Tarrafal, Sau Nicolau, Cape Verdes

Sao Nicolau is volcanic and rises steeply from the sea, with only one small set of lights of Preguica visible on the whole of the south coast as we approached which seemed to be a very small settlement where the airport is located. The capital is unusually inland, as a result of the pirates of the past and was not visible from our approaches, the island looking largely uninhabited. As we rounded the southern point of Punta do Fidalgo the classic venturi affect of the tall island set up and we managed to switch off the engines and sail up the west coast to just short of the only settlement there of Tarrafal. I even saw three pilot whales as we turned North, not to mention the ever present flying fish which seemed to be twice the size here.

Tarrafal, being a port town like Palmeira was not very inviting to eye as we approached with a high proportion of unfinished buildings and industrial concrete constructions along the waterfront. The anchorage however is very sheltered due to the shape of the island blocking both the prevailing wind and swell. We entered the harbour about 9am, there were a few very mixed yachts from small cruising monohulls some of which looked to be quite an age to a new Lagoon 440 catamaran which we had met in Palmeira. Kevin saw a black shape in the water as we came round to anchor which could have been a small pilot whale, which had me looking over my shoulder a few minutes later when I got in to check the anchor! The water was quite clear but the black sand from the beach reduced the visibility. Our anchor was just not digging in well in the fine sand and several attempts were made before we had any sort of hold. We decided against a second anchor as it was very sheltered here and we were not planning to stay too long.

After some breakfast and a bit of drying off in the sun which was already very hot due to the lack of wind, we both decided we were feeling rather tired from our night watches and decided to go back to bed for a nap about 11am. We didn’t wake until about 1.30pm, and took a seat in the cockpit to read and cool down. We were watching the world go by on the shore and reading books. There were fishing boats coming by very close astern to have a look at the new arrivals. One passed by very slowly as he was towing a fish pen alongside, apparently the local way of ensuring a fresh catch as there were a few others moored closer to the dock and may have explained the inquisitive creature Kevin had spotted on the way in.

The late afternoon saw some land gusts gathering as they blew down the steep hillsides above Tarrafal causing all the boats on the anchorage to swing and bob around. We seemed to have chosen quite by chance a spot just close enough to the pebble shore to miss the rebound effect that was causing all the other boats quite a lot of rolling in the swell. However, despite this with the 25 knot winds which had come up and still not being sure of our anchor set we postponed our exploration ashore until things settled.

The fortnightly ferry arrived as we were sat out having dinner and we watched as first the passengers disembarked and then presumably freight – well whatever it was it caused quite a significant list to starboard as it was removed. Sabina and Till never did arrive, so we assumed that they had decided to stay a little longer in Santa Maria. The sunsets very quickly at this latitude as before we knew it, darkness had set in and we were under a fantastic starry sky with very little light pollution from the few street lights in Tarrafal. All intentions to go ashore and explore were then blown as we sat under the stars with some real chillout music and reflected on how life had got us to this little anchorage in the Atlantic listening to the irresistible sound of surf on a pebbly shore.