We had some problems with our fridge unit, which meant our stay in Las Palmas was prolonged a bit. Not the worst place to stay a little longer than planned. Between the beach, city, and bouldering rock there was enough to do for everyone. It also meant we spend New Years in Las Palmas. All the teens put in effort to make yummy snacks and food to nibble on during the night. We played hide and seek, games, listened to music and celebrated the beginning of the new year by jumping into the water.

Sadly, little Alex had picked up a stomach bug somewhere and puked into the new year. In the week that followed, most of us suffered from the same stomach bug, a nasty but brief one.

After the fridge was fixed and most of started feeling a little better we set sail again, briefly stopping at an anchorage on the east of Gran Canaria before starting on our 800nm passage to the Cape Verde.

We had strong winds, some cross waves and choppy seas to start off with, but as the islands disappeared behind the horizon, the waves became steadier. Guppy loved it and set off full speed ahead. We reached Sal in 4,5 days! On the way, we had some light squalls, a few waves that became a bit higher and gave us hugs while on watch behind the wheel 😉 We spotted several turtles, some passing dolphins and lots of flying fish! Eventually, we didn’t see much anymore because of the Sahara sand that had filled the air. The sand stayed for another two days after we anchored in Palmeira. But on the third day, it cleared, which was lovely as we had planned an island excursion day. Sal is a rather desert island with very little vegetation. Somehow that is what I find so interesting about it, it’s so different from most of the other places we visit, besides, of course, the culture, which is so vibrant, relaxed and unique. But Sal does have to offer some cool sights. Our first stops was shark bay. The teens had swimming with sharks on their bucket list, so I found this the easiest and safest way to tick that off 😉 Shark bay has little lemon sharks which are fed sometimes and swim around your feed in shallow water. After the sharks, we went to the salt mines, one of the biggest natural resources of Sal. It’s possible to swim in one of the large salt pools, which is a funny experience, floating so high in the water. We also visited the Blue Eye, a series of natural caves along the coast which due the light and the air in the water, becomes very blue and mesmerising to watch. We entered at low tide and were able to swim in one of the sea caves. All in all another wonderful day!

Tomorrow we set sail again, to São Vicente.

Leaving Sal to Sao Vicente

Swimming at the Blue Eye

View over Sal

Swimming at the Salt Lakes

A young female turtle that was saved from dogs and will be released into the wild when she is one.

Lemon sharks

Tim and Alex enjoying their Guppy minicat