Christmas in the Verdes

J

Just Cruising

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As we are NARCing, we are taking a leisurely run to the Caribbean via Madeira (late Oct), Canaries (Nov) and finally the Verdes in Dec to await the trade winds to establish and the favourable moon phase for a well lit landfall in Barbados. Do the educated masses have any observations of Christmas in the Verde's? Mrs G and I also wondered if there were any others intending the same as we are a very social couple.....:)
Any constructive views and recommendations will be gratefully received and possibly even heeded!
 
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Just Cruising said:
As we are NARCing, we are taking a leisurely run to the Caribbean via Madeira (late Oct), Canaries (Nov) and finally the Verdes in Dec to await the trade winds to establish and the favourable moon phase for a well lit landfall in Barbados. Do the educated masses have any observations of Christmas in the Verde's? Mrs G and I also wondered if there were any others intending the same as we are a very social couple.....:)
Any constructive views and recommendations will be gratefully received and possibly even heeded!
Click to expand...

Hmm whats NARCing?
 
My knowledge of Mindelo is now hopelessly out of date, so this is more a thumbs up at your suggestion :
I arrived there some years back on New Year's Eve after quite a rough ol ride down from GC.
Enough yachts to ' make it happen', f-all ashore, boat boys ( positively naive then hoho) and the BIG plus side: a perfect, shorter tradewind crossing from there in steady benevolent stable winds.
21days direct to St Maartin( my choice) on 21ft so, yup, strategically a great idea. And different of course. Why not?
 
Mindelo has come on a bit since Blueboatman's time. No boat boys any more. There's a fairly well-run marina adjacent a large, secure anchorage. Many cruisers will have left by Xmas, but a decent runt remains. Prices generally are low, and fish (swordfish, tuna) dirt-cheap. Bottled gas is the cheapest I've encountered, despite none being extracted in the archipelago. Despite being on a similar latitude to the Carib, temperatures dipped significantly in January when I was there: still pleasant, but you need a fleece in the evenings.

Sao Vicente is certainly worth exploring but do visit Santo Antao, the next island to the NW: spectacular and gloriously unspoilt. Sadly there are no good anchorages, so it's a short ferry trip from Mindelo.

Regarding full moon for making landfall: you might consider having the best moon for the region you're most likely to get squalls, which is very roughly 2/3 of the way across. You'll almost certainly find your progress so predictable from halfway onwards that you can reduce sail a couple of days out to ensure a daylight arrival if you wish. The most critical factor, of course, is how easy your final approach might be to wherever you make landfall.

If you do make Mindelo, seek out 'Country Dave', a UK boater who's the man to ask about the local music scene (often found in the marina's floating bar). Take him a single can of baked beans and you'll have a friend for life. And say 'Merry Christmas' from me.

Fair winds.

P.S. You'll struggle to get parsnips.
 
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Hi Just Cruising

We are hopefully heading in the same direction and from the cruisers we have met so far this year while camped out in Gibraltar the consensus is that the decent normal folks are heading in this direction, so there should be plenty of socialising to be had. Hopefully we will have chance for a chat over a glass of red at some point.
Were leaving Barbate tomorrow for Rabat as it keeps us out of the Canneries and the mad ARC scene for as long as possible.
Have a nice trip....
Regards
Darren n Vicki (Nocturne)
 
Hi dazautomatics

Look forward to welcoming you in Rabat. There's quite a crowd of NARCs gathering here, all very laid back and enjoying life. You can fill in lots of time with train trips to various other Moroccan destinations and of course we are a social bunch.

S
 
Think we'll be through the C Verdes before the actual day as we hope to spend it at sea (a long held dream of the skipper's) but hopefully we'll meet up in December if not before in the Canaries. Temptress is currently enjoying Morocco then Canaries in late October.

S
 
sailorgirl said:
Hi dazautomatics

Look forward to welcoming you in Rabat. There's quite a crowd of NARCs gathering here, all very laid back and enjoying life. You can fill in lots of time with train trips to various other Moroccan destinations and of course we are a social bunch.

S
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Hi Sailorgirl

We are both looking forward to landfall in Morocco on Monday, we had a bit of prodding from Cpt Sensible of the forum (Good mate from Gib) and have decided to take his advice and head their before the Canneries.

Look out for us, we are a 35ft blue very old Dufour with a black and white moggy who will probably be sat on the foredeck as we enter:-)
 
macd said:
Mindelo has come on a bit since Blueboatman's time. No boat boys any more. There's a fairly well-run marina adjacent a large, secure anchorage. Many cruisers will have left by Xmas, but a decent runt remains. Prices generally are low, and fish (swordfish, tuna) dirt-cheap. Bottled gas is the cheapest I've encountered, despite none being extracted in the archipelago. Despite being on a similar latitude to the Carib, temperatures dipped significantly in January when I was there: still pleasant, but you need a fleece in the evenings.

Sao Vicente is certainly worth exploring but do visit Santo Antao, the next island to the NW: spectacular and gloriously unspoilt. Sadly there are no good anchorages, so it's a short ferry trip from Mindelo.

Regarding full moon for making landfall: you might consider having the best moon for the region you're most likely to get squalls, which is very roughly 2/3 of the way across. You'll almost certainly find your progress so predictable from halfway onwards that you can reduce sail a couple of days out to ensure a daylight arrival if you wish. The most critical factor, of course, is how easy your final approach might be to wherever you make landfall.

If you do make Mindelo, seek out 'Country Dave', a UK boater who's the man to ask about the local music scene (often found in the marina's floating bar). Take him a single can of baked beans and you'll have a friend for life. And say 'Merry Christmas' from me.

Fair winds.

P.S. You'll struggle to get parsnips.
Click to expand...

I would endorse most of this. I think you will find a lot of people arriving to cross in January. By the way, you won't find Country Dave. He crossed singlehanded to Grenada last June or July (!)
 
We 'Christmassed' at sea between the Canaries and Mindelo 2 years ago- top tip: DO NOT buy jars of brussell sprouts in brine in Gran Canaria thinking they will be an enjoyable and convenient addition to your at sea Xmas dinner- they were the single most disgusting thing I have ever ever eaten in my life.
The weather between the Canaries and the Cape Verdes was quite challenging that season- we did most of it under a yankee not much bigger than a storm jib, no main.
Mindelo very interesting, plenty of cruising boats there, New Years Eve festivities ashore looked fun- but the sea was too choppy and we were anchored too far out to risk a long, drunken, wet dinghy ride back home again.
 
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