The decision to call in to Mindelo and spend Christmas there proved to be a good one as we all enjoyed the very relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Long hikes and good friends were made not to mention a fine Christmas lunch. It's the sort of place where everything takes much more time to achieve than you would normally expect-well that's my explanation for leaving our departure until late afternoon. As soon as we left the shelter of the excellent natural harbour a double reef in the main was needed and we then made rapid progress down the channel between the two islands of St Vincent and Santo Antoa aided by a strong current. However, to our surprise it was not long before we found ourselves in the wind shadow of the 6000 foot mountains of Santo Antoa necessitating 2 hours use of the iron sail. Once clear of the islands good progress was made in a ENE force 6 wind despite a large swell and confused sea.
After a couple of days the seas moderated and the crew settled into the watch routine of 2 hours on and 4 off. By late morning we would usually all be up and share the watch keeping on a more informal basis. First thing in the morning I would use the HF radio to link with Sailmail and download e-mails and weather reports which come as grib files showing wind speed and direction and atmospheric pressure up to 4 days ahead. Early on it was clear the best wind would be found further south than our intended track so we headed more south than west for a day or so. This brought us into the trade winds proper which were fairly consistent ENE force 5/6.
It was only after a couple of days that I started to include in the 24 hr daily run the distances recorded both by the log and the GPS as well as the distance made good towards the final way point. This highlighted the miles covered by virtue of the current which at times was as much as 25 nm. The best daily run was 154 nm and the least 99nm. For most of the way it was possible to sail close to the rumb line course especially in the stronger winds. There were several days when rain squalls would generate sudden sharp increases in wind speed which would temporaliy overwhelm the Monitor self -steering. But for 99.9% of the way George as it became known steered but he did need constant attention when the wind speed varied. During periods of very light following wind there was not enough wind over the vane to allow it to function. However, without him life would have been very tough.
Marine life was not much in evidence although we had dolphins visit on two occasions and sighted a pod of about 6 pilot whales. Petrels visited along with tropic birds which seemed very interested in us and would circle as if wanting something from us. One loan turtle made an appearance. A constant joy were the flying fish which were seen every day sometimes in great numbers. Quite a few landed on deck but none were cooked. We towed a lure that had previously caught 3 dorados but some large fish took it and the trace which ended our attempts at fishing. Fresh provisions held out for over two weeks with some items lasting very much longer than anticipated. The most surprising of all was supermarket "plastic" bread which we were happily eating more than three weeks after purchase! However, we did bake our own bread and the photo of Charlie in the galley shows her kneading the dough.
At first light on 15 Jan Charlie sighted land which turned out to be Tobago. By dusk we were sailing along the north coast of Trinidad. It was clear it would be dark before we could enter the anchorage at Chaguaramas so we reduced sail and waited for first light. During my watch a fishing boat about 45 foot in length made a serious attempt to ram us. It was a very near miss and a deeply upsetting experience. I have reported the incident to the authorities.
The approach to Chaguaramas is spectacular. By 1030 we were alongside the customs dock and checking in, a rather tedious process. We have been fortunate to have a berth at Crew Inn which allows me to sort out my list of jobs rather more quickly than if I was at anchor. Theo left 18 Jan and Charlie and I will explore the Island and some of its wonderful anchorages. The cruising community has been enormously helpful pointing me in the right direction to find goods and services. I can quite see why some people have found it impossible to leave.
