TODAY
This will be a quick update as we are very busy preparing to leave.
Andrew is at present in the water scrubbing the bottom of the boat.
I have been busy shopping and cooking for the passage.
CHRISTMAS
We had a lovely Christmas starting with drinks on ‘Balvenie' on Christmas Eve.
Fourteen people attended and so it was a good opportunity to celebrate together.
Christmas day was a much quieter day with most cruisers having lunch on their boats. I had bought a vacuum packed leg of New Zealand lamb in the Canaries so we had that and plum pudding and Christmas cake brought from home.
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| Christmas Lunch on Eye Candy |
UNDERWAY
Our friends ‘Balvenie’ and ‘Tactical Directions’ left on Boxing Day for their trip across the Atlantic. We hear from them on the radio and they are rolling a fair bit. Our friend and helper Bronwyn is arriving tonight. At this stage we think we will leave on Sunday when the wind drops down.
SHOPPING
The town of Mindelo is a funny place. The ATM machines run out of money regularly. If you have cash the supermarket will trade as long as you don’t want too much change. They will only take their local credit card. Visa and Master Card are not accepted. Trying to buy food is a nightmare. The supermarket is extremely small and poorly stocked; no room for a trolley. It is crowded to the point of being claustrophobic and you keep bumping into people.
There is always a long queue at the cash register and invariably long delays for price checks etc. Yesterday it took me 50 minutes to get through the checkout.
Vegetables are bought from the local market or in the street at a high cost. The fish market is good but scary as every time we have been there the people are arguing. The butcher doesn't speak English and doesn't have meat on display; so somehow you have to ask for what you want. There is red meat in the supermarket but the cuts are unidentifiable. You can buy only frozen chicken. I found a baker after much searching; the bread is very sweet a bit like American bread so we have been making our own. Oh how I long for hassle free shopping!
COMMUNICATION
The internet is not very accessible and we don’t have any phone coverage here.
I had intended to send eight photos on our last newsletter but we were running out of battery due to a slow connection. So this time I’m only going for one as I can’t afford to tear any more hair out.
Love Candy xx
