Some days require an escape.
I decided that it was time to splurge on a little something special for one of my days off. Sometimes the turtle life gets to be a bit too much – as much as I really love the team that I am working with here on Sal, life in Turtle House means you never really get away from the job. So I decided the time had come to sail away.

I booked a day trip on the Kafeoli, a gorgeous 60 foot sailboat that anchors in the bay by the Santa Maria pier. She is owned by an incredible French couple that have crossed the Atlantic twice on her. They live a life I sometimes dream of: sailing to a new and exciting place, seeing all there is to see over a couple of years, earning enough money by taking people out on the boat, and then moving on to the next interesting place. They were very welcoming as we put on super-puffy orange life vests and loaded into a dinghy from the pier to head out to the ship. It was an amazing experience, and everything I needed to recharge my batteries.

The sun and the wind were perfect for sailing that afternoon. Puffy cotton ball clouds drifted lazily across the endless sky, shuttled by the gentle breeze that filled the canvas sails of the Kafeoli. We headed out, leaving the colorful buildings and palm trees of Santa Maria in a perfect arc behind us as we sailed across the glittering bay, over surreal aquamarine water and out into the deeper blue sea. I was joined by Nate, Suzy, Phil, and Hazel on the ship, and we lounged on the front end of the ship enjoying the lunches we had packed while the crew provided us with cold orange juice spiked heavily with rum (a potentially dangerous combination on the swaying deck). We were delighted to see flying fish come catapulting out of the water, soaring between the deep troughs of the rolling waves, flapping along just like birds until they disappeared once again with a splash of foam into the ocean. We sailed up along the West coast of the island, looking from new perspective at beaches we knew so well from our foot patrols. It was glorious. I stood out on the jib at the very front of the prow, nothing below my feet but a plank of wood as we skimmed the glistening surface. I think I get the “I’m king of the world!” feeling…

After sailing up past the hatchery – where we tried not to pity our colleges busy at work – we anchored just south of Mount Leon to have a swim in the amazingly warm and crystal blue sea. There was a rope swing tied from the mast and we brought it up to the prow where we were instructed by the crew to climb up on the railing and leap out, seeing how far along the edge of the boat we could swing before dropping, laughing, into the waves below. It was fantastic fun, though at one point, Nate didn’t let go soon enough and ended up swinging back onto the boat to land with a crash on top of the cabin roof, much to the surprise of the Captain, who had been walking up the ladder underneath. After getting over our original shock, we all laughed our heads off, and let Nate have another redemption attempt. We also dropped baited lines into the water off the stern of the boat to try and catch any of the bountiful species of fish that occupy the waters of Cape Verde. In the end, it was only the Captain that managed to catch anything – a spiny but very tasty little fish with orange stripes.

When we had tired of swimming around, we draped ourselves over the deck of the boat once more, juice in hand, to dry out as we headed back towards Santa Maria. The sun was setting behind the island, providing a most glorious welcome as we reentered the calm of the bay. The sails were glowing with the evening light, and I was crushed to see the trip come to an end, but utterly elated with the events of the day. A brilliant idea, if I do say so myself.

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