Ship messages

The ‘Oosterschelde’ left today from Palmeira, Sal. This morning we brought the last fresh vegetables on board, without boxes and rinsed off to prevent it from vermin.
We all put on our lifejacket and explained where the fire extinguishers are; this was easily done because our guests have already sailed with us a lot in the past.
We think we will arrive in Rotterdam in a month, but this will depend on the weather. Yesterday evening we looked at the climatic maps and routing, the first part to the Azores it will be over starboard due to the North-eastern trade wind, that is blowing a lot of dust over the Atlantic.
The iron lady is longing for a downpour so to see: the flags and banners are golden brown because of all the dust. I hear the propeller-shaft and we are sailing with standard rigging, topsail and topgallant sail with for now only the ocean in sight.

Written by sailor Anouk: Today it’s February 3rd, the last day of the voyage and of all the voyages in Cape Verde. It where three beautiful months, it’s a shame we have to leave, but luckily we will be returning next year! At the moment we are sailing and with the engine from Boa Vista to Sal, we expect to arrive there in the late afternoon.
Three days ago we where anchored at São Nicolau. There we got two cabs, it where pick-ups so some of us went on top in the back and a few sat in the backseat. This was a good thing for your rear end but for the view and taking pictures the back of the pickup is better. We saw a lot of nice things. On every island in Cape Verde you see a lot of colours. The houses have different bright colours and also the laundry that is hanging out to dry is very colourful.
The first stop was a long the coast. There we could see what the sea does to lava. The sea carved beautiful layers in the lava. After that we return to the harbour at the other end of the island, but not before we made a short stop at a gas station. An old man with a crooked back and a cowboy hat was trying to saw down a tree. The tree had only a cross section of about 15 centimetres, but it still took about 10 minutes before the tree came down. We assumed it was the type of wood that must be very hard or was it the chainsaw that wasn’t working the way it should? During our drive we waved at all the people that where standing next to the road waving at us and even a little boy with a plastic electric guitar gave a guitar solo specially for us! A day full of nice views, colours but mainly beautiful people! Thank you São Nicolau!

A story of sailor Lukas: Thanks to Bertoni, our Capeverdian guide the island São Nicolau is one we will always remember. He organized a barbeque at the beach, it was great! Good food, live music and all this under a perfect night sky with stars. A great end to a great voyage. As Anouk already said we sailed from Boa Vista to Sal the next day. The wind was not very favourable, so it was pretty bumpy and even the toughest sailor (I) got a bit seasick. Around five we anchored in the bay of Palmeira and our cook Wouter prepared a festive meal. Everyone toasted to a beautiful voyage and after a few drinks beautiful stories where told. This morning we already had to say goodbye to our guests. A lot of them where not very happy to go, because they already spoke to the home front and knew that it is very cold in Holland with temperatures below zero. I wish them good luck!
01Now the ship is very quiet again and that is always a pity The crew is busy preparing the ship for her way home to Rotterdam. The cook is grocery shopping, the rest is cleaning and putting a new/old course on because the old one had a big tear in it so we have a lot to sow on our way back. Now we have to wait for our new captain and first mate, who will take over from Frianko, Frianko did very well. When we are on our way back to Rotterdam we will give another update!
 

On the 27th we left Santiago with a eastern wind, sometimes even a bit from the south. Therefore we could sail in the direction of São Nicolau. We were hoping to arrive in Mindelo (São Vicente) under sail, and set course between Santa Lucia and São Nicolau.
Just below São Nicolau the wind dropped (as expected). After some help of the engine, we could sail again towards São Vicente, this time arriving from the north. While changing the watch, the wind dropped. We had already unpacked the mizzen topsail to set extra sail. But after a short while, this turned out to be unnecessary, the wind stopped completely. Frianko had t start the engine and we reached our anchorplace in Mindelo by engine. You can't have it al, but we have had a good sailing day.
In Mindelo we have bunkered for our way back towards Rotterdam, which will start in a few days. Meanwhile, our guests have wondered around in Mindelo. The weather wasn't very good, we even had some rain. On the next day, the guest crew went to Santo Antão, accompanied by Lukas, which is a great walk! Halfway through the walk the clouds disappeared and the view over the valley was stunning. On board we had some doubts if we could start painting, but as soon as the sky cleared we started.
This morning we left Mindelo towards São Nicolau. With a nice flat ocean and a wind between 10 and 15 knots, we sail towards the other Tarrafal. We have planned our last excursion for this season on São Nicolau and expect a very nice barbecue with live music in the evening.