Day 12 March 29
In the evening we sailed within sight of some gas / oil platforms. They were perhaps 18 miles away, one of them was burning off gas and gave off an incredibly bright light just like a nearby street light. What a waste. I wish I could pipe this unwanted gas back to my house.
We woke this morning to grey skies and rain. What a shock not to have blue sky and dry seats for the morning cup of tea. After a couple of hours the weather reverted to more typical fare, the sun shone and we basked in its heat. Luckily the squally rain showers that were about missed us.
At lunchtime today a handful of dolphins swam along with the boat for five minutes. They were possibly Atlantic Spotted dolphins. They were too quick for me to get a reasonable photo but I got lots of pictures of empty water!
There was a ship on the horizon, another Booby seabird with her juvenile flew past and we had a fire drill – but most of the day was spent looking at the never ending waves.
One of the desks in the cabin is devoted to navigation. The picture is of Niall sat there. The screen in front of him displays an electronic chart with our position and the position of any other ships and he is surrounded by all sorts of other electronic devices – two radios, another system for identifying nearby ships, depth sounder, satellite phone, barometer, compass, wind speed and direction indicator and probably more that I haven’t learnt about yet. On the desk in front of him is also a paper chart which is also used in plotting our course.
It was just another lovely sunset this evening with the almost full moon already risen on the opposite side of the boat.
Day 13 March 30
A busy morning today. The sea was much calmer and the wind was light so we pulled the Manta Trawl for half an hour to see what plastic we could discover. There were a few small pieces. We always find some plastic. It seems you cannot escape traces of 21st century civilisation even in the middle of the ocean.
We have been listening to the sounds of the ocean. The background noise in the earphones has been getting loud so we pulled it in for examination. The hydrophone array is at the end of 400 metres of cable so pulling it in takes a while and the cable has to be wound on a drum. At the end of this length of cable is connected a tail of clear plastic tube filled with oil and containing the microphones. When the cable was pulled in it was discovered that the waterproof seal on the connector that joins the cable to the tail had perished and sea water had got into the electrics. Maybe that is the cause of the crackling we can hear. The plan is to attach a new hydrophone tail to the cable. It is not surprising that this assembly is suffering wear for it has been trailed half way round the world from the UK to South Georgia and back to the Brazilian coast here.
The wind dropped to almost nothing in the afternoon so we stopped for a short while and we all went for a swim in 3,000 metres of water. It was so warm. The depth sounder says the water temperature is 29°C. Even I thought the water was warm! The boat looked big from sea level. It seems so small when you are on board.
We saw a few big splashes of dolphins 500 metres ahead and were hoping we would sail right up to them. Sam and I went up the viewing platform above the afterdeck to try and spot them but inconsiderately they swam off without waiting for us.
Jack made some great pancakes for breakfast and then chocolate brownies for lunch. I wonder what’s for supper…..
Day 14 March 31
Last night the moon was full and so bright on the water. It is too hot these days to eat dinner in the boat and we have dinner on deck by moonlight. Easter, as you will all know, is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. (!) That is why the date of Easter varies so much as it is determined by the phases of the moon.
Today was another calm sea day and we managed to fit in a swim as the hydrophone had to be pulled in for examination. The hydrophone assembly is at the end of a 400 metre cable so it takes quite a while to pay it out carefully.
The sea is so incredibly blue. I took a picture of the sea to demonstrate how the sea surface changes colour. On the right with a blue sky it is blue, on the left with cloud it is grey. Diving into the sea on a sunny day and opening your eyes underwater (I wear goggles) the blueness is overwhelming.
We were searching for shade today as you can see from the photographs. The skylights were open to try and cool the cabins as the sea is calm today and there seems little chance of a wave crashing over the foredeck.
Tomorrow we reach the port of Salvador in Brazil. On Easter Sunday. I am looking forward to the smells of the land.
Day 15 April 1
The first thing you do when arriving in a new port from a foreign country is to register with the Marina. That was the easy part. The next thing to do is to register with the immigration. That was going to be more challenging.
Now remember that today is Easter Sunday. The lady in the marina office thought the immigration office should be open after 9am. We tried ringing but there was no answer. She marked on the map where it was and we set off at 10am all wearing shirts, long trousers and shoes (not sandals). The cruising guide was very insistent on this point.
We got to the building we had been directed to after an half an hour walk and were directed to another Police building further up the road. That was a second half hour. When we got there we were refused entry and told it was all shut today and we should go to the airport to register our arrival.
We flagged down a taxi that surprisingly fitted all seven of us in at a very tight squash and half an hour later arrived at the airport. We found a lovely lady who spoke English to help us and she rang the Immigration. A man appeared from behind a closed door, took our passports and closed the door. Sometime later he reappeared giving us back our passports and telling us to ring Antonio and gave us a phone number. The lovely lady rang Antonio and arranged a meeting at 2pm back at the docks.
Another taxi ride later we arrived at the building. A guy was just leaving the building and Sam asked him if we were in the right place. Sam had taught himself Portuguese in the two weeks since we left Uruguay. What a hero. We rang Antonio again and he explained to this man where we should go.
Another 10 minute walk and hey we were there. Amazing.
After spending forty minutes in the office all that remained was to walk back to the marina. Another 25 minutes.
By this time it was 4pm. We are now officially in Brazil and we have seen lots of this town. I think we deserve a beer.
Day 16 April 3
We are spending a few days in port and doing jobs around the boat. There is a bit of wear on some batten pockets that require some sewing. The engine oil needs changing, fuel tanks filling, batteries checking, steering gear greasing, blocks washing with fresh water, clothes washing, sun shades erecting, computers backing up, and on and on. There are lots of systems on board, lots of them are mechanical and like all mechanical devices they need maintenance.
Everything gets a bit untidy when floor boards are lifted and cupboards opened. My hat disappeared. My favourite hat with a big brim and a padded crown. The padding in the crown is very useful because I keep banging my head on doorways and it works like a crash helmet. I spotted it floating in the marina and Valerie swam out to retrieve it. When she reached it, 50 metres away, she discovered it was not my hat but a plastic bag with a plastic container in it! Niall thoughtfully fixed a warning sign for me over the main companionway.
The hat was found later in the day. I must be getting absentminded.
The marina here is full of sleek, shiny, white powerboats. There are teams of locals keeping them clean and sparkling and hosing them with water. I saw someone today cleaning algae off the mooring ropes just to keep everything looking pristine.
Day 17 April 04
The view from the deck of the boat across the marina encompasses the different faces of Salvador. There are the luxury boats in the foreground, there are the slums (favelas) on the steep banks in the middle ground and the skyscrapers in the distance.
We took a tour round the old city heeding warnings about being careful.
There were lots of police about the place. I wondered whether this made the place safer or is it a reflection of widespread crime?
There are some fine old buildings, many of which are decaying. Salvador used to be the capital of Brazil between 1530 and 1763 after which Rio de Janeiro took the role. The capital moved again in 1960 to the new city of Brasilia.
We indulged in a bit of retail therapy. The universal attire of Brazilians are shorts and flip flops. We discovered one shop that had a huge choice of flip flops. The photograph shows only part of the display!
There are some huge murals on some buildings, obviously official, the one in the picture on the side of this building looks very unofficial. But how could it have been completed without anyone noticing? Or is it that nobody bothers?
Brazil is a place of music and energy. We have only seen a very tiny corner. It is a huge country. We have sailed for two weeks and travelled 1,800 miles along the coast and we have only covered half the length of it.
There are a lot of exciting places to see.
Sorry, comments are closed for this post.