Tuesday 4 August 2009

Cape Verde

We had almost two months of gale, and a rough time sailing among the Cape Verde islands. The dust blows all the way from Sahara. The islands are often a bit hazy.



Maybe it’s the dust that makes the light so soft. When the sun was low it used the wavy hills like a earthen canvas. The shadows crept slowly over cliffs and rocks.


The highest islands had a thin layer of green foliage on the top, often with fog or clouds. From the boat we could see white buildings like crusts of salt in the mountains.



In the dark there were nothing. At anchor we slept with the strong trade wind shrieking. Bika heeled over in the gusts, like we were sailing.