NORTHBOUND WITH A FEW " OFF THE BEATEN TRACK " ANCHORAGES ON ROUTE .

After spending almost a month in Salvador which included our five day sojourn in the mountains of Chapada Diamantina it was time to continue north but from now on until the end of this season’s passage we would be joined by our very staunch friend Professor Philippe Gouffon . We met Philippe and his lovely lady Frederique when we first arrived in Brazil last season and since then have become firm friends.  Philippe has been quite incredible in assisting us with everything possible in order to make our stay in Brazil as enjoyable as it has turned out to be over the last two seasons .

Apart from both being physicists at Sao Paulo University they are avid sailors so sometime back we started discussing the possibility of them joining us for part of this season’s cruise up the Brazilian Coast . Unfortunately due to Frederique’s work commitments she has been unavailable but Philippe has recently retired allowing him time to join us for the last five hundred miles of this season’s cruise . Having an on-board physicist is fantastic as everything from passage planning to the best way to place a cockpit cushion is discussed in detail but the best attribute our dear friend has is his polite gentle manner in which he conducts himself . He is one of the most decent , caring human beings l have ever had the privilege to meet .

We headed out of Baia de Todos os Santos straight into a two knot current on the nose and with the wind forward of the beam our 270nm leg was going to be slow. Our first night at sea was quite spectacular . We had front row seats to a full lunar eclipse and as a bonus to an already special event we had what is referred to as a “ super moon “ which apparently was last seen in 1982 and will only be witnessed again in 2033 . I ended up with a crick-neck from gazing up into the heavens for the time that it took to eclipse .

Our second night at sea was a totally different event when l picked up a ship on a collision course with us and after making numerous attempts to raise them on the radio l was forced into altering our course by ninety degrees to avoid having to be scraped off their bow . Whoever was supposed to be on watch failed dismally in his/her duties as we have an AIS transponder which sets off alarms and displays a target on their screens warning them of our presence . Our new transponder has been a wonderful addition to our electronic system and this entire season we have watched ships alter course well in advance to give us clear passage , except for this idiot .

Prior to leaving Salvador we discussed our options regarding stopovers on our northbound route and decided to try out a number of anchorages “ off the beaten track “. These specific places required careful planning and good navigation and timing the tide with most of them was critical as our draft of 1,8m only allowed an entry at high tide . Our main problem was that information regarding depths was a little sketchy so caution would be the rule of the day .

Our first stop would be Barra de Sao Miguel 270nm up the coast which involved an angled approach through the extensive reef system and then a sharp turn to port through a narrow gap in the reef with breaking waves on both sides followed by a sharp turn to starboard and then a run parallel and close to the beach which is where our friend Pete Hill’s Cruising Guide left us to our own devices . Shortly after rounding a sand spit we touched the bottom but fortunately because we were motoring really slowly we backed off without any problem . We moved back into deeper water and dropped the pick for the night. No sooner had we relaxed in the cockpit to survey our new surroundings a young guy approached us in a powerboat and offered to lead us into the river to the anchorage that we had originally planned to visit . It turned out that the channel ran very close to the beach and he guided us in without a hitch .  Two days later after exploring the town and having an enjoyable stay in Barra we decided to “ employ “ him to guide us out through the reef which he did with great aplomb at 5.30 in the morning . As we headed through the reef a stiff onshore wind was blowing with some decent waves to boot and punching through them behind the wheel of our heavily ladened 13ton yacht , it brought back memories of ski-boating on the KZN Coast many years ago albeit in an entirely different type of boat .

Our next anchorage would be Maragogi a further 72nm up the coast and with less current on the nose we arrived late afternoon to find a pretty uncomfortable chop caused by the reef offering little protection on the high tide . It turned out to be a bit of a rock and roll anchorage so the following morning we were out of there heading for our next scheduled stop . Guadalupe is also protected by the barrier reef which virtually runs the full length of this part of the coast interrupted every now and then with small gaps in the reef allowing protected anchorages to be found if the depths allow anchoring a deep draught boat such as ours  . Motoring really slowly , feeling our way in we touched the bottom again . We backed off and dropped the pick in deep water , sat back and enjoyed the beauty of the surrounding palm fringed beach which judging by the timber piles placed in rows across its width was suffering some serious erosion .

The following day we headed across to a privately owned island Ilha de Santo Aleixo and while approaching a beautiful white beach very slowly under power we once again touched the bottom . After two seasons of cruising Brazil without ever touching the hard stuff we had done so now three times in our last four anchorages. Our pioneering spirit was fading fast and any thoughts of continuing the exploration of mainly uncharted waters to our next planned anchorage came to an abrupt end and after a great day anchored off this beautiful little island we set sail late in the afternoon for our next port of call Recife .