EL HIERO TO THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS. 780 NM SOUTH EAST. 14 NOV

The beginning of the long traverse.! To follow the trade winds most yachts crossing the Atlantic head south (until the butter melts) then catch the trades across to the Caribbean.

Our Islands Odyssey was from the Canary island of El Hiero, which is the most Westerly point of the Canaries, with a scheduled stop-over in the Cape Verdes.

Many other transatlantic sailors just take the direct route from Canaries to Saint Lucia, without a stop. This takes about 20 days.

Our trip here (to Mindelo) would take volumes to describe, so to keep it short we can say that it was rough and persistent.! However we arrived in the amazing island of Sao Vicente on a sunny afternoon with azure sea and epic landscapes.

780 nautical miles in 5 days and seven hours.