Passage from Sal to Sao Nicolau

In order to make a daylight entry to Tarrafal we had not planned to leave Santa Maria until the afternoon. Therefore, we had a good rest and in the morning we tidied up the boat. We went ashore to get the latest weather forecasts and make our final blog updates plus say our goodbyes to Akin & Maria.
We decided to call in to the Beach Club for lunch and Kevin enjoyed a nice Tuna steak with Peppers cooked rare, I quite sadly ordered Pasta Pesto which although we have this regularly on board was just what I felt like eating. We had water with our meal in preparation for our passage ahead that night. The water in the bay at Santa Maria was looking exceptionally clear again for the second day running and you could see the weed on the seabed for quite a distance as we sat by the shore enjoying our lunch.
We checked the weather forecast again when we got back to the boat and the bad weather which we were expecting to raise the swell seemed to have dispersed and it now looked like all would be ok to stay in Santa Maria. However we were all revved up for a move now and decided to progress onward to the island of Sao Nicolau. We had arranged to meet with Till & Sabina to show them the weather forecast and exchange a few files etc, so around 3.30pm they came across and we agreed it looked a reasonable forecast to either stay or go. All decide they would depart though and we decided to head off straight away to clear Sal by daylight and waved goodbye to all on Aikane who were not yet ready to leave and said we’d see them in the morning.
We made a great start to the passage with some nice 15-20 knot winds which although were a little variable stayed through until about midnight when we had to start the engines. It was a really clear night and but for a couple of other ships as we left Sal we did not see any other traffic. Unfortunately with swell on the beam and rather variable winds it was a bit harder work from a sailing perspective to try and keep the sails filled as we tried to optimise the course to flitting between goosewinged downwind and a broad reach as the wind veered. At 3am the wind came back slightly and we could sail again for an hour or two but by dawn it had fallen away to less than 3 knots as we rounded the south coast of Sao Nicolau.