on Sao Vicente

 

898 nautical miles from Las Palmas to Mindelo

As we approached our berth in the marina, the crew from Wolo, Marco and Luci, were waiting to greet us with beers in hand.  Lots of people came up to us saying how they were so glad to see us and were worried about how we were doing after our rigging failure.  Everyone also admitted that they had had quite rough passages as well.  Some of us who had never sailed the Atlantic were a bit concerned that conditions would be like that all the way across to the Caribbean.

That night was the prize giving ceremony.  It was held in a lovely old fish factory cum event centre.  Everyone was in a jubilant mood having gotten through the rough passage to Mindelo.  A fantastic local rum punch was served and lots of Cape Verdean food specialities.  I took a fancy to the fried flying fish – delicious.  A local dance troupe gave a performance – could they move!  And of course Phoebe joined in too.

 For a video of the dance troupe see:  https://youtu.be/2lUcvH2vsI0

 

The dance troupe in Mindelo

Phoebe getting in on the action

The sailors listening to the presenters

The evening was a great introduction to Cape Verde.  Cape Verde is an archipelago of 10 islands located about 600 km off the Northwest coast of Africa.  These islands were uninhabited until the 15^th Century when the Portuguese colonized them.  The area became integral to the Atlantic slave trade and a haven for merchants, privateers and pirates.  The archipelago gained independence from Portugal in 1975.  Today Cape Verde is an important commercial centre on the trans-Atlantic shipping route.  The country is one of the healthiest in Africa and ranked as a medium developed nation on par with the development of Morocco.

I was really looking forward to exploring the town the next day.  Sadly we arrived too late for the complementary tour of the island that was provided by the ARC+ Rally. Mindelo is located on the island of São Vicente with an island population of 70,000 people.  We spent our one day on the island walking around the pretty town of Mindelo and taking in the atmosphere.  I found the people of Mindelo strikingly beautiful, friendly and proud of their island nation.

The streets of Mindelo

Art relief at the Markets

Reg relaxing on the minimalist bench at the markets

We were sad to leave the island so soon.  I would have dearly loved to further explore this appealing country and its beautiful people but the Atlantic Crossing was ahead for us.