Crossing beautiful islands…

19 February 2013

Again we have a beautiful departure. Sheltered by the island, we set sail. Just before the wind blows in the sails, we are joined by a large group of dolphins who swim around the ship. When we pass the cape, we see white crests on the blue sea. The wind (NNE, 5 Beaufort) is quite firm and we sail close-hauled but without help of the engine across 2 uninhabited islands; Rasa and Branco. We are now passing Santa Luzia, another small island, which is inhabited since several years now.
There is a sad story here. An old tanker stranded here three months ago and the crew is still on board. Because salvage of the ship is too expensive for such an old ship (without cargo on board) the just leave it there. Owner and insurance company are still discussing who has to pay for the salvage. The (most probably) Philippine crew has no money to travel home and await on board the ship.We sail towards Mindelo, Sao Vicente. This is our final stopover to buy provisions and fresh food and for our guests the final moment to see some land for a while. After this stop, we start our transatlantic crossing.