Day 15 : Just past the Cape Verde Islands

A tense spell for the helmsman and the kite trimmers described the mood on deck last night when we passed between two small uninhabited land-masses belonging to the Cape Verdes, a remote group of a dozen Portuguese-owned islands, some 400 nautical miles (nm) west of Senegal. With apparently no lights on these particular outposts to guide us, we found ourselves relying on our best carrot-fuelled night vision to navigate the narrow channel available to us. For the first time since the Solent we also made use of the depth gauge; there were just 7 metres of water below the keel at one point, and a nasty swell (from astern) as a result of the steep shelving of the sea bed made it vital to steer straight as an arrow to avoid a gybe which we could ill afford. Strong cross currents complicated matters, but we sailed safely through and the islands now lie 100nm behind us. It would
have been nice to have been privy to this glimpse of land by day, for that is the last we shall see of terra firma proper until Uruguay, 3,500nm or so away - although we may pass Fernando Island off the coast of Brazil. Buenos Aires itself is a mere 3,700 miles distant! For some time now our skipper and the 'technical team' have been glued to the weather and the charts, concentrating all their best efforts on positioning us for the best possible entry into the ITCZ (Inter Tropical
Convergence Zone) - better known as the 'doldrums'. This is no easy task as the doldrums move north and south daily in a wave-like pattern, regularly shifting by 80 miles in any 24-hour period. Once we arrive in the ITCZ (ETA Tuesday), we will wait with baited breath to see if we get 'stuck' or manage
to sail through relatively unscathed by becalmings! The tropical downpours that are expected will, however, no doubt provide welcome, if brief, refreshment, for it is going to get a lot hotter. As it is, the 86-degree heat of the last few hours has seen dozing bodies strewn around the sail
locker (where there is Force-One breeze) and a glut of uneaten cherry cheesecake (a real first and pretty unbelievable if you know how much the crew of BP Explorer are capable of scoffing). But thanks to the Northern-Irish contingent (aka John Stewart), we have achieved a more meaningful boat record this morning, having got our spinnaker-packing time down to 25 minutes after being faced with three sweaty packing sessions within the space of just two watches - in the baking heat this is no mean feat. The chocolate chips are no longer chips, just chocolate!