Saturday, July 13
James’ 1400-1500 watch
It’s turning into a real nail-biter. Will we get into the harbor before dark? Well! Maybe!
I had us heading a bit off course to keep the yankee full and our speed up, and adjusted up or downwind based on the variable wind strength. We can slip by Ponto do Lobo very near land, which will help.
Maio is an intriguing hazy lump and we’re both hoping there will be a good opportunity to check it out while we wait for James’ passport renewal to come through. There’s a handful of anchorages that seem attractive on the four easy-to-reach islands.
In the realm of workable but not optimal, we have digital charts on our phones but not on the chartplotter. It’s even less comfortable here than it was in Nova Scotia, where we dealt with the same thing. Using the chartplotter as a radar screen and the phone to tell us where we are, we discovered that we could go between the land and this bohemoth with an AIS listing as a tug.
We maneuvered into the harbor to find a boat right where I’d hoped to anchor. They are on a mooring, though, so we wouldn’t have been able to take that spot regardless. The sun went down as we approached and the light dimmed fast as we made ourselves safe at anchor in the Republic of Cabo Verde, on the island of Santiago, within Praia (the capitol) harbor, between the fishing port (Porto do Pesce) and the cop station (Policia Maritima). The third leg of our passage from the Azores to Cabo Verde was complete.
Final position: N 14° 54.831’ W 023° 30.297’
Distance noon to 2100: 26.9 NM
Average speed: 3.0 kn
Trip distance covered: 1010.0 NM
Distance to destination: 0 NM
