The small island is dry and almost free of any vegetation (like some of the Canary Islands) and doesn’t seem very inviting at first, but unlike in the Canaries, the weather is really hot and there are only few tourists around. We’re anchored next to the village Palmeira, which also doesn’t look like much from the sea, but the small houses are colourful, the cobbled streets clean with plenty of palmtrees and flowers in the gardens. The people here are friendly without being pushy. We’ve found some small bars and the yachties meet every day around 6 for a few beers, chat, give on information and have a good time. Most of the yachts are French, some are British and, weirdly enough, our neighbour is a 150-ton Dutch minesweeper from the 60s, converted into a cruiser (www.van-straelen.nl). It seems that most stay longer than initially intended and we also start considering exploring the islands for a longer time. The pace of life is very relaxed, everybody’s got plenty of time (whe n the policeman says the guy from the immigration will do the clearance for the yacht in 20 minutes this may mean tomorrow or the day after tomorrow) and we’re also getting into the general attitude of deceleration. It’s the first time that we don’t feel like being in transit rushing along. We really like it here 
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2011
17
Oct
Ilha do Sal
2011
12
Oct
Cape Verdes
We’ve arrived this morning on Sal, one of the entry ports of the Cape Verde Islands. We’re really tired, but happy
2011
11
Oct
Nightly visitor
We spent the last night becalmed drifting on the open sea (as an alternative to motoring…). We scanned the moonlit horizon for freighters every 20 minutes. There were no ships, but at 6 o’clock something big was splashing about 50 meters away from Pitufa. First we were not sure what it was, but then, the blow noises and the fishy smell revealed our visitor as a whale. He stayed for a while, curiously inspecting Pitufa and came closer to about 20 meters. We were quite impressed but also a bit nervous. Finally he disappeared with a mighty splash of his tail fin. Leeloo also had a fun night, because a little bird mistook our predator’s swimming home for a save resting point…
2011
10
Oct
Demanding Passage
This passage was rather strenous. First becalmed, then headwinds, then too much wind (but from the right direction), and now becalmed again. At least we swapped thermo underwear and tea against bathing suit and cold beer.
2011
09
Oct
Less Wind
Less wind and waves and life gets comfortable again. The last 2 days were rather miserable (just imagine living in a tumble dryer…).
2011
08
Oct
Progress
Last night was rough, but we are making good progress.
2011
07
Oct
Position Report
Running southwards quickly.
2011
06
Oct
Towards Cape Verdes
We left Las Palmas Tuesday evening towards the Cape Verde Islands. Instead of the expected constant northeasterly wind that predominates here, we found changing winds from different directions—that means many strenuous maneuvers (saves the fitness centre…). This morning the northeasterly wind finally returned and is hopefully come to stay!
2011
02
Oct
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
We’ve been in the marina of Las Palmas since Thursday. We usually try to avoid marinas, but before setting off towards the Cape Verdes we wanted to go shopping for the last time, fix some things on the boat, fill up the water tanks, etc.
At first we were worried if noisy work on the boat would be frowned upon by the marina personal, but in this port many people like DIY and so we’re not the only ones who contribute with screeching angle grinders to the symphony going on around. Many yachts are preparing to cross the Atlantic and so the cashier in the supermarket isn’t the least bit surprised when you ask to have two full shopping carts delivered to the harbour…
We also wanted to use the chance to “sniff some city air” for the last time and visit the old town of Las Palmas, but somehow we don’t get round to it. There’s just too many projects that need finishing on the boat (new solar panels, security for the washboards and skylights, a translation, laundry, etc.), but tonight we want to do some sightseeing and also inspect some tapas-bars 
2011
29
Sep
Morro Jable
On our way to Gran Canaria we stopped overnight in the bay next to the marina in Morro Jable, because the weather looked weird: gusts of up to 30 knots from different directions, a dark cloud ahead – we decided to have a quiet night at anchor instead of fighting such conditions in the dark.
2011
24
Sep
Puerto Rosario
The capital of Fuerteventura is a rather quiet, untouristy place. There are a few shops and restaurants though and the anchorage next to the port is not exactly pretty, but safe and calm.
2011
21
Sep
Isla de Lobos
We spend some days anchored off this little desert island with my Mom, who’s visiting at the moment. The water’s extremely clear, turquoise and very inviting – so we go swimming even though the wind is rather cool. We just have a hot tea afterwards
2011
19
Sep
Cruisers in Arrecife
In the bay in front of Arrecife’s old harbour we’ve met some cruisers, who’ve been living on their boats a bit longer than we (some 3 years, some 30 years…). It’s common to visit each other on the boat, everybody gives on information, guides and books (thanks Petra and Andi on Bona Fide) and we were even invited for a free ride to the supermarket – and more important back with a load of provisions (thanks Uwe and Eva on Quinuituq)!
We’re looking forward to meeting more nice people in our next destinations
2011
16
Sep
Arrecife, Lanzarote
After relaxing for almost a week on the desert islet of La Graciosa we made it back to “civilisation” yesterday. Now we’re busy checking e-mails, searching for a laundry, supermarket, etc. Arrecife seems like a nice town, we’ll be back in the evening for some sightseeing!
2011
11
Sep
La Graciosa
We’ve spent 2 days in a bay on the Southern side of La Graciosa. Even though every tourist can reach the Canary Island within a few hours and for little money, we still felt some “pride of discovery” when the silhouettes of the islands became visible in the morning haze. The almost vegetation-free, brown, black and reddish mountains on La Graciosa and the opposite lying Lanzarote give the impression of having sailed to Mars. The weather is quite cool and a strong, cold breeze blows over the islands, bringing clouds with it. Nevertheless we went swimming yesterday. It was the first time since Sardinia a month ago, later on we never found an opportunity. (In the marina in Melilla the water was too dirty, in Gibraltar too cold, and during the passages too rough.)
Yesterday was a 3D day. That stands for domestic duty day and sounds a lot more motivating than cleaning day. Now the boat is really clean again after the passage. In the evening we took Leeloo on a trip ashore. The circumstances were ideal: a flat sandy beach for landing the dinghi smoothly, all sunbathers had left in the evening and an almost-full moon to enlighten the whole trip. Leeloo likes the dinghy. When it’s lashed down on deck she likes to sit underneath and when it’s floating in the water behind Pitufa’s stern she spends hours watching it. Yesterday she was about to follow Christian down to the dinghy on her own, but as Pitufa’s stern is quite high (about 1.70 m), we decided on squeezing her into her harness and then I handed her down to Christian. During the trip she stood like a figurehead in the bow and seemed to enjoy the ride. After we had dragged the dinghy high up on the beach we waited until she picked up the courage to hop out of the boat. Then she explore d the beach (we left her on a leash) and the spiky vegetation.
After half an hour she wanted to go home again, jumped into the dinghy and meowed excitedly when we approached Pitufa. She almost fell into the water, because she wanted to climb aboard without help. As the steps of the swimming ladder are far apart and slippery, the stern is high, and there is a safety net up to the lifelines, I grabbed the protesting cat and heaved her up on deck.
Back home the unpleasant part of the trip still waited for her: In order to “desalt” her paws and fur I rubbed her with a wet towel and she shrieked in outraged protest