Fernando de Noronha

At the end of the last Brazillian passage, our 700 mile trip upwind from Salvador was Fernando de Noronha. There are honestly no good words to describe this place, and for Giulia and I it was the best stop on our travels to date¹.

Brazil to Barbados - A Passage Diary

Our longest passage to date - 2000 miles and 16 days a sea. I thought I would keep a diary, as a record of how the passage progressed day to day, including notes on what we ate, as fresh stores diminished over the course of the passage.

Overall we had a really good passage, making good time and keeping up good spirits through out.

Day 1

Easterly F4 – Almost dead downwind, full main and poled out jib.

Lunch: Egg, tomato, carrot and tuna salad.

Dinner: Scrambled egg with potato, tomato and onion.

Waved goodbye to paradise. Saw one last turtle alongside while motoring out of the harbour. Hoisted main and poled out jib top. Everything good! Loving sailing downwind after 1500 miles upwind from Rio. Spent most of the day sleeping.

Brazil Cruising 4 - The long distance route to Salvador

 I think if Robert Frost were to be alive today he would rewrite “The Road not Taken” about routing decisions on a sailing yacht.* 

 

There is a huge oilfield lying 50 miles of the coast just outside of Buzios, and you have two options, each committing you to your chosen path for the following 48 hours: Begin by heading offshore, and go around the outside, or take the narrower inner passage. The inside route crosses shallower water, likely facing a stronger contrary current. The outside route necessitates heading South East to begin with, a path leading back into the same area of gales we faced on our way to Buzios.

Brazil Cruising 3 - Rounding the Cape

After a beautiful week spent at easy in Ilha Grande, Giulia and I were back in full passage mode. With our Brazilian odyssey coming to an end, the faster we move North and reach Salvador, our last port of call in mainland Brazil, the more time we can spend in the Caribbean.

After a good start, motoring for a few hours in a calm sea with light cloud cover reflecting a mellow sunrise, we began to sail by noon, heading upwind and making good speed with our newly cleaned hull, reaching Guanabara bay by nightfall. With dark thunder clouds building over Christ the Redeemer and a stormy entry to Rio on the cards we considered continuing onward to our next stop at Cabo Frio, and with a good forecast from Igor we hardened sheets and set best course to windward - to the cold cape.

Brazil Cruising 2 - Squalls in paradise

A week of change around for Auriga at the start of February. After Tanya and Igor leaving me to 10 days in Rio I got some company first with the arrival of Giulia on the 30^th. After 3 weeks in Rio without a drop of rain here (plenty of snow at home I hear!) Giulia managed to bring a small taste of the weather from England and every single afternoon since her arrival has been marked by the build-up of ominous clouds, torrential rain and lightning. Now, I know British summer lightning but this is something else. The clouds build up over Rio until they hover over the city trapped by the surrounding mountains and then they let loose all the electricity in the world. Lighning marks the sky with multiple bursts per second either arcing through the clouds or hitting the nearby skyscrapers and hills. It feels like the end of the world. Is the fact that this started when Giulia arrived prophetic? Time will tell.

Leaving Rio at daybreak. Looks better from afar!

My Time in Showbiz

An unusual one today. I found myself in Showbiz. Low budget Brazilian soap opera to be precise, this one concerning a solo yachtsman headed into stormy waters.

Green screen technology orrrr... cheap green
polypropylene someone rushed out to buy
in the morning?

I helped out a couple of local friends, who had been hired for the green screen special effects part of the shoot. The brief was to moor their yacht in front of the a giant green screen. 

Ready for action

Brazil Cruising Part 1

We officially reached Brazil at Fernando de Noronha, and first saw the mainland at Recife, but I didn't get any feeling for this massive country until we reached Salvador, staying on the beach and in the yacht club at the first two stops respectively.

Really, our tour of Brazil also begins with the addition to our crew of a second Ukrainian, Tanya. Russian speaking was kept to a minimum (lest Putin declare Auriga a part of Russia) and Ukrainian flags reached a maximum. Otherwise Auriga remained as British as my influence allowed.