Cabo Verde Boa Vista
A crossing in a sandstorm, how we have to push our pick-up on the beach, and Christmas around the campfire.
Can you see anything?
After Ale and Zoe leave us in Palmeira, we cross over to Boa Vista. We have good wind and the wave looks scary but feels okay. So far, everything is fine, but the weird thing is that we can't see anything. Or at least not much. The Sahara dust in the air had already started during the crossing from the Canary Islands, and we didn't have any visibility on Sal either. But this is even worse. Even when we blow our noses, sand comes out.
We are stuck in a sandstorm.
Even though we are at sea. According to the chart, we should see land soon, but we don't. The silhouette of Sal Rei only appears just before we enter the anchorage bay. We drop the anchor in 7 metres of sandy bottom and dig it in deep, as the wind is expected to pick up over the next few days. From the boat you can just about see the beach 300 metres away. Well, we have to dry our bilge and the floor first anyway, because the level indicator on one of the water tanks was stuck and we almost flooded our boat when we tried to fill the tank.
Kite, kite, kite!
As forecast, the wind is fine the next day, so Thierry and I once again take to the water with the kite. The wind is offshore from the main island, but we take the dinghy to the small island and start there with side-on. A mega beautiful kite spot with ultra shallow water, we even see turtles! Unfortunately, Marti is still not fit, the pandemic is really dragging on, so the two of them take it easy. The next day they accompany us to the island, we kite and they practise steering the wing ashore. Wulfi and Thierry then treat themselves to a downwind wing session with the foil board from the island to the boat.
The next day, Thierry and I go on a kite trip with Igor, a dude from the local kite club. We've barely set off when the car breaks down because Igor can't get it back into gear. Let the adventure begin! 10 minutes later we move our luggage and take off with a replacement pick-up. Let's go!
Alone in the world
We drive for about 1.5 hours across the island down to the south-west coast. The last 40 minutes take us back through the slowly familiar lunar landscape. At the end, however, we are presented with a unique sight: The finest sandy beach without end and not a soul around. Brilliant. We set up our kites, the weather is nine. Thierry surfs strapless through the waves, I stay a little further out where the waves don't break. A super cool session, we're super happy. Shortly before sunset, we pack our things and head back. Igor turns the key in the ignition, but all we get is a tired attempt from the starter. Aiaiaaaii, the battery is flat, there's no one around and of course we have no reception here either. The adventure goes on!
So we have no choice but to push. The pickup is stuck in the soft sand, about 20 metres around the corner the sand is a bit more compact. So we get there first. I honestly don't know how long it took us, but after a few repetitions of pushing hard and digging sand under the truck, we reach firmer ground, need a few attempts at pushing and then the thing actually starts. We feel like heroes! Tired heroes... Off home!
And suddenly it's Christmas!
We start the day in the Christmas bakery and then have brunch with fresh plaited bread and an outrageous breakfast drink. Fortunately, Marti is finally feeling better. As we were too late at the market yesterday, Thierry & Wulfi set off in the afternoon to harpoon a fish for us. Because tonight is a party with a campfire on the beach. And the hunt is actually successful! We head to the beach in the early evening and the crews of the other boats that are also moored in the bay slowly start to arrive. What's amazing is that the average age is probably around 30 - super cool. We have a super cool evening, with snake bread and music around the campfire until the early hours of the morning. It really was a merry Christmas!
