SOME OF THE PLACES WE HAVE VISITED LATELY .

Just a quick update on the nature front .

Two boats had some interesting visitors onboard , the first being a local yacht that had been anchored in a beautiful spot that we visited a while back . On route back to their home port they discovered one of Brazil's highly venomous snakes lying in a pocket in their bimini . I can't help thinking of what the crew would have done had it gone unnoticed and suddenly dropped into the cockpit.

The second boat , a foreign cruiser that was anchored off Paraty discovered one evening a furry little animal sitting on their pushpit . They referred to it as something similar to a possum . That evening they went ashore leaving it on the boat only to discover once they had returned that it had left . It probably got bored and decided to go home .

As l have said before , nature abounds in Brazil .

THE JARARACA , A HIGHLY VENOMOUS PIT VIPER SPECIES . NOT THE SORT OF GUEST YOU WANT TO FIND IN YOUR COCKPIT WHILE UNDERWAY .

THE REMAINS OF THE NOTORIOUS DIOS RIOS PRISON ON ILHA GRANDE .  

ANGRA DOS REIS . HMMM ,I WONDER IF THESE GUYS ARE THE THREE WISE MEN .

FRADE : PARKED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE GARDEN AND READY TO GO . TO GET THE SCALE OF THE SIZE OF THIS BOAT , NOTE THE GUY SITTING ON THE TOP DECK .

EVERY BOAT OWNERS DREAM .

FRADE : MILLIONAIRES ROW . I'LL BET THESE BOATS HAVEN'T DONE A TRANSATLANTIC CROSSING .

FRADE : A SIMILAR CONCEPT TO BRACUHY .

THESE PICS DON'T DO JUSTICE TO THE SIZE OF THESE BOATS . NOTE THE NUMBER OF DECKS INCLUDING THE LOWER PORTLIGHTS ON THIS BABY .

ALL THAT'S MISSING IS THE BOAT .

THE ONLY WAY TO GET HERE IS BY BOAT .

IATE CLUBE ANGRA DOS REIS . ONE OF THE FRIENDLIEST YACHT CLUBS I HAVE EVER VISITED .

IATE CLUBE ANGRA DOS REIS . THEY WELCOME FOREIGN CRUISERS WITH OPEN ARMS .

IATE CLUBE ANGRA DOS REIS . BEAUTIFUL SETTING .

NEVER A DULL MOMENT .

We have been busy lately , well as busy as you can get when you are cruising.

Our visas came up for renewal so we sailed to Angra dos Reis which is where the authorities are situated and headed for their offices . Upon arrival at the Policia Federal a very apologetic official told us that their website was down but if our visas were expiring that day , they would make a plan . We went back the following day and all was up and running and they happily renewed our visas for a further three months . You often hear stories about grumpy and unfriendly officials , but our experience so far has been totally different and that includes Namibia and St Helena Island .Everyone of these officials has been courteous and chatty and a pleasure to deal with . The only requirement the Brazilian authorities expect is that you come properly dressed i.e long pants , collared shirt and closed shoes . We witnessed a guy getting a good finger wagging and a lecture in Spanish after he rocked up wearing a T-shirt , baggies and slops . He disappeared with his tail between his legs only to reappear a few minutes later with the required apparel . He apparently shot across the road and bought himself some decent kit .

We had to head back to Bracuhy to collect our new custom-made raincatchers but decided to visit Iate Clube Angra dos Reis on route as we had read good things about this yacht club in our cruising guide . We sailed up to the head of Ribeira Bay and anchored off the clubhouse . We had barely set the anchor when a boat arrived with two guys waving at us and speaking in Portuguese . At first l thought that we had anchored in the wrong spot , but as it turned out they were welcoming us to their club and had arrived to give us a lift ashore . We set off in our duck to check out the joint and were warmly greeted by a gentleman who referred to himself as the vice president of the club . He took us on a guided tour of the facilities which included a restaurant , pub , immaculate ablution block , TV room  and lounge all set in beautiful surroundings . He explained that they had wi fi throughout and apart from paying very reasonable prices for meals and booze , everything else was for free.
He mentioned that a South African catamaran had sailed in for a brief visit and had ended up staying for six months . I am not surprised with a welcome like that .
That evening at dinner we decided that because the caiparinas were so cheap we would knock back a couple . The next morning we realised that it had not been a great idea .

After collecting our raincatchers in Bracuhy we headed for Frade and discovered apart from the town , a very upmarket development situated on a canal system with some very posh homes and the customary gin palace moored on a private jetty at the bottom of the garden . A boaters dream to step onboard in front of your home and head off to some exotic destination with 365 islands and 2000 beaches to choose from , all within a couple of hours of motoring if that .

Changing the subject completely , we are really excited that for a month we will have family joining us . Rob and Marcelle are flying in from Canada and our daughter joins us later this month from Capetown . Urs is doing her normal thing and Windward is getting a major springclean from bow to stern .
Their visit involves sailing to Rio and back so l decided to visit the warm waters of Piraquara de Fora and spend time diving on our underbody , giving everything below our waterline a once over , giving our hull a proper scrape and changing a few anodes . The reason the water temp is around 28 degrees is this is where Brazil's two nuclear power plants discharge their cooling water and it makes for comfortable diving especially if you are going to be in the water for hours on end without a wetsuit .

What has made this spot more interesting is that we have had a lot of shark activity all around us within metres of the boat . The local yachtie who told me about this anchorage mentioned that a lot of the local sailors had claimed they had seen sharks here , but he reassured me by saying that he had sailed around Baia da Ilha Grande for thirty years and had yet to see one shark . Well , when l hopefully see him next l will tell him that they were quite right and that there are plenty unless its a small very active group .
On day one , l had just climbed out of the water and there was a big splash behind me . As l turned around a shark of about 1,8m breached a second time and then a third in quick succession . Since then it hasn't stopped although the sharks that we have been seeing have been a little smaller at around 1,2m in length . We even witnessed a ray jump clear of the water right near our boat . Last night we lay in bed listening to these loud splashes all around us until we fell asleep .
While diving with scuba gear today l was really hoping to see one to try and establish which species they are but typically , while they are breaching all around you , none come close enough to get a good look at . Over the last few days there have been shoals of fish on the surface which probably accounts for this strange behaviour . The joys of living with the ocean's inhabitants .

Come to think of it , the last three mornings l have been waking up feeling quite perky , so who knows with breaching sharks and the odd ray leaping out of the water , there could be something in the atomic waters of Piraquara de Fora after all.