Cap Verde, 21 November 1999

We left Puerto Rico Thursday 4 November. Dennis’ uncle and aunt, Tonny and Lena, were on board. We were about to shape the course for Tenerife in order to fetch our new reservist (or whatever you call such a greenhorn!) Of course we are referring to Senne, who will cross the Atlantic we us, and it is fairly certain that he will go for the Pacific Ocean too. Tonny and Lena went ashore in Puerto de Morgan before we left for Tenerife.

We cast anchor at a cosy little fish village, Los Abrigos on the east coast. It is situated close to the airport where we were to fetch Senne in a day or two. The first night in Los Abrigos we went to one of the many fish restaurants in town. We had all kinds of seafood- many fish, shrimp, squid, oysters, snail, clam, lobster and other sorts that we did not know existed. We enjoyed being the only sailing boat in Los Abrigos, the other boats were local fishing boats. That is to be far away from the infernal tourism in Puerto Rico, Gran Canaria. But that is not the same as no tourists here, definitely not.

Tuesday 9 November Rene and Dennis picked up Senne at the airport and in the meantime Flemming and Michal prepared a welcoming banquet for Senne. The good Northerner showed up in woollen socks and fibre fur with a lot of soy proteins in his guitar, which was the only guaranteed dry place. Considering his amount of luggage we expected to find much more soy proteins but he did come out with a little herd of good Danish, newly passed, Christmas beer from the well-reputed Tuborg Breweries—ummm.

Already in the afternoon we tripped the anchor and shaped the course for Gomera. Unfortunately the wind went down after a couple of hours and we decided to stay overnight in Los Christianos, which is located on the west coast of Tenerife. We grilled some large steaks and had a couple of wine bottles. The next morning we left for Gomera and we arrived at the capital, San Sebastian, during the night. On our way we had the greatest experience of nature so far as we swam together with a big herd of Globicephala melaena (pilot whales). This is referred in greater details in Dennis´ letter also available on this web site.

Gomera is very different from the other Canaries because it is almost unknown to tourists. It was from this island that Columbus started his first Atlantic crossing. The purpose of our stay here was primarily to buy fruit, vegetables and water for our voyage. All these articles are excellent on Gomera.

We started our first lap of the Atlantic crossing by going to Cap Verde. We had 3 splendid days with the spinnaker out non-stop, sunshine and cold beers on the foredeck. Just us and the Atlantic, the blue sea and the blue sky only divided by a thin line, the horizontal line. Unfortunately we had a new depression on the starboard side so the wind rose and there was a heavy sea. This stayed for 3 more days and soon we arrived at Cap Verde. After 6 days and nights and 20 hours we had made 800 miles, and now suddenly we came to Africa where all European mentality and efficiency was

abandoned. Out here everything is really slow. Senne’s first shock was to see that they were all black, the thought had not struck him, but of course they must be. A matter of course- was his statement. On our way to Cap Verde our wind rudder, Harry, (called after the man, who bumped

into our boat in Falmouth, England) had to give up in the rather big waves, so we had to steer by hand.

Cap Verde is an old Portuguese colony that became independent in 1975. The town is characterized by many old beautiful European buildings, it looks as if they have been taken out of an old Tintin comic paper. On the outskirts of the town you also find ram shackled shanty houses, which illustrate the poverty of the country. But people down here are the nicest persons- kind, friendly and most obliging, and ready to steal all your belongings if there is a chance. There is nothing surprising in that, I suppose, considering their indigence. The European gear is a tempting offer.

The Cape Verde islands consist of eruptive rocks with some mountains and classical craters. It only rains on rare occasions, but nevertheless you find agriculture on some of the islands. They grow maize/corn, fruit (bananas, oranges), sugar beets and some vegetables. The income of the islands comes mainly from foreign financial support given as subsidized food as flour (bread is very cheap!!) educational grants (many persons from Cape Verde attend universities in Portugal, Brazil and Egypt) and as help with technological projects. A few years ago one of the islands received help from Danish engineers to start a new building.

At present a 12.60m long and 3.5 m wide steel boat represents bedroom, kitchen, drawing room, lavatory/bathroom and means of transport for 5 young people. In the tight space we at times exchange views, discuss attitudes and kick up a row. Here comes a description of how the crew try to make everything work. Firstly it must be mentioned that there are two states on board. The one closest to an everyday life is when we are in a port. The more special state is when a ship is at sea on greater cruises. We start at sea. You must have one man at the helm or at least have one to keep a look-out, because on board we have automatic steering- a blessed object that can take over for a shorter or longer period of time. We have a duty roster and always one on the watch. In the daytimes it is looser because we are all up. Everybody takes turns and if we are to shift a sail everybody helps. In the night, that is from 9 pm we have a firmer watch bill. Now when we are 5 (earlier we were 6) we practise what we call "rolling watches". This means that we all stand a four hours watch and then 6 hours "off duty". Watch duties change from day to day, which gives advantages as well as problems. An advantage is that everybody tries to be on watch on all times of the night, which always lend variety. One of the inconveniences is that it is difficult to adjust your body to a changing circadian rhythm. Because of that a shift can at times seem long and wearisome. For this reason we will try some other watch duties in the future. We always have two man on watch, this make it more cosy and also improves the safety in case of accidents. The changing of the watch is staggered so that a new man is on duty every 2 hours. In this way you are together with 2 persons within your 4 hours watch. It is not easy to have breakfast together because we get up at all times according to our watch, so we just eat something on our own, but lunch is usually for everyone all together.

At sea the days are spent with lots of different activities. All the time you have to check up on or oil small bits and pieces (sails, ropes, wind rudder) or there might be some lines to write or a book to read. If you are bored it is always a treat to watch the sea- constantly things happen here and you might be allowed to watch.

We always have dinner all together. Between 7-8 pm we dine and you only have 30 seconds to present yourselves at the table (usually in the cockpit). We take turns on cooking which prevent the meals from being dull. We always have a good debate on today’s incidents and coming events. After the meal the dishwashing team takes over- we always use seawater in open sea. The lucky persons to do the dishes are sometimes found by game of cards or more often 2 persons volunteer because in open sea it is very difficult to handle the cards. After dinner we chat a little before the first persons turn in to get a few hours sleep before they go on watch. Usually things pass this way when the good ship is at sea. The situation is quite different when we are ride at anchor or at quay. Here we do not have watches or schedules, now it is new towns and countries to explore. Naturally we talk about what we all would like to see. Many times we divide us into groups of 2-3 persons and then go out on different expeditions while the rest stays on board. There are always things to fix and repair on a ship like "Dream"- we write it down on a list and then we share out the tasks. Then it is up to each and everyone to decide when to do it. In this way we are free to do what we find exciting without the feeling of following the line of least resistance. We also make many trips all together because it is special pleasure to experience jointly. At times it is necessary to have a least one man on board in order to avoid theft. We try to reduce rules to a minimum because they only create limits not possibilities.

Summing up10 great things about the Atlantic:

• the days run together- is it Monday or Wednesday or something quite different. Was it today we caught a fish or was it yesterday? It seems rather unimportant
• the chart is due South-so is Cap Horn
• to see dolphins swim at the bow when the water is luminous caused by phosphorescence
• to catch dorado or omnivorous eel
• to see that something has activated our 2mm snell ( next time we use heavier line) (Next time we want a shark or a big tuna on board)
• that a cold beer at noon in the shade at the small taverne cost 2.50 Dkr
• a cold beer now- they are so cheap
• the speed is good we are constantly doing 6-7 knots
• a town filled with obliging and friendly Africans
• -to be ready to conquer the next ocean

 

The laborious things at the Atlantic

• too far to the closest hot-dog stand
• our enthusiasm for military canned food is at an end, but what can you get (tinned veal fricassee is not recommendable)

Sport:

• Unfortunately cancelled in this edition- Senne has defeated us in chess as well as in backgammon- we need to find a game he does not know!

The word of the week:

• There sure is much water in this Atlantic Ocean!

 

We will leave Cape Verde Tuesday and set the course for Trinidad and Tobago (TT) where the girls wear bikini all year round. The next edition of Dream Times will be published from there. The crossing to TT is 2000 miles and the average time is 20 days. But it can vary a lot it depends on the wind and weather. One of the most charming things is to be almost 100% dependent on the wind.