november, 2004

hi folks --

passage to dakar, senegal
-------------------------
we had a pretty easy passage to dakar, about 850 miles from santa
cruz, tenerife in the canaries. it took 7.5 days. started out with
good wind from the side, beam or broad reach the whole first days.
we did over 150 miles that first day and close to it the second.
then we ran out of wind and had some totally relaxing days of
10 knots of wind, puttering along at 4-5 knots with the seas more
like a meter high instead of 2 or 3 meters when the wind is stronger.
had to slow down the last night so we didnt arrive in darkness.

we had several visits by dolphins.  hannah gets so excited and screams
or maybe its a squeal, so no one can sleep once they have been sighted.
susha keeps trying to touch them as they play in the bow wave, but her
legs are just a tad too short or the boat is a tad too tall.  one set 
of dolphins put on a total ocean-world type show for us.  they jumped
high out of the water and did flips.  another set came at night when 
the water was phosphorescent and looked like silver torpedos as they
played with the boat.  quite magical.  we tried to figure out what type
the various herds (not sure thats the word) were but our book only has
descriptions, no pictures, so we arent sure what they were but we saw
at least 4 different types.

one night, as we were reading lord of the rings aloud and susha was steering
we felt a soft klunk and a shudder like the boat had run aground, then a 
second later another klunk and shudder.  but we were in the middle of
the ocean.  then susha saw what we hit -- a big whale.  the part of 
him that she saw was half the length of the boat as he breached and
took a breath and dove away from us.  he must have been sleeping
and we were just ghosting along at about 4 knots with the wind
on the aft quarter, so were quiet.  it was quite scary.  sush ran
down to get life jackets (we were bad, after dark and not yet wearing
them) and check the bilge, han steered, jeff checked the anchor locker
for water coming in, and i went forward with a flashlight and checked 
the bow.  couldnt see any obvious damage, just hairline cracks that were
probably already there.  here is susha's description of it:
	"dinner was over and the sun had set. we had been hand
	steering for most of the day because the windvane (self
	steering device) did not like the light winds from behind,
	and the electric autopilot took too much energy from our
	already low batteries. so it was me at the helm, and evi
	was reading book one of the lord of rings aloud. in mid
	hobbit sentence, we all felt a bump and the whole boat 
	shuddered. then one second later, another bump. what was
	that? i know i didn't see anything in the water (open ocean)
	ahead of me. i looked to my left and there was a giant whale,
	breeching for a couple of seconds and then going back under. 
	it looked as big as the boat, and was dark in color. its shape
	reminded me of a submarine because it had a sort of nozzle on
	the top. to say the least, i was freaked out. i was so jolted
	in fact, that i left the helm and ran straight to the head to
	grab our lifejackets. evi yelled down for me to check the
	bilge--nothing coming in. then she went up front and checked
	for any obvious damage--nothing. it is really rare to actually
	hit a whale while sailing. it must have been sleeping at the
	surface and didn't hear us, as we were under sail. the next day
	we told our tale on the radio net, and the other boaters were
	really intrigued. some had sailed twice around the world and had
	never bumped a whale. one guy keith said he wouldve ran for the
	head too if he hit a whale! alas, wondie came away damage free,
	and hopefully with only minor bruises to the whale."

we participated in two radio networks during the crossing, the atlantic
crossing net that just takes position reports from boats underway and
asks if they are ok, and what we call the shadowfax net that is more
informal and boats are friends.  everyone wanted to know more about the
whale when we mentioned it on the shadowfax net.  one boat had problems
with their engine and mentioned it on the net.  several boats had opinions
as to the trouble and shadowfax was close to the problem boat and sailed
over to help if possible.  the symptoms were that the engine ran fine and
didnt seem to be doing black smoke or other bad things, but there was a
terrible noise while it was running that sounded like things breaking.
the couple on the boat had been trying to fix it for a day, not getting
their normal naps, etc.  so they went to sleep and shadowfax sailed
around them during the night to keep watch and then went over to help
diagnose and fix it in the morning.  some of the suggestions sounded
pretty smart to me, like take a piece of hose and use it like a stethoscope
to figure out exactly where the noise was coming from. folks thought it
had to be one of the peripheral systems (starter, alternator, etc.) since
the engine seemed to run fine.  one suggested that the starter motor 
didnt pull back the gear after getting the engine started.  keith on
shadowfax went over in his dinghy to help diagnose and when they started
the engine, the noise was totally gone, and it was running fine.  it 
just needed a good nights sleep too.  the conclusions drawn were that it
was in fact the starter motor and his gear and it fixed itself at least
for now. its comforting knowing that there are other cruising boats
going about the way you are and that if something really bad happens
they will help.

we ate pretty good on this passage.  in the canaries we had stocked up on
fresh fruit and veggies and actually managed to keep them from spoiling
for the most part.  one day we had to eat 5 avocados because we had let
them go too long -- guacomole for appetizer, caesar salad with avocado with 
dinner, avocado stuffed with olives, red pepper and balsalmic vinagarete
for lunch.  lots of veggie stir frys and fruit salads.  we also got a
recipe for scones from the shadowfax net and jeff made scones for breakfast
two mornings.  we re-discovered hot homemade bread and had that twice
(also jeff).  only limiting factor on these yummy baked goods was the 
amount of butter we had bought. definitely need more for our next long
passage. 

one morning i kept hearing jeff who had the morning watch (6am-10am),
messing with the jib.  at least i assumed that was it, winch noise.  after
about 2 or 3 batches of winch noise and being half asleep i got up to
check on why it was taking him so long to deal with the jib.  turns out
it wasnt the jib being sheeted in, but was our fishing line that we run
around a winch backwards so it spins the winch and makes noise and we 
know we have a fish.  jeff caught the first fish and as he was trying to
kill it (winch handle since he didnt have our cuban rum spray bottle filled)
the line was in the way so he threw back in the water.  before he could
finish dealing with the first fish, there was another on the line.  2 is
better than one cause they are small.  again the line was in the way so
out it went and soon there was fish number 3.  by that time i was up
and dealt with the line so we didnt get fish 4.  they werent all that 
small and we didnt want to eat fish for days on end. we were obviously in a
school of them and could have had as many as we wanted.  jeff had fish
for breakfast that morning and we all had it for lunch and dinner for the
next 3 days.  had sashimi and what i called steaklettes for lunch and a
tuna veggie stew for dinner.  sauted the steaklettes in butter and fresh
herbs (thyme, rosemary, and basil) or lemon pepper.  they were the best,
will skip the stew next time.  the sashimi was super too.  we tried for
another tuna for thanksgiving dinner and even had stove-top stuffing to
make it seem like a turkey, but didnt catch a fish that day.  we still
had a thanksgiving feast with home made bread, baked sweet potatoes, garlic
mashed potatoes, buttered carrots and cauliflower and key lime pudding
for dessert.

we will have a crew change before we head across the atlantic.  jeff
will go home and after christmas peter will join us for the cape verde
to brazil run.  and jeff is just getting to be a good bridge player
and doesnt even flinch when we get out the pee jar or shower in the
cockpit.  we have been compiling a list of things for peter to
bring and are almost afraid to send it to him, its getting so long.
we need to encourage costco to open stores along our cruising route so
we can get those big bags of pistacios, cashews, etc. and not have to
load up visitors quite so much.

africa
------
we are anchored about 5 km south of the indusrial port of dakar in
about the middle of senegal. there are about 40 boats here, mostly
french or at least french speaking.  french and several tribal languages
are spoken.  the french seems simplified and my high school/college
french is doing fine.  the beach we are anchored off is quite dirty.
we went swimming the first day but havent been since, because we 
walked to the fish market on the beach a half mile north and saw
the towns raw sewage streaming into the bay.  fortunately we were
anchored pretty far out from the beach so that first swim hasnt
left us sick.

the poverty is striking, a bit like rural mexico.  many people seem
not to have real homes, just marginal shelters along roadsides or on
the beach.  things are pretty cheap, a good local meal in a restaurant
is 1000 francs, about $2.  dairy products seem expensive, but maybe there
are no dairy cows in this part of africa.  a little cup of plain yogert
is 500 and a 1/2 pound of butter 1000.  in spite of the poverty, there
seem to be no problems, at least here, with theft.  and the senegalese
people seem happy.  they laugh a lot and are very friendly.

this is the beginning of the dry season, no rain and temperatures
feel like over 90 with 90% humidity too.  mosquitoes are medium bad,
with us averaging about 4-5 bites per day.  we are all taking a
preventative malaria medicine, doxycicline, that has a side effect
of making you very sensitive to sunburn.  so on top of the hot sun
and high humidity we are all wearing long pants and long sleeved
shirts as well as lots of 45 sunscreen to protect from the sun.
between the heat and the mosquitoes, we are wiped out after half
a day of touristing and then cant sleep too well.  there is a cholera
outbreak in dakar so we are very careful about drinking water, drinks
with ice in them, and washing all our fruits and veggies.  we had a
british solution called miltons recommended in gibraltar and soak all
our fruits and vegetables in it.  its made for baby's bottles but also
is used for fruits and veggies and even treating water.  smells like
a bleach solution.  we use the local water, that is supposed to be 
filtered and treated in dakar, for bathing and washing dishes, but are
still drinking the water we filled up with in the canaries.

the new watermaker has been a disappointment so far, but we will try again.
according to the support people the unit is fine, just the instructions
are bad so we didnt prime the system as we should have.  i may offer
to rewrite the instructions for them, they sure need it.

susha spent a semester in africa during college and has school
friends in senegal, so we have had local tour guides most days.
we went to a fair that had exhibits from all the african countries.
it was awesome with the highlight for me being the brightly colored
batiked cotton fabrics.  they were so varied and so cool i couldnt
decide which ones i wanted.  we also saw a museum of african art.
it had a special exhibit on one floor that cronicled the history of
slavery and how it impacted the various african nations.  dakar was
a big slave trading port and exported 1.9 million slaves to the usa
and another 1.9 million to brazil.  quite a sobering exhibit, like
the holocoust museum in washington, dc.  crimes against humanity.

the tribal language in this section of africa is called woolof.
hannah and susha have learned quite a bit and use it with the local
guys who seem to hover wherever they go.  they are quite amazed when
the girls start talking to them in their own language and break into
big grins.
 
shopping at the local markets is best described as a sport.  first of
all it's hard not to stand out, since we are 4 white people in a black
culture.  and somehow there are always way more sellers than buyers.
you never pay the asking price, it's called a first price and sets an
upper bound.  the final price is between 1/5 and 1/2 of the first price
typically.  and once you have bought something, you become a total target.
people will offer you something, you say "no merci" and they hand it to you
and then wont take it back or get out of your way.  sometimes its 2-3 sellers
enclosing a potential buyer.  personal space is way smaller than i am
used to; the sellers are always in your face.  another ploy is to "give"
the trinket to you as a present and then demand that you give them a present
in return, like 500 francs.  we have been to two markets, one the cloth
market with hundreds of stalls of bright material.  (lynda you'd have
loved it). the material seems to be pretty cheap, about $2/yard - it starts
at $10/yard though. we all had dresses made ($10) and even fitted sheets
($100 for 6) for the boat, all in wonderful waxed cotton prints.  the
other market we visited was the artisans market and had lots
of brightly colored finished clothes, hand carved wooden decorations, 
jewelry, and paintings.  often you buy something just to get rid of
the seller, but that is a loosing strategy, they try even harder to wear
you down.  in the markets the actual shopkeepers will try to keep you
in the shop by blocking the doorway, but there are also guys who are
holding what they are selling and they follow/chase you from shop to shop.
a day of going to town and shopping or trying to see a tourist attraction
requires a day of hanging out on the boat to recover.  but we got our
xmas shopping done.

the fish market is just up the beach from us.  the local fishing boats are
very long and narrow, sometimes with an engine, sometimes just paddles, but
always very brightly colored. the big boats have 10-30 fishermen on board
and the individual fishermen seem to get to keep all or some of their catch.
the boats pull up to the beach in the bay we are anchored in and tie to the
shore with an anchor out.  then the fishermen wade ashore with their fish
in their hands or in a box on their heads.  unfortunately no one will let
you take their picture.  i need a camera that takes the picture at 90 degrees
from where i am aiming it.  we intend to go to the market on the beach and
buy a fish for dinner tonite.

yesterday we were invited to a senegalese home for fish and rice for lunch.
we were told to be there at 12 noon, and arrived about 12:30, which is early
for a noon lunch by african time standards.  the lunch took from 11am till
3pm to prepare.  but it was wonderful.  the senegalese put the meal in a
single big shallow bowl and then everyone eats their fraction from right in
front of them.  the dish had rice as a base with an onion sauce that was
very yummy and a bit spicy.  then there were vegetables, carrots, squash,
others i didnt recognize, then fish balls (fish smashed into a paste and 
made into large pea sized balls and deep fried), then pieces of fish. there
was a separate green sauce that looked like ground spinach but i have no
idea what it was made from.  it was a bit spicy too, so i didnt eat my
whole dollop of it.  you eat with your hand, taking a handful of the rice
and a few of the goodies, squeezing it till the grease runs out back into
the serving plate, and then pop it in your mouth.  everyone eats with their
right hand, the left hand having another purpose in at least arab culture.
susha and i are left handed, but that was ok, at least in this family.
they served a drink after it that was so yummy we broke our no ice and 
no local water drinking rules.  it was made from hibiscous flowers, water,
sugar, lemon, and something else and was wonderful, very tasty.  we need
to find out how to make it, as well as the "fish+rice" feast.

the marina (yacht club) that we are anchored near is very laid back, a 
bit like a hippie commune of the 60s.  there is a communal kitchen and
communal plastic buckets for doing laundry.  a water taxi picks you up
and takes you back to your boat so you dont have to launch the dinghy
unless you will be out past 9:45pm.  with our crew, thats almost every
night, so our dinghy has seen some use.  the showers are only cold water
and only have water pressure in the leftmost 2 of them.  you need to
plan your shower carefully.  the bar runs a weekly tab by boatname so
they dont have to handle $$ too often.  

i chickened out of exploring africa further by boat.  the gambia river
where we wanted to go needs at least a week to explore and we had not
allocated enough time for it (and one girlish crew member promised a
boyfriend we would be in the cape verdes on dec 10).  the other rivers,
the saloum and the casamance are shallow and hairy to enter.  i dont
like a river entrance with 2 meters depth at the entrance between 2
shifting sand bars and open to the whole atlantic swell.  i'm sure it
would be fine and we missed a chance to travel to the saloum with 2
other boats who left yesterday.  so we will stay here and do our 
exploring to african villages like the other tourists do, on a guided
package tour by land rover or bus.  gambia is another country and back
when we planned to go there this week, we checked out of senegal.  now
we have to go back to the port police and undo the stamps in our passports.
at least for jeff, who is now flying home from dakar instead of gambia.

we went on a 2 day excursion to a village in the countryside near the
saloum river.  stayed in an actual resort with air conditioned rooms,
mosquito netting over the beds, showers and toilets in the rooms, a
swimming pool, etc.  it was very nice and cost $50 each for dinner,
breakfast, and the room.  we hired a piroque (long skinny boat) and
went on a tour of the mangrove swamps that are home to many, many
birds and to a village that is accessible only by water.  to get to
the resort we caught a 7am minibus.  you go to the bus station and
there are zillions of people milling around and hundreds of little busses
but we managed to find the right one and get tickets and get on it.
it was a direct bus to the town the resort was in.  to come back, we
could have gotten up at 7am again (too early) or hired a taxi (too pricy)
or taken our chances on the local regional busses to do the 3 legs to
dakar.  the first two of the 3 legs were in the back of a pickup that
we flagged down after we saw about 20 school kids get out of it.  it
belonged to the senegal gas company and took us all the way to the second
place we were to change busses -- and for free.  at one point we had to
get out and wait about 15 minutes while they went and did a job.  we
shared the back of the pickup with what we thought was a bag of fish
from our town on the river and a bag of dead goat or something that
felt bristley and leaked redish juice.  after we left the pickup truck,
we got on a bus called a car-rapide which is neither a car nor rapid.
it holds 30-40 people jammed in and all their luggage on the roof.
about 10 minutes after we got on, it stopped and loaded lots of people
including a chicken dealer who was bringing about 50 live (or half alive)
chickens from the countryside into dakar.  until the bus got crowded he
had about 1/3 of the chickens inside the bus under his seat and under
our seats in the back. they all had their legs tied together so they
didnt wander too far.  the direct bus out took 3 hours, the combination
pickup truck and chicken bus took 5 hours to get us back to dakar.
was a nice excursion, the countryside is very nice, clean air, hard
working people, cute little hut/houses with thatched roofs, and very
friendly people, especially the children.  returning to poluted, dirty,
crowded dakar was stressy.

one of our chores in dakar was to get a brazilian visa.  should be a snap,
there is a brazilian embassy here and we can speak some french so can
manage it.  we showed up early last monday morning to apply for visas
and were told to go get photos taken and assemble $170 (used to be free
but now is what the US charges brazilians coming to the usa) in local currency
(85,000 cfa) each for the visas.  that maxed out my daily limit and i had
to borrow from everyone, but we finally got both the pictures and the
money and the forms for the visa all filled out.  done.  wrong.  first
problem was my passport which didnt have enough room.  we didnt have a
senegalese chip for our phone, so when they noticed, they couldnt call us
and called the marina who found hannah and she went back to pick up the
passport so i could take it to the american embassy to have more pages
added to it.  trouble was the embassy was closed for the day and we were
to leave at 7am for our inland excursion.  we got the brazil embassy to
agree to do my visa on thursday (normally they only do them mon-wed).
thurs we got the new pages and took the passport back to the brazilian
embassy and went to lunch.  as soon as the brazilians started working
on our visas they noticed that there werent enough pages in susha's passport
either.  again no phone to call and tell us, so we didnt find out till we
got back to the marina.  then we rushed back to get susha's passport and
started the whole thing over again. fridays neither the american nor
brazilian embassys are open for visas/pages, but we weedled our way into
their hearts and they made exceptions and we finally got the visas. 
the final round involved susha and i going to the american embassy at
1:45 to wait for the right person to arrive at 2:00, then get the pages,
then run (taxis were too slow with all the traffic) about 2km to the
brazilian embassy and get there before they were to close at 3:00.
all this is happening friday afternoon, the holy day hereabouts.
during the sprint between embassies it was prayer time and the entire
city stopped and got out of their cars and businesses, put down a prayer mat,
and prayed.  totally blocking traffic, but also blocking running susha's,
passport in hand.  its rather rude to tiptoe around the corners of a 
praying muslim's prayer mat, but we did it anyway.

we leave tomorrow for the cape verdes.

hugs.

-evi