3 / 1 / 02: We set sail from Santa Cruz de Tenerife to Guadalupe

11 / 1 / 02: Landing in Mindelo, Cabo Verde

15 / 1 / 02: Departure from Mindelo towards Guadalupe

3 / 2 / 03: Arrival at Guadalupe

LOG-BOOK

The 3^rd of January, after spending several months sailing in the Canary Islands and setting up the yacht ready, we departed from Santa Cruz de Tenerife heading for Guadalupe. We had intended to depart at the beginning of December, but there were continuous gales in the area and, as the trade winds were not coming back, we decided to wait and spend Christmas in the Marina del Atlántico of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Tenerife's north coast

Fed up with being stranded, the 2^nd of January we discerned fair weather after which bad weather would come back, so we decided that we would depart the following day at last, heading South and escaping of the strong North Atlantic conditions. Our intention was to change course and head to a West course just before arriving to Cabo Verde, without stopping in this archipelago. Nacho decided to give up smoking from that point in time.

The first day of the voyage we used the engine, as there was barely any wind, but on the 4^th we started to get a good breeze. The dawn between the 4^th and the 5^th, the breeze became a fresh wind of 30 to 35 knots and gusts of 40 to 45 knots. Luckily, we had sufficient time to reduce sails before the strong gale arrived, in which we had to withstand 7 m waves. The bad weather lasted no less than 5 days. We received the weatherfax every night from Boston, and to our horror we verified that the storm situated between the Canaries and Cabo Verde was moving along our course. The first two days of the storm we kept watches on deck stoically, but after the third day, when waves were shaped as walls, it became apparent that it was pointless to try to look for obstacles in the horizon and, as the automatic pilot was functioning perfectly, we went on deck as little as possible.

During this storm we used for the first time the set sail that UK sailmakers had made for us and we kept hope that the need to reef it to storm sail would not be necessary, as the sea and wind conditions would have made it a difficult and dangerous task. To balance the set sail we had unrolled a small triangle of the main sail. In this way we spend the following three days, inside the cabin, listening to the roaring winds and resigned to being shaken by the yacht's syncopated movements. The simplest of task, such as to eat, to sleep or to go to the heads, became almost impossible tasks.

Our only confort during those horrible days was to hear at night the Rueda de los Navegantes, to which we were calling via Inmarsat to give them our position. From Rafael del Castillo we learnt that two yacht were in the same situation as us: New Life and Itaca.

The 10^th the situation improved considerable, but again we were left without any wind. We were exhausted. The 11^th the skipper decided to go to the archipelago of Cabo Verde, to buy some cigarette! We headed to Mindelo, which surprised us pleasingly, both because of the hospitality of the caboverdians and also because the natural conditions of the archipelago for sailing.

In Mindelo we were able to rest and stock up perishable goods. In spite of the extreme poverty of the islands, the city has two markets of extreme cleanness and tidiness: the fish market and another where one can find basic fresh produce. The fish is very cheap and fresh, but the rest of the products were a little expensive, as they have to be imported because Cabo Verde has no water.

Market of Mindelo

We also met Pulu, the caboverdian correspondent of the Rueda de los Navegantes, who invited us to his home, situated in a hill. From his house, where he has an antenna of more than 4 m. long, there is an impressive view of the bay.

In Mindelo we coincided with New Life, a 31 feet sail boat, very fast, all covered by logos and crewed by Ernesto and Loli, both of them journalist. We also stayed with Albert, skipper of Itaca, who was a single-handed  sailor doing a study on the route of the coffee, in a Bavaria 38. With all of them we were able to contrast our experience of the storm: objectively was horrendous. Furthermore, as it also did happen to Albert, we spend days baling out water from the bilge. In our case the water had filtered through some junctions badly sealed in the anchor lock. Ernesto helped me to put on them tons of Sicaflex

But amongst all of this years Mindelo's visitors, the one that got more attraction was, no doubt, a French biologist who pretended to cross the Atlantic in two liferafts joint by a rope, without sail or engine, nor any other means of propulsion that the ocean current, and having as the only company a small African monkey. For all equipment, he had a manual watermaker, a satellite telephone and a small navigation light. Batteries to give energy to the telephone and the navigation light occupied one of the liferafts. His objective was to demonstrate that both him and his monkey were able to cross the Atlantic with these scarce means and nourishing from the raw fish he would fish himself.

                        Towards America with two liferafts, a monkey and an Inmarsat telephone

After four great days, we departed unwillingly from Mindelo, setting course to Gaudalupe, but not before retrieving back our yacht. While we were doing the last shopping in the city, Enterprise had attempted to leave the bay on her own decision in what was to be her first dragging. A beautiful classic sailing yacht of Spanish flag that also was in the bay, Escorpión, rescued her. Later on we discovered that our yacht, because of is high free-board, was able to sail at 5 knots without sail nor engine.

After two days sailing we vomited. All the Atlantic was full of squalls. Because Escorpión sailed the same day as us towards the Caribbean, and also has satellite telephone, we were in contact the entire voyage for security reasons. Again we were testing that the experience of crossing the Atlantic, although it is not extremely dangerous, it was objectively becoming unpleasant and weary: following seas of two to three meters and winds of 20 to 25 knots with gusts of 30 to 35 knots. The radar alarm did not stop beeping in all the voyage, but not because of ships--we would have love to have some company (we did not see any other cargo ships in all the crossing) but because of the squalls, always accompanied of rain, strong gusts and increased size of waves.

One of the morning's tasks was to throu away the half a dozen flying fish that, for their own bad lack, had finished on the yacht's deck overnight.

The 30^th of January, at dawn, we were able to make out the light of Marie Galante, which carries the name of the boat Cristopher Columbus used in his second voyage. Nacho was so tired from the last watch, that he even did not want to wake up to see the lights. A few hours later we arrived to Bas-du-Fort marina, in Point-à-Pitre, Guadalupe. Fortunately, compared to the Atlantic, the Eastern Caribbean was to feel like a lake.

 Islands of MarÌa Galante and Les Saints, in front of Guadalupe

When we exchanged views, both Escorpión and other boats that we met in Point-à-Pitre and that had crossed the Atlantic at the same time as us, we all agreed that this particular crossing had been not the typical one because of bad weather.

SIGHTSEEING

Tenerife

Tenerife is the biggest of the eastern islands of the Canarian archipelago. In spite of its small size, it has impressive contrasts. In spite of the lack of respect for its town and landscape planning, tolerated by its local government in most of the island, the national park of Cañadas del Teide and Sierra de Anaga are of a striking beauty.

The capital, Santa Cruz, has lots of charm, an interesting archaeological museum and a glorious past, as it was here were in 1935 was celebrated the II International Exhibition, thanks to the tireless actions of a closed group around the Gazeta del Arte, edited by the Círculo de Bellas Artes, still today in place and active. The surrealist ²scar DomÌnguez, to whom a museum is going to be dedicated shortly, was from Tenerife.

La Laguna, old capital of the island, is Patrimony of Humankind. It is considered a model of town planning of colonial cities. In fact, the Spanish conquest of the Canary Islands had not been completed when Columbus arrived to America, and the closeness of the process of hispanicizetion of the Canary Islands and Latin America is evident if one compares La Laguna with American cities such as Antigua Guatemala o Cartagena de Indias.

Aristocratic house in La Orotava

Except in the months of September and October, sailing in the Canary Islands is tough, which is aggravated by the fact that these islands have very few natural shelters. Most of the islands are very mountainous; therefore the leeward coast is quite calm. But a few nautical miles away from the coast, accelerated winds can be expected, the ¡traviesa!, where winds up to 35 to 40 knots exist, and up to 50 knots near the capes.

Tenerife has three good marinas: Porto Colón, in the South and the Marina del Atlántico and the Darsena Pesquera, in Santa Cruz. In this city there is also the Club Náutico, which is more of a social Club because visitors are not welcomed. The rest of the ports are either not very safe or have few services.

Porto Colón is usually full of boats, which makes it inaccessible, but the Marina del Atlántico is very safe and quiet, and has the advantage that is situated in the centre of Santa Cruz, where stocking for supplies is excellent. It is the port where most of the yachts crossing the Atlantic will stop over while in Tenerife.

Gomera

Of all the ports in the Canary Islands, our favourite is, no doubt, the Marina de Gomera, in San Sebastian de la Gomera, although sometimes is subjected to strong ravine winds which, in one occasion, pushed our yacht against the mooring quay so strongly that one of ours fenders blew up.

The Installations in the marina are new, the marina seaman are always ready to help yachts, showers are luxurious for Spanish standards and security is very good. The location of the port is excellent: underneath some beautiful cliffs, near a good beach. Furthermore, it is accessible from the centre of San Sebastian, the quiet and handsome capital of the island, where, by the way, it is still preserved the Chapel where Christopher Columbus prayed before he departed to one of his voyages.

If that is not enough, one can find fine sailing from San Sebastian de la Gomera along the Southern Coast, without the ¡traviesa!. This coast is practically unspoiled, with various beaches and two agreeable fishing ports, Valle del Gran Rey and Playa San Juan, where one can anchor to sleep and eat fresh fish.

 Valle del Gran Rey, Gomera island

It is also very recommendable to visit the interior landscape of Gomera, in particular the Parque Nacional de Garajonay, as well as the Northern side of the island, where the royal palm trees dotted about on towns carved on vertiginous ravines. The ravines end in banana fields approaching the sea.

 Los Órganos, Gomera island

El Hierro and La Palma

The other western islands, El Hierro and La Palma, do not offer any services to yachtsmen, although is the latter where a new marina is being built, specifically in Tazacorte, where there is already a safe and quiet fishing port. La Palma is a very little tourist island, very well preserved and beautiful, with magnificent beaches in its southeastern coast and the spectacular Parque Nacional, situated in what was a volcano, the Caldera de Taburiente. From the observatory of the Roques one can see what is considered to be one of the best sky for observation of the astronomy of the Northern Hemisphere.

 Observatory of Roque de los Muchachos, in La Palma

 La Palma

El Hierro is a small island surrounded by cliffs. Underneath these, in the Mar de las Calmas, as it is known the southern coast, is the port of La Restinga. It is a good shelter to anchor and is situated in the middle of a natural reserve, which is considered one of the best scuba diving area of Spain.

Gran Canaria and the Eastern Canaries

Gran Canaria is, no doubt, the island with greater nautical tradition and with greater fondness for sailing in the whole canarian archipelago. Puerto de la Luz, in las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is the ideal place to do repairs, install equipment and buy spares. It is the port where the ARC starts every year, the famous transatlantic yacht-regatta.

Las Palmas is a boisterous city, with well preserved old quarters, where the house-museum of Christopher Columbus can be seen, a very impressive archaeological museum with mummies of the pre-Hispanic settlers of the island, and the excellent Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, which has been developing its activities with great enthusiasm for the last two decades.

In the Western coast of Gran Canaria is Mogan, a little town where tourism development has been moderate, and an exception to the rest of the island. There is a good marina in Mogan, with basic services and a quiet ambience, ideal to rest before the Atlantic crossing.

Fuerteventura y Lanzarote are two beautiful islands, very well preserved, but not as mountainous as the others, therefore being more windy. The volcanic landscape of Lanzarote, where a good marina exists, Puerto Calero, is well know to everyone. Less famous are the long unspoiled dune beaches of Fuerteventura, although the island is starting to be subjected to an enormous town planning pressure.

 West Coast of de Fuerteventura

Sao Vicente

Mindelo is the capital of Sao Vicente island, in the group of the windward islands, which can be found in the North of Cabo Verde. Although many yachts crossing the Atlantic stop over here, there still does not exist a good marina in the area. The Government is studying several projects to build a marina, something, which would add considerably to the development of the island. Meanwhile, the Bay of Mindelo offers a very safe and quiet natural shelter where to anchor.

In spite of the hardship life condition the Capeverdians endure, they are hospitable and very honest. Mindelo has a very active nightlife, and is famous for its traditional music: it is not by chance that Cesarea Evora lives here. The city has a distinct colonial aspect and it is a very recommendable stopover in the Atlantic crossing, and in spite of making the crossing a bit longer, it becomes more bearable.

Cape Verd was a Portuguese colony until the 70's and Portugal and the European Union collaborate in numerous development projects in the country, with the advantage that the political situation here is much better than in the explosive African continent, which lies a few miles away. The Mallorquin hoteliers have already understood this fact.