Marina Mindelo, Sao Vincente, Cape Verdes

On Sunday Kevin was beginning to feel a lot better and we were able to accept an invitation from the French Lagoon 440 catamaran moored directly behind us for drinks. So after a quiet day on board we went along about 6pm. After a quick tour of our boat for Herve which unfortunately resulted in our boat keys going overboard whilst opening the bow lockers! It was at that point we realised that the foam float attached did not have the buoyancy to support the extra keys….! Luckily Kevin very swiftly retrieved them with mask, fins and snorkel and after a quick shower we went over to Serena.

Owner Marc, skipper Herve and crew Charles gave a great welcome and a tour of their lovely boat which has comfortable accommodation and all the mod cons. We’d been very keen to chat to them as they were leaving the next day to Grenada (our next destination) so we went armed with our weather forecast and compared and contrasted weather, then sailing tactics, blogs, navigation software etc etc. It was the first chance we’d had to have such discussions with another catamaran crew and I think we all learned a lot as the Serena crew were all previously monohull sailors. It was really pleasant evening and we made plans to meet up in Grenada if the timing was right.

We’d made a very respectable average speed compared to them on our route from the Canaries using a barber hauler to sail directly downwind rather than tacking downwind as it is referred to in catamarans which prefer to be 100-120 degrees off the wind which the Serena crew had done. However, with the swell with us and the sails like this we’d had a very stable boat and excellent surfing so we’d had a fast passage. The French crew were going to try our technique on the next leg and there was a bit of ribbing of Herve by his crew / boat owner that he better make sure that we didn’t beat them across!

We left them at 9pm to allow them to get a good night’s sleep before their passage and went to Club Nautico. Although within 30 minutes we were joined again by the Serena crew in search of food. So the discussion continued and they have given us some great tips for places to visit in the Caribbean and Venezuela, where they have cruised extensively in the past.