DAY 6 - Plus 2 Hrs
We arrived into Mindelo at 12.30 to the sound of a victory horn and shouts of "Welcome to the Cape Verdes". This lovely piece of theatrics was compliments of Balvenie who arrived some hours earlier. The past 26 hours of sailing was much kinder to us with 12-20 knot winds and a one metre swell. Last night was quite mild and today is beautiful and sunny; the sea temperature is a very agreeable 24.7 degrees; things are looking up.
Yesterday with the calmer conditions we set to work and cleaned out the bilges. Today we have pulled the cockpit lockers apart so we can remove the salt water and wash everything in fresh water, dry it and start again. Who said boating was all about lazing about in the sun and having drinks at sunset?
So our latest mini disaster is that the throttle on the outboard motor is jammed. Andrew discovered this when he was ready to go to the Customs Office. Instead he has now pulled the engine apart adding one move item to the 'immediate jobs' list. At present the boat looks like a Chinese Laundry with washing flapping on every rail. It will take a day or two before we can recover from Neptune's little joke. I wondered if perhaps he was annoyed with us for pinching one of his fish - maybe we should sell the fishing rod!
The highlight of the day was arriving safe and sound. Tonight we are going out for drinks and dinner to celebrate with the new arrivals. I think four or five boats have arrived today. Already we have been invited to a Christmas Day get together involving all the boats - time to kick and enjoy.
All is very well.
Love Candy xx
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