25-Dec-2008 Noon Position

Atlantic Crossing Day #1 (First 24 hours)
North Atlantic Ocean

16'42.5N/27'09.7W

• 125 nm last 24 hours
  
• 125 nm from Cape Verde
  
• 1896 nm to Barbados
  
• Winds NE 15-20
  
• Seas NE 3-4 feet
  

Merry Christmas to all!! As you are chewing your way thru a large juicy piece of turkey and mashed potatoes Sandpiper is back on the move due west for the next 2000 miles without anywhere else to go.

It was tempting to stay in Cape Verde thru the Christmas holidays. But the weather was looking good and it was time to go.

We had a bit of drama a couple days ago in the anchorage. We stayed aboard because the winds were so strong outside that we did not want to venture out in the dingy. It had two different painters secured to Sandpipers stern. I poked my head outside into the cockpit, between rain showers, to check out the anchorage. While we were getting nailed by 40 knot bullets of wind and I looked astern to see our dingy floating upside down. The wind had picked it up like a kite and then dumped it over, throwing my flip-flops and the dingy paddles in the water to float away. Also, it was soaking the outboard engine. We got the dinghy righted and the outboard motor off in order to clean it out. After a dousing of carburetor cleaner it seemed to run OK. But we will not know until we start using again on the other side of the Atlantic.

We left the anchorage at noon yesterday after opening our Christmas presents. We got the 'Piper secured for sea and took one last shower without the boat rolling all over the place. The winds were immediately blowing 20-25 knots which had us sailing at 7 knots, until we got behind the islands where the wind was blocked. Just a short 30-minute motor and we were back in the trade winds with just the main and staysail out, giving us an average of 6 knots all night.

Only one large tanker sighted, and an overtaking sailboat in the last 24-hours. We are very happy with the exhaust cutoff valves on the generator and engine. We now longer have to run the engines to keep the water out of them.

Tom: Merry Christmas To All!
Amy: And To All, A Good Night

The Missing Tangier Report

Merry Christmas everyone!! Sandpiper is scheduled to reluctantly leave Cape Verde tomorrow morning (Christmas Eve) and continue on our second and final attempt to make it to Barbados. Cape Verde has been a surprise on how much we like it here and we are finding it hard to pry ourselves away. Everyone is so nice here.

By popular reguest here is our Tangier report that we held off on reporting for obvious reasons. Hope nobody had their hopes up to high.

Happy Holidays!!!!!
Tom and Amy

Porto Grande, Mindelo, Cape Verde Islands

Anchored at Porto Grande
Mindelo
Sao Vicente Island
Cape Verde
North Atlantic Atlantic
16’53.0N/24’59.6W

Cape Verde has been a pleasant surprise stop for us. With our anchor securely set after an exciting 8-day trip from Grand Canary we were quite happy to not be rockin’ and rollin’. We celebrated with a victory beer and hit the sheets hard. The next morning we assessed all broken systems, and thanks to Tom’s mad boat fixing skills, everything was back to new by early afternoon.

The day before arrival we were able to get the engine started while at sea. Sailing into an anchorage is not something we like doing. So if we could get her back up and running then it was going to be a major relief. We figured that the walls (20 feet) of water that kept smacking the hull of the boat is how we got water in the engine. Since this was the roughest trip we have ever had in 3.5 years, we had no way to prevent the seawater from entering. We drained the oil, let her dry out, gave her some new oil, and finally she started. How happy were we to hear that sound again.

Thanks to our shore side support and friend Tom, we were able to fix the generator too. It turns out a plug blew out because water entered the engine of her systems too. So when we ran it at sea, the water boiled, and boom!, the plug exploded. We actually found the plug in the bilge, and with a little glue we are making power again.

The last project was the autopilot. We took the motor off and tested it to see if it had seized up. The electric meter read it was receiving 12 volts. So we cleaned out the motor, loosened the belt, and fingers crossed this works. We aren’t really sure what happened with the autopilot and won’t know if it’s fixed until we get out there. As Captain Ron says, "If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen out there."

It was a huge relief to us to be able to fix all systems ourselves as trying to lug boat parts to shore and find a mechanic is never something we enjoy. We did however invest in two cut-off valves for the engine and generator exhaust systems. So while underway we won’t have to worry about water entering the systems.

With all jobs completed, we hit the town. Our guidebook mentions town as being poor, dirty, with little to no resources. But our guidebook was way off. Town is bustling with music pumping out of the central market place and locals enjoying the Christmas shopping. ‘Club Nautico’ is where all the sailors hang out and share their salty stories. They occasional have live music too, and has been a daily pit stop for us.

The last few days we have met some really great locals and have enjoyed our visit. A lovely treat we had not planned to experience.

Our current plans are to try to check out this weekend and head west…

Amy and Tom

Mindelo, Cape Verde Islands

It is 1130pm and we just set the hook at Porto Grande, Mindelo, Sao Vinente, Cape Verde Islands.