Our day started at 20N 20W with warm sunshine and a slight chop. With 322 miles to go shearwaters are skimming the surface of the ocean as we get nearer to landfall on Sao Vicente.
The Portuguese discovered and colonised the islands and at their first settlement of Ribeira Grande were granted the monopoly of the slave trade as a hub on the Triangular Trade Route.
White settlers came into contact with the enslaved African people on the islands thus making the next generation of these new people, the Creoles. Their genes, customs and traditions of the two continents produced a nation of colourful vitality which was eventually transported to the Caribbean.
The Cape Verde Islands were, in today’s terms, the equivalent of a motorway service station where refuelling, feeding and care of the ship could take place. This was not dissimilar to the caravanserai on the Silk Routes where camel trains were fed and watered and goods traded and restocked. The navigators continued with this idea and today our ship is likely to do the same.
At the daily 12 noon Captain’s update we were informed that because of a bottleneck in shipping in Dakar, Senegal, our visit is cancelled but we will have an extra day on another island of the Cape Verde group. At noon the northeast Trade Winds were on our stern and pushing us forward with now 275 miles to go.
