Slow Boat to China

Mindelo, Cape Verde Islands

Farewelled from Mindelo, Cape Verdes by that Yachting Great, Jimmy Cornell. **
With him, to the left, is Greg (SY Sandro) one of 2017/18 Odyssey participants

Our tenth sailing season, 2017, came to a close during our downhill race to the Cape Verde Islands.  We tried to celebrate, we really did but somehow at midnight shift handover, and on an alcohol-free ride, New Year’s didn’t quite bring out the fun side in us…  (Yes children, you see your parents are not (entirely) fuddy duddies.).  Given that the Cap’n has been away from home for 5 months too, this seemed the appropriate occasion to add up the yearly stats: 

From: Lagos, Portugal Lat/Long: 37:06.45N 08:40.27W  Date/Time: 2/11/17: 1510

To: Mindelo, Cape Verdes Lat/Long: 16:53.167N 24:59.447W  Date/Time: 5/01/18: 1505

Time Taken: (this year): 314 hrs  Distance: (this year): 1733nm

Distance Total: (since 2008): 20011.5nm   Congratulations to us for making the big 20K mileage!!  Clearly, we’re not slouches…

Weather: Forecasts must be like rules – made to be broken (or over-complicated).  Very little matched conditions as we dropped south.

Fastest Speed: We had a few wild rides this season but I guess, it is winter here in the Med.

Let the next season, 2018, begin.  On with the show: “A Slow Boat to China”.  Err…let’s make that the Caribbean!

** As we were leaving Mindelo, Cape Verdes, yachts in Jimmy Cornell's Caribbean Odyssey were arriving.  How exciting to meet the man himself, even if only as we cast off docklines.  According to his bio, he has amassed 200,000nm; 3 circumnavigations; voyages to both Arctic and Antarctic; instigated the now famous ARC in 1986; put together that wonderful wealth of information for cruisers, Noonsite; and now runs the Atlantic & Caribbean Odyssey. The Cap'n, among many others at the dock, was star-struck!