Cape Verde Islands Info

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macd

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The Atlantic Islands pilot book is now rather out of date (although Street's guide to the islands is less so and more comprehensive).

If anyone's thinking of of visiting the islands and wants the latest info on general matters, provisioning, paperwork, security, etc, please feel free to PM me.

I'll be here until around 8 Jan, so will be able to try to check out anything I can't answer off the cuff.
 
Hi macd,

There is an update to 'Atlantic Islands' available from the Imray website. I only called at Mindelo on my way south this year but all the info contained in that update seemed pretty up to date.
 
Hi- we are leaving Las Palmas probably on Sunday or Monday and heading for Mindelo, probably arrive too late for Christmas sadly. I tried to get the updates for the Atlantic Islands book off the net today, but as there is a brand new guide just published this month, the updates seem to have disappeared off Imrays website- so, any tips most welcome. Any good New Years Eve parties?! We may well turn up on 25th December- will the marina be open? Where's good for a quick visit other then Mindelo, if one's carrying on fairly swiftly across the Atlantic? Hope to see you soon Cheers
 
phanakapan:
The marina bar's open Xmas day, so presumably the office, too. I'll check. Even if not, it's a friendly set-up: I'm sure no-one would mind if you parked somewhere convenient until allocated a berth. There's currently plenty of space, although prices are high compared to Canaries...30 Euros plus per day. The adjacent anchorage has excellent shelter and holding. Tenders can be left on the beach or, for a small charge, at the marina.

Diesel at marina about £0.80 per litre (special duty-free price for transients). Petrol (expensive) from nearby Shell station (also Butane, at dirt-cheap prices -- £3.50 exchange for standard Camping Gaz type bottle). Water (desalinated) 2c per litre from marina: quality occasionally iffy so check it before filling tanks.

Beer (& wine) fairly expensive in shops, and cans especially so, so stock up in Canaries. Same with tobacco, if you use the stuff. You might want to lay in some of the local 'grog': excellent for stripping antifoul. Most general provisions available but don't expect a Lidl. Tuna & swordfish dirt cheap at nearby fish market (about the same, lb for lb, as onions!).

The marina has a small but surprisingly well-stocked chandlery; can even make standing rigging.

Soa Vicente certainly worth a look around: v rugged. Even more so the spectacular Soa Antao, around £5 each way by ferry (harbour not really suitable for yachts).

Don't know of any New Year parties yet, but there will no doubt be some. The town seems to need little excuse to become festive. Feel free to drop by Morwenna (dark blue Rival 32) for a dram any time (grog optional).

Fair winds, and Merry Christmas.
 
We spent over a week on our boat at Mindelo during December 1994. Obviously there was no marina back then, just an anchorage full of wrecks. I remember a well-dressed bloke leaping off the harbour wall into the water in a vain effort to get our 'business'.

We went to the CVs, despite 'dire' warnings from some other yachties about widespread theft from yachts . Advice in those days was to remove anything nickable from our decks & put them inside (which we did). We employed a couple of lads who watched our boat & tender when we were ashore & they got us fresh water as well. They were terrific.

What surprised me was that the little 'supermarkets' had the latest barcode scanners & chip 'n pin machines (but very limited stock!).

Is the egg shop still there in the market?

All in all a most enjoyable stopover.
 
Tradewinds said:
We went to the CVs, despite 'dire' warnings from some other yachties about widespread theft from yachts . Advice in those days was to remove anything nickable from our decks & put them inside (which we did). We employed a couple of lads who watched our boat & tender when we were ashore & they got us fresh water as well. They were terrific.
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I've been in Mindelo for a month: everyone seems to take the precautions you suggest, but I've heard of no thefts. 'Boat boys' and their ilk seem to be a thing of the past. Theft is perhaps more of an issue in some of the other islands (esp in Praia, by repute, and maybe Sal, Boa Vista). Street sellers are also less common and intrusive here than in the eastern islands of the group, perhaps partly because there's less package tourism.

As you write, a most enjoyable stopover.

Incidentally, ATM machines seem to work ok now, which they evidently didn't when the Atlantic Pilot was written. Visa more widely accepted than Mastercard.
 
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I too had read all the dire warnings about Mindelo - thefts, pickpockets etc -and I am sure that was the case a decade ago. But back in October, when I was there, people were leaving Avons, oars and outboards on the beach with no problem. No hassle in the town or by the marine; many young lads properly employed in the marina, and properly trained to help with mooring etc. That German guy who runs the place has done a good job.
I left my card key in the showers, and one of the lads found it and left it in the cockpit - then sought me out to apologise for boarding my boat without asking first. If only there were such manners in all marinas.
Listening to the World Service while heading south, I later heard that the President of CV had been given a prestigious award for the improvements he had made in the life of the Cape Verde people, and it showed.
Only two faults - none, not a single one of their lighthouses was working.
The supply of fresh food I found poor - plenty of fruit and veg but of poor quality - not surprising, I suppose, given the poor nature of the soil in which they have to grow stuff, and shortage of rain.
 
A group of us had a tour of the island on the back of the truck. It was clear from our guide that quite a few islanders had a pretty harrowing time under the one party state which had ruled since independence in 1975 up to the beginning of the 90s. With the return of democracy he hoped for better things for the future - which seems to be the case now.

Incidentally, we bought our CV courtesy flag on the way down in the Canaries. On the day of our arrival (Dec 94) we heard from friends over the ssb that the flag sold in the Canaries was wrong - the national flag had changed. We found the 'new' flag in a book & out came my wife's bag of fabric, a little hand stitcher (rubbish) & the acrylic paints. It was just about dry when the officials clomped on board in the anchorage asking (with some dispeasure) why we weren't flying the CV flag. They got their humour back when I rushed out on deck & raised it. BTW back then baksheesh was expected by officials, I hope it's different now.

I'm glad you & Macd liked the CVs - as hopefully, in the not too distant future, we'll be passing that way again.
 
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macd said:
No sign of that now. Sometimes you need patience and a sense of humour, but on four islands I've not encountered a hint that cash might lubricate the process.
Click to expand...

That's absolutely correct. In Mindelo, all immigration was done by one bloke who was only interested in passports and didn't even ask to see ship's papers. No problems at all.
I was told that the prevailing view was that yotties brought money to the island, so why make life difficult for them?
Would it were like that everywhere in the world.
 
oldvarnish said:
In Mindelo, all immigration was done by one bloke who was only interested in passports and didn't even ask to see ship's papers.
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Strangely, that's different from my experience (and others I've spoken with). On each of four islands (Sal, Boa Vista, Sao Nicolau, Sao Vicente) ship's papers have been asked for and retained until checking out of that island. In the case of short stays it's more convenient (and more-or-less-accepted) to check out at the same time as checking in. Sal (Palmeira) had by far the most laborious process: evidently there's only one immigration stamp on the island and it has to commute from the airport.

To clarify an issue which was the subject of conficting rumour a couple of months ago in Las Palmas: on first arrival at the Islands it's necessary to clear in with both harbour and immigration authorities (in the same office in the case of Sal); when moving from island to island within CV, it's necessary to check out (and then in at the next island) with harbour authority only; final clearance for onward passage is again with both immigration and harbour.
 
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