Cape Verde Islands

The Cape Verde Islands are a waypoint on the Peggy Sue’s westbound voyage, remembered not through a detailed account of landfall but through a postcard Michael sends to Eddie Dodds. That small act gives the location its personal significance: even as the family sails farther from England, Michael keeps his absent friend present in the story of the journey.

Place on the Voyage

The islands appear in Michael’s log as the family sails down Africa’s west coast before crossing the Atlantic toward South America. Earlier, on September 10, 1987, the family had set out from England with the Peggy Sue loaded with provisions for a round-the-world voyage. In a later entry, Michael describes seeing Africa from a distance and explains that the wind will carry them down the coast before they head across the ocean. The Cape Verde Islands thus fall within a route measured by stages of departure and onward passage, rather than by an extended stay on land.

Michael’s Postcard to Eddie

From the Cape Verde Islands, Michael sends a card to Eddie. His accompanying wish that Eddie could be there, because they would have a great time together, makes the postcard more than a travel memento: it is a small gesture across the distance opening between the boy and his friend. Eddie had already sent Michael off with a soccer ball as a lucky mascot, signing his name across it; the card continues that connection while Michael is at sea. The islands are therefore linked to the friendship Michael carries with him, as well as to the family’s changing position on the voyage.

A Point in the Log’s Wider Geography

The location is part of a journey Michael later presents through selected extracts from his shipboard log, a private record written in the voice of an eleven-year-old. The dated entries make the ocean route legible through successive sights and milestones: Africa comes into view, then the family celebrates reaching Australia after sailing from England. That later arrival is described as halfway around the world and achieved on their own. Against these larger landmarks, the Cape Verde Islands mark a passing point on the outward route, while the postcard records what the map alone cannot: the human attachment that persists through distance and movement.