January 28, 2005

We arrived at Cape Verde Islands on the island of Sao Vincence (some of it was 
green) about 9 a.m.  When we asked where the fuel station was we got two 
answers.  One involved getting the dinghy out of the bow and blowing it up and 
the other was to go pass several sunken ships that were below the surface.  We 
choose the second option......CAREFULLY!!!  Since they did not take credit 
cards or dollars, we had to find a ride to an ATM.  We finally got a delivery 
truck to take Rudy and Jon to the bank.  The bank teller asked for Rudy's 
passport which he left on board so he gave him his driver's license instead.  
He accepted it which was a surprise and Rudy got the exact amount he needed for 
the fuel.  While Rudy was on his little adventure, I was cleaning the boat of 
the Flying Fish (4 of them) that had landed on our boat during the night. It 
made quite a mess....I called them Evil Knevil Fish and Rudy called them 
Kamikaze Fish!!

After we filled the fuel tanks, we were on our way west.....We are about as 
south as we want at this point, unless the winds tell us different!! We saw a 
different species of Dolphins today, bigger and slower moving. They didn't play 
as much either!!!

We play Yahtzee at night since we can't play dominoes or cards because of the 
bouncing and the wind.  Shawn's sister gave her a travel Yahtzee set which is 
great for the boat. I never played before and I was told that winning four 
times in a row doesn't count if this is your first time playing.  That is what 
Shawn and Jon told me the rules were.......

Saturday the 29th, 
We changed the sails soooo many times today because the winds kept changing.  
We had about 20 minutes of a downpour which washed the boat off and we were 
going about 8 knots in 15 knots of wind. As soon as the squall passed, we went 
back to the 8-10 knots of wind and about 4-5 knots of speed.

Some of you asked me to tell you about what meals I make going across: I try 
to decide what I am cooking by the sea state.  While it was rough I make one 
dish meals like a lentil dish with tomatoes, garlic and pasta with some hot 
Italian bread and another night I made sausage, peppers and onions on hot 
Italian bread. Tonight it will be lamb chops with green beans and mushrooms 
because the sea state is calmer.

January 30th:  At 7 a.m. we got wind!!!  We put the sails wing on wing and 
sailed in 12-14 knot winds from the east and we were going between 6-7 knots. 
We sailed all thru the night and the winds picked around 7 p.m. to about 20 
knots and we were flying!!!  We hit about 9 knots and on my watch we went the 
most miles in a three hour period...23nm!!!  I know it doesn't sound much to a 
non-cruiser, but it is the most we ever did going across the Atlantic so far.  
We hope to beat that record again!!!

We see Dolphin everyday in the early morning and late afternoon.  I guess they 
are allowed to play before and after they get out of "school"!!!