At this moment we are in the marina of Mindelo, on the island of Sao Vincent, the most developed island of the Cape Verden. It is full of other departures (many nationalities) that all have the plan to cross the ocean to Surinam or the Caribbean in the coming week. The Valentijn is also anchored here and it is great to see them again.

We look back on the past week on Sal with mixed feelings. Sal has brought us very nice things, but also a horrible experience for the Barbarossa that fortunately ended well and is very well described on their own blog (Barbarossa). In the middle of the night at half past one (from Wednesday 1 December to Thursday 2 December) we suddenly hear Ellen calling on the radio. It happens to be on, because usually we turn it off at night. We run to the cockpit and don't see the Barbarossa behind us anymore. What could be going on? Then we hear a call from Ellen on VHF channel 16 'may day, may day, all ships'. So something must be very wrong, but what? Fortunately, a few minutes later Ellen is on the radio and by then they have broken loose from the surf and are sailing back to the anchorage. With an enormous speed we make our dinghy ready and we sail to them with the kids as well. Together we anchor the Barbarossa again and temporarily tie it to the Brandaan to catch our breath. Then we hear the whole story. It's unbelievable what they have been through. The anchor has become detached from the chain and they have drifted away for quite a while and only woke up when their boat was already on the rocks in a huge surf. That really is a nightmare for sailors. But they got away with it and they were very lucky. They managed to get out of the surf on an incoming wave and sail to deeper water. Very well done, didn't panic, just did what was possible. What great guys, those Jan, Ellen, Koen and Giel! And what a strong boat that Barbarossa is; unbreakable! You shouldn't have been there with a lighter boat, because that would have been the end of the sailing trip.

Partly in disbelief, partly very sober and very shocked they tell us their story. We have a drink and feel very sorry for them. The dinghy has broken loose and is probably still on the rocks or floating around. Toine goes to have a look in our dinghy together with Giel. Their dinghy is indeed on the rocks and Toine sees the huge surf with meters high waves where the Barabarossa has been. Brrrrr. It is not an option to go and get the dinghy now and they decide to return at first light. The rest of the night we sleep for an hour and then it is light again. Retrieving the dinghy is also very exciting, because there is still a lot of surf. Toine steers our dinghy and Jan and Giel swim to the shore at a place where it's kind of quiet between two huge surf seas. After much difficulty they succeed and come back with two dinghies. In the meantime Ellen and I sit and wait anxiously. After breakfast Jan dives under water to find the anchor and the bottom of the Barbarossa to inspect. The keel is quite damaged at the bottom, but otherwise there is no damage and they can just sail.

Meanwhile a huge swell has entered the anchor bay, so we are not really comfortable anymore. We also want to leave this awful place. We quietly prepare ourselves and in the afternoon we leave for the 120 miles to Mindelo. A night of sailing in which we sleep a lot on both boats. The trip goes very well and early in the morning we moor in the marina in Mindelo.

The days on Sal before this horrible night are actually pretty fun. You would almost forget about it. The first anchor bay we are in (Santa Maria in the south) is very restless, as if we were sailing on the open sea. It's great swimming in clear water and there's a lot of kite surfing, which Koen and Giel are keen to do. The village is very pleasant with some small shops, a good baker and a jetty where the fishermen bring in fresh fish every day, including huge wahoos and tuna.

But the boat moves from place to place, so that afternoon we decide to anchor in a bay around the corner. We are all alone there, and it's nice and quiet. We buy some fish from fishermen passing by (according to Jan, they are red snapper) and we eat them with home-made fries and salad at the Barbarossa. Unfortunately, we don't catch our own fish, although Koen and Giel had a huge hook in the afternoon, which unfortunately fell off when we brought it on board. They both dream very badly about it.

The next day we sail to Palmeira, the island's only harbour. We spend three nights there in a sheltered anchor bay, together with quite a few other boats, until that very night. The first evening we have a fantastic dinner in the only restaurant in the village, a real Italian, run by an Italian couple who are great cooks. There is also a small internet cafe where we can upload our Gambia photo album. The next day we spend quite some time at school. After that we go to the side and we drive with a van over the very dry island, over a bumpy sand road to a 'pool', a natural formed bowl in the rocks with seawater. It's not much, but it is a nice swim.

Back in the harbour we buy a piece of tuna and a piece of wahoo-filet. A little later we eat at the Barbarossa tasty tuna shashimi (raw tuna with wasabi) and fried wahoo. The next day (Wed 2 Dec) we take a taxi back to Santa Maria. Koen and Giel take a kite-surfing lesson for over 2 hours and we sit together with Ellen (Jan stayed on the boat because he wasn't feeling well) at the pool of the most luxurious hotel on the island and have a lovely lunch with good wine and a good view of the sea and the boys surfing. The girls enjoy themselves for hours in the pool. Well, what happened that night you already know.

So now we are in Mindelo and yesterday Sinterklaas came to visit us. That is so much fun. In the morning we decide, together with Eline, to tell Marinthe the secret of Saint Nicholas. That turns out to be a good idea, because it makes the day even more fun as the girls are reminiscing and are feeling really big to celebrate Sinterklaas now with their own made presents and poems. In the evening we eat home-made fries with a frikandel (!), with in the background some nice Sinterklaas music. With the tea we eat the by Inge
pepernoten meegengebracht, heerlijk! The unpacking of the homemade crafts and the poems is really fantastic. Eline had me and I had her, Marinthe had Toine and Toine had her. That worked out really well! The funny thing is that the girls were more excited about the whole party and a nice t-shirt from the Cape Verden, than they were about the box of Indiana Jones lego, which I had bought for them in Madeira. Yes, this is how the Sinterklaas party should be as far as we are concerned! A family party with the emphasis on having a good time and making nice things for each other, not on the presents themselves. Tonight we will celebrate it again with the adults of the Barbarossa and the Valentine. Everyone will be busy today making a surprise and a poem. That is going to be fun.

Yesterday an expert inspected the underside of the Barbarossa. A piece of polyester of the keel is broken, but the construction is still good. A solid polyester job in the next harbour with a good crane. But we can cross over fine. Taking the boat out here is not an option. Jan and Toine went to a local shipyard, but putting the Barbarossa ashore there might be a bigger risk than sailing on with it ... The only question is whether we will go to the Caribbean via Suriname or directly. The Barbarossa will decide that tomorrow after talking to the insurance company. That we will sail with them to the other side within sight is no question for us; we would not want it any other way!