Having spent a couple of days tied to the local sailmakers dock while he carried out a small modification to our mainsail , we decided it was time to return to Ilha Grande . So after filling our water tanks from his garden tap we slipped our lines and motored down the canal on route to the " Big Island ". Good friends of ours back home who cruised this area two years ago highly recommended Sitio Forte as one of their favourite anchorages , so we headed straight for the anchorage known as Ubatubinha Beach which lies within Sitio Forte . It is the site of an old sardine canning factory , an industry that once thrived on the island . There is a wreck in the middle of the bay that apparently once was a small freighter that caught on fire while moored and was towed to this spot and sunk .
Waking up the following morning we were greeted by the raucous sounds of the howler monkeys up in the rain forest . It is a sound we are now quite used to , something like you would hear outside a soccer stadium when Brazil scores in the World Cup . Thinking about it now , when the first Portuguese explorers arrived on the island five centuries ago , upon hearing these monkeys for the first time they must have crapped themselves .
Ubatubinha is where we decided to implement our new daily regime of waking up in the morning with a cup of coffee , going ashore in the duck , heading off for a decent walk through the rain forest and on returning to the beach , rounding things off with a good swim before starting the day's chores or whatever else has been planned . It is a beautiful place and will remain that way as all further development on the island is no longer permitted and at times we had it completely to ourselves . We felt quite privileged .
Around the corner within Sitio Forte is another beautiful anchorage known as Saco da Tapera with the well known water rock plumb in the centre of the floating mooring buoys . Our friend Michele had raved about this rock and had even seen fellow cruisers sitting on top of it doing their laundry . It is a man-made structure of stone with a grassed top and it has a pipe which leads from the beach restaurant terminating on the rock . We launched the duck and went ashore to introduce ourselves to the owners Naldi and Telma who own the restaurant and they have provided the facility for visiting cruisers to replenish their tanks . The water comes straight down off the mountains and we have been drinking it without any problems albeit that our drinking tap has a silver impregnated carbonblock filter inline . Naldi and Telma now that we have got to know them are really good people and the food that they produce out of their rustic restaurant is superb . One of their speciality's is a fish lasagna where they use fish instead of pasta and is one of the fish dishes that we have enjoyed there since . Their meals can take up to an hour to prepare so if you don't feel like going ashore , you can order your meal via your VHF radio and they will deliver to your boat for eating on board . They also farm their own oysters and mussels and if that is what you decide to order , they will head off in a little boat and harvest your meal . How fresh is that !
I managed to catch up with a couple of world cup games but where Urs and l slipped up badly was after being invited to their annual Yachtie Churrasco ( braai ) , we missed it . For some unknown reason we presumed it would be a night affair and it happened during the day . Thinking about it now , with our homes being on the water and that we would need to return to them at some stage after the festivities , it is probably better to have them during the day . At least you won't find yourself in some strange cockpit after disorientating yourself with your duck while circling the anchorage .
After a very pleasant stay we backed up to the water rock , filled our tanks and headed off to our next destination .
Allan & Ursula Ward: Port Owen, Cape West Coast, South Africa.
Shearwater 39:
- L.O.A. 43ft (13.22m)
- L.O.D. 39ft (12m)
- L.W.L. 34ft (10.3m)
- BEAM 13ft(3.9m)
- DRAFT 6ft(1.8m)
HOW IT ALL BEGAN .
I placed my order on Nebe Boats on the 19/10/1992 for what was initially planned to be a complete factory built yacht that l would sail home to Durban from Capetown once she was completed. Unfortunately due to the demise of Nebe Boats in the early days of her construction it did not turn out that way, so l decided to truck her home to Ramsgate on the KZN South Coast to finish building her in our garden at home.
For many years we could proudly boast that we had the most expensive piece of garden furniture in town, but at the time l had no idea of how massive this project would turn out to be. As anyone who has built a blue water cruiser will tell you, particularly if she is kitted out with all the systems and the equipment that a modern cruiser has onboard these days, it is a daunting task . Looking at the positive aspects of this project, l know the boat intimately in that l designed and installed the systems, so from a repair and maintenance perspective l have no issues carrying out the work that is necessary from time to time.
The big day arrived on the 29/8/2008 when we craned her out of the garden onto a rig to truck her through to Durban for launching . What followed was three months of preparations to ready her for the maiden voyage to our home port in Port Owen on the Cape West Coast.
We had a fast passage down the South African East Coast including a storm off the notorious Wild Coast and arrived in Port Owen in dense fog. Windward had passed her first test with flying colours and since then we have enjoyed some great sailing on the West Coast.
We had a fast passage down the South African East Coast including a storm off the notorious Wild Coast and arrived in Port Owen in dense fog. Windward had passed her first test with flying colours and since then we have enjoyed some great sailing on the West Coast.
The master plan has always been to go cruising, so our plans are to leave for Brazil via Luderitz and St Helena Island at the end of February 2014. So far everything is on track although the “To Do“ list still grows each day.
The purpose of this blog is to record our adventure for ourselves, family and friends. Although it will probably end up being a brief summary of events while we are cruising, we hope you will enjoy and share some of our experiences with us.
LIVING THE DREAM .
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