TANGAROA 27 Nov 2010 Landfall in Mindelo
Having motored on and off for the past 24 hours with a very nice beam reach and 6,5 knots of boatspeed today just prior to sunset. Tangaroa is now (22h00 UTC) about to make landfall in Sao Vicente in the Cap Verdes.
We have made it with one spare fuel filter as reserve! The cloudy substance mixed with paraffin we discovered at every change of filters made us extremely uneasy, alertedly listening to the engine's noise whenever it was running and greatful for every puff of wind which allowed us to shut it off.
Some of us also spent a significant amount of time in the engine room, not only repeatedly changing the main engine's filters of which we thankfully were carrying a good supply, but also trying to figure out why the generator was turning itself off after only minutes of service. Was it truly overheating or just being told by a faulty gauge that it needed to protect itself by shutting down? Hopefully some able mechanic will be able to tell us the answer as of Monday.
Anyway, landfall at night in a totally unkown place is always an interesting affair so we shall now concentrate on making sense of the lights we can see, aiming to match them with the ones stated on the charts and in the cruising guide.
Daniela