The reports we had of Cape Verde's theft problems and poverty were exaggerated. Theft is a problem everywhere and is tolerated subject to the will of the government. The more wealthy as in our government can afford many of there own protections and others are left with less protection. We parked as near the fuel dock as possible and paid someone to watch our boat as well as locked everything when we were gone. We left our dinghy at the fuel dock and they put our life jackets inside the building.

As for poverty it is difficult for the unemployed, and emerging countries always have jobs for the upper class. As the jobs increase for the lower classes, so does the country's wealth. As more countries are realizing, open borders and foreign investment are necessary for the dignity of jobs for everyone. Governments try, but are ineffective at managing industry.

I found and other foreigners commented how warm and nice the people were. This in itself is a great start for a properly developed tourist industry.

Dry, hot weather is not great for agriculture here but the fishing industry does well.

George Myette got off here and is headed home. We enjoyed his stories and cooking and dishwashing talents. He speaks a bit of French and Spanish which was helpful, but he sometimes forgot which was which. One person we met said he could speak French so George said OK lets try French, but the guy was amused when he found George was answering him in Spanish. Our guide said he could speak English, but George could speak more Portuguese than the guide could English, but we got along OK anyway.

The guide knew the places we needed to go so saved us taxi fare and gave us a chance to walk more. He was black like most people here, a large portion are African decent mixed with Portuguese and countless other nationalities. The working people dress very nicely like the Spanish and Portuguese everywhere in the world. No shortage of beautiful ladies who dress lovely. They are very comfortable with themselves, plenty of poise and confidence.

Keeping a ship in ship shape with all its self reliance, like our own water maker, sewer system, power generation, navigation, communication and propulsion systems need a lot of upkeep. Probably about the same as a good sized house with 2 cars if you do all the maintenance yourself. A plugged sewer at 04:00 gets the same enthusiasm no matter where you are.

In Cambridge Bay, besides all the help and kindness we were shown, we were presented with a 'Bosun's Whistle' by Wilf Wilcox. He asked us to blow it crossing the Equator in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans for good luck. We blew it 100 feet before the equator until 100 feet after we had crossed it and good luck is our companion. We will return it to Wilf when our trip is finished and I'm sure it will be a talisman of good fortune for him and Ruth forever.

We crossed the equator at 14 degrees 53 minutes west longitude at 01:50z November 29th and will cross it again, north of Indonesia in April. Again it was prudent to salute Neptune with a little Scotch from the Island of Jura, and in good naval tradition the boys saluted the 'Idlewild' for many more miles of comfort and safety.

Lovely weather since the Azores. One squall the other night where we saw 30 kts wind for a short while, but direct on the bow it wasn't much. It did rain enough to wash the salt off the railing for us. The salt seams sticky or an oily feel until the seas get higher, then the rails stay wet, but the salt never leaves without rain. Frequent squalls are common in the doldrums.