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Tuesday, 28 July 2015
The Passage Back
Caribbean to the Azores via Bermuda
From
the windswept dusty anchorages of Cape Verde to nights spent amongst
flamingos in mangrove-lined rivers of Brazil to the turquoise waters
and coral sand beaches in the Caribbean, it felt as if the best bits
– all that we had come to see – were past. There had been very
long passages, and plenty of adventure, but these passed in a blur
after nine months of touring the tropics. Nearly 5000 miles lay
between us, in Antigua, and the prospect of starting a life on land
at home. Somehow the finality of the passage magnified the distance,
so it felt very significant when we hauled up the anchor in Jolly
harbour bay. Our toughest challenge lay ahead.
Reading
up on routing advice and studying the pilot charts, we elected to
take the traditional route. We would refrain from turning East for
the Azores until making 35 degrees North, the latitude of Bermuda.
After the crossing, chatting at dockside parties in Horta, I got the
impression that the field was split; many sailors followed the
shorter, direct route from the Caribbean. However, the windless Horse
latitudes haven't changed since ancient times. You need to be
prepared to make progress in very light airs, either with specialised
sails or by carrying enough diesel. We were rafted with a heavy
French steel yacht that had neither. Due to their desire to take a
short cut en route to Europe, they were stuck for 35 days, static in
the Sargasso sea.
Brazilian Bureaucracy
What
follows are a few tales of our trials with Brazilian bureaucracy.
Stressful at the time, amusing in the reminiscing. Maybe you’ll
enjoy them, but if any sailors happen across this later while planing
a voyage to Brazil maybe our experiences will provide food for
thought. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions.
A Flight In, A Boat Out
Brazil
technically requires a tourist, on arrival, to have proof of onward
travel. Stating “I plan to leave your country on my yacht” is
unusual enough to cause confusion. An onward flight ticket is what
the bureaucrats would like you to present. Giulia was lucky to come
across this by chance, having already booked a one way flight a month
prior.
The
Brazilian consulate in Milan were able to confirm this requirement
but were unable to help further on the
phone. What follows was a wild goose chase
for Giulia. Calls to the Brazilian embassy in Rome suggested
contacting the federal police in Brazil (the
guys in charge of immigration).
Sadly this was
futile in practice, every officer Giulia reached spoke only
Portuguese and hung up after a few lines of English or Italian. Calls
to the Italian consulate in Rio or the
embassy in Brazillia were also fruitless.
It
was apparent that the rule existed, but officials were clueless about
how it would be applied in practice. For example, would a very cheap
bus ticket across the boarder be sufficient? The most reliable
solution was the prohibitively pricey option: buy a flight home as
well.
Tuesday, 19 May 2015
Cruising in the Caribbean - Auriga takes a holiday!
Barbados
16 days out at sea
on the passage from Brazil, all we really wanted was some fresh food
and ice cream. After wandering Barbados' capital, Bridgetown we
didn't find either. Heading back to Auriga (moored off the most
touristy beach, and the biggest bar strip) what we stumbled upon
turned out to be much better.
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| At Dees with Tony |
Most bars on
Carlisle beach are huge commercial affairs that charge a (high!) set
price for the meal and to see the “local” show. Avoiding these,
but nonetheless driven by desire for drinks we walked into a tatty
looking local bar nestled amongst the tourist traps.
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