Amokura - Log Day 6 - Arrival!

I write this from my bunk in the marina in Mindelo, Amokura is gently bobbing around and I can hear the sounds of other yachts arriving and berthing opposite us, bow thrusters roaring and marina staff shouting instructions as they edge into their berths.

Yesterday was an exciting race to the finish, tweaking the parasail as the wind came and went, and over a period of hours gradually creeping past some of the yachts in front of us, including, to our surprise, a number of catamarans!

After our delicious supper of pan-fried sea bream, expertly filleted by Mark, Vicky took the first watch, then Mark relieved her at 2200. By the time I was woken at just before 0100 the 56 miles still to run had dwindled to 8 and there were the lights of several yachts we had passed in the night behind us.

Ahead was land! The first sight for 5 days,  the craggy shapes of the volcanic Cape Verdes outlined against the night sky and the finish line ahead. We kept the parasailor up as long as we could then, concerned about potential katabatic gusts off the mountains, put out the mainsail to shield it before stowing it away.  It was a thrilling moment to nip across the finish, a line drawn between the outlying tiny outcrop of Ilheu dos Passaros and Saõ Vicente at 0122 local time. Engine on, mainsail away, then the focus switched to finding Mindelo marina and communicating with ARC+ control. Very confusing in the dark, an obviously unfamiliar marina, with bright background lights on shore, anchored yachts, and dredging activities! Unhelpfully there was some confusion over our berth allocation and tempers were becoming a little frayed by the time we picked up the lazy lines for our bow and berthed stern to alongside Tui, who had arrived a couple of hours ahead of us and were enjoying a
bit of relaxation time.  Bottles of wine were opened on Amokura as we celebrated our arrival after 5 days and 13 hrs at sea and 873 nautical miles...the warm up for the big trans Atlantic starting next Friday!  A few days off now to explore and do repairs to crew and boat.

Signing off...

Liz Brigstocke


Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.