Leaving the Canaries
13 November 2014 | Las Palmas Gran Canaria

We are leaving in the next half hour so thought to put you in the picture.
The Cape Verde Islands
This is our next stop mainly to break the journey for our crew. Last trip we were within 50 nm and didn’t call in as we were with the ARC, so this time we thought to have a look around. A little background may be in order.
The uninhabited islands were discovered and colonized by the Portuguese in the 15th century; Cape Verde subsequently became a trading center for African slaves and later an important coaling and resupply stop for whaling and transatlantic shipping. Following independence in 1975, and a tentative interest in unification with Guinea-Bissau, a one-party system was established and maintained until multi-party elections were held in 1990. Cape Verde continues to exhibit one of Africa's most stable democratic governments. Repeated droughts during the second half of the 20th century caused significant hardship and prompted heavy emigration. As a result, Cape Verde's expatriate population is greater than its domestic one. Most Cape Verdeans have both African and Portuguese antecedents.
We have found that internet costs are very high ,€52 for 1 GB, so you may not hear from us until we reach the Caribbean which will be a minimum of 3 weeks. We plan to arrive at the island of St Martin which is one half of the island being French and the rest of the island is Dutch.