After a night with only a little wind and some more flying fishes that I had to brush off the
deck, land came in sight this afternoon. The first contours of the island of Sal appeared
on the horizon. At about 4 PM (Canary Island time…) I sailed into a boat packed
anchorage bay.
A cheerful Cape Verdean came towards me at once and helped me with anchoring.
Right after that, he showed me the location of the customs office for registering ; this
always has to be done when you arrive by boat. You have to show the ship’s papers to
them, which then have to be rubber-stamped. When I stepped ashore, I really stepped
into Africa; all goes very “tranquilo” here. The roads are almost half in ruins, and most of
the houses consist of four concrete walls with plank doors. When you walk through the
streets, you see people sitting everywhere, chatting quietly with each other and drinking.
The local police officers needed about one hour to rubber-stamp my passport. The
police office also consists of four concrete walls with an opening… (that was the door). In
the room there was a table, a chair and an old television set with the soccer game on.
Just fantastic. Tonight I am invited for dinner on board another Netherlands yacht. I
think that I will depart from here by tomorrow afternoon, heading for the island of Sao
Nicolau.

Laura