The star attractions of the island are its beaches. We land the dinghy and explore the beach at the southern most point of the island. Made of angel blond sand and turquoise water, the beach stretches out endlessly. Plus there is hardly anyone around. Nat ...
Oh no, Natacha will go. There goes my crew. But before she goes, we find an beautiful anchorage to get wild and frolic. We then sail back to Palmiera concluding a successful circumnavigation of Sal Island. Then I have to get along on my own. There are a fe...
Solo sailing can sometimes be lonely. Not for me. I got my friend Galopin to talk to. Being French, he's not at a loss for words. So we banter then turn on the music and enjoy a wonderful sail downwind to Boavista island. Number six of the ten islands of t...
Sometimes you mess up and it works out for the best. Fortunately for me and Mamadu, I messed up for a better passage. We left early in the morning and about 3 hours into the journey we had to turn around. Why? You'll have to watch to find out. Once we were...
Living aboard is a not always the dream life. Your boat is vulnerable to a whole lot of potential hazards. Which was the case one night here in Mindelo Bay, Cape Verde. But overall, the good times here are also abundant and weigh out the challenging moment...
You don't know what you have until you don't have it. In my case it was food. Not that Cape Verde doesn't have enough food, they just have less variety. After living nearly a year in Cape Verde I flew back to my home country Switzerland. And from the plane...
My visit in Switzerland is not over. There is more food follies and festival fun to eat up. La Fête des Vignerons, a festival that happens every 20 years cant be summed up in one episode. You'll go backstage and meet star cows getting milked. A nighttime ...
When a story starts this way, it's gonna be a pretty good one. I'm Back on Galopin and sort my things for life aboard again. My Swiss friends Jean tries to get out to sea, will he? Then we go to one of the best Block Parties ever. And the Canadians Dave an...
Adventures in the company of Canadians Dave & Pete continue. We get a flat in the middle of nowhere and manage to get a lift of Cape Verde manpower. What luck. Then we go to what some call Africa's Woodstock. A massive outdoor music festival that is mi...
The best part of sailing is that you can go anytime. Or can you? After a fun outing with Peixe and family, where young Nelson shows off his captain and dancing skills, we decide to sail to Boavista Island. It's all systems go... or not. We are stopped shor...
That's right! Three of us delinquents went sailing with cops on a catamaran. Deb and Phil bought their catamaran and have been getting ready to sail up to the Canaries for several months. They invited us to go sail with them and check things out. And they ...
I noticed that part of my boom was in bad shape, broken. But Ricardo knew someone whom he was certain could fix my part. That's right, here they fix your busted part rather than replace. It's the African way, as opposed to what we're used to in the industr...
Ever see a sailboat sailing under spinnaker in Cape Verde? This is a rare sight. But we did it. Conditions were just right for us to be sailing Cape Verde in full color from Sal Island to Boavista Island, about 40 nautical miles. We were joined by dolphins...
Each island of Cape Verde has it's own identity. Boavista Island is the "Desert Island". Its golden white sand beaches was flown over from the Sahara desert by winds of thousands years. And there, on the West side of the island is Cape Verde's little deser...
Me and Peixe visit a tiny little town called Carrical on the island of Sao Nicolau. Peixe has family in many parts of this island. It's why we're being so remote yet so familiar. I get a real taste of rural Cape Verde. This little town once was thriving wi...
This island is really something. Me and Nat had come here a few months ago, but did not visit the interior of the island because there was the "Bruma Seca". The Dry Fog. It's when the air is heavy with Sahara sand and the visibility is none. But this time ...
Our tour of the Barlavento islands of Cape Verde is almost over. We have one more day to discover more friends and family in Sao Nicolau island. Then we make the passage from Sao Nicolau to Sao Vicente. It's back into the mighty Atlantic, and you feel it's...
I recently met Eduardo who makes up the amazing whale research project in Mindelo, Cape Verde. Since then he's done a survey of locations at all the islands of Cape Verde where there is cetacean activity. We met again later in Mindelo and he showed me some...
Me and the crew of Maktub continue our journey south along the coast of Santa Antao to Tarrafal. While Eduardo and his crew, Marina and Irene, explore the lush valley above the town, I take a stroll and discover that the town is undergoing big changes yet ...
It's been a full year since I first landed here in Mindelo, Cape Verde. And it's taken me this long to discover some of the best spots and most interesting people. It's also Natacha's one year anniversary, and she makes a splashing comeback. While she was ...
Alex Thompson and his Hugo Boss sailboat is in the house. Here in Cape Verde, sailors in need come to Mindelo indeed. Having hit something during the Jacques Favre Transat race, the Hugo Boss vessel lost its keel and Alex Thompson was forced to abandon th...
About 6000 cruisers cross the Atlantic Ocean each year. And many of them stop in Cape Verde before the long passage across the ocean. For centuries ships have stopped in Mindelo Bay to stock on supplies, fuel and goods. And today it's also where ARC sailor...
It's something that can happen to any sailor. This is the story of Jurgen, German solo sailor who left his boat at anchor for a couple of hours only to come back and find his boat had disappeared. A few moments later he received a call and was told his boa...
It’s time we sail South! Me, Nat and friend Carlos set off to Santiago island, about 140 nautical miles from Mindelo Bay. We also say good by to our friends aboard Arka Kinari, who will make the passage across the Atlantic. For us, it’s typical Cape Ve...
Anchoring is always a different challenge. Conditions always vary, especially in Cape Verde. And in this case Tarrafal do Santiago. There was swell and many rocks below the surface and not much sand for the anchor to stick. But we managed, and thanks to a ...
Being out in the middle of the ocean is a very lonely place, and being in the middle of the city is quite the opposite. Nat and I are with a few very special people in Praia. Namely Manu, a Cape Verdean native who lives in Marseille France, and in Praia. H...
Sailing around the Cape Verde Archipelago is tough. The Atlantic doesn't let you down. We had waited for the best weather window to sail back from Santiago Island to Sao Vicente Island. About 150 nautical miles passage. The forecast was 15 to 20 knots on t...
Brace yourselves for this. It's not for the weak of heart or vegetarians. We have a Holiday experience like no other called a Chuk. It's the Holiday Season in Mindelo and is similar as in Europe or America. Crowded shopping, decorations and Christmas music...
It's Holiday Season in Mindelo. Everyone is up for fiestas around town and on Galopin. This is also a special Cape Verde music episode. Lots of great live music from clubs to big a stage in the centre of Mindelo. You'll discover some of Cape Verde's bigges...
This was no time to sail out when we consulted the forecast. It had been blowing 30 knots and up for almost two weeks. So we waited. And if you're going to wait out weather, no better place than Mindelo. Especially if you have friends there. Like Nando the...
Sometimes good times get the better of us. But not during our passage to Santiago Island. We waited for the right conditions and the wait paid off. Beautiful conditions for the three of us to reflect that f good times in Mindelo. Once anchored in Tarrafal ...
Sometimes sister luck parks itself right next to your boat and opportunity knocks. We are in Tarrafal on Santiago Island and Dutch schooner Oosterschelde weigh anchor besides us. I'd met the Captain in a few days ago in Mindelo, and as he passed by with hi...
There is still more to discover in Cidade Velha as well as monkeying around. Nat doing monkey see monkey do. As well as being treated to pure Cape Verdean music. We want to someday sail to Praia, but it's not recommended to anchor in the bay. But I heard i...
Yes, there came friends and thieves aboard. An act of piracy happened in this peaceful bay. We are in peaceful Tarrafal, where the schooner Oosterschelde anchors regularly. Where tourists come and visit. And as well our French friend Lola, which we met a y...
Cape Verde is a relatively poor country, but it's rich in music. Wealthy in friendliness and loaded with beauty. Natacha made friends with Sarah, a French compatriot from their home port of Marseille. And she introduced us to Anton and Oswald who took us o...
It's time we go sailing down the west coast of Santiago island. But before that our friend Anton takes us to visit a couple of his favourite spots, his aunt's bar and a black sand beach. And then it's time to get Galopin ready. His deck is covered in deser...
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