Having done the hard yards I was really keen for Rob to see as much of the islands in the little time that he had left before flying home to his family.
We went ashore at Palmas and did a bit of exploring and then hiked to the famous Lopes Mendes beach.It is considered one of the most beautiful beaches in the world for good reason.The sand squeaks when you walk on it and it stretches as far as the eye can see.
After two days at Enseada Das Palmas we motored around the corner to Abraao , a bustling touristy little town which is the main centre of Ilha Grande.Urs was in her element with dozens of little shops, restaurants right on the beach and very quaint .At night walking around the town there is a great atmosphere and we really enjoyed parking off in restaurants and watching the world go by.
All too soon it was time to get Rob onto the mainland so we sailed for Bracuhy Marina which allowed us to check out a lot of the other islands on route . Its a beautiful bay with little islands dotted all over the place .
We arrived at Bracuhy Marina which we have since discovered is considered the best marina in Brazil to tie up amongst multi million dollar gin palaces , some of them resembling little ships making us feel quite insignificant.
The marina is situated at the entrance to a series of deep canals which lead to magnificent homes on the waters edge all with their private docks and beautiful yachts moored up in front of these properties. Urs and l took the duck and explored this boaters paradise .
One night out in a marina restaurant we met a wonderful couple both professors Philippe Gouffon and his lovely wife Frederique Grassi who lecture physics at the Sao Paulo University . When they heard that we were from South Africa they joined us at our table and it turned out that the two of them both mad yachties , earlier this year sailed from Baia da Ilha Grande to Capetown , spent a week provisioning the boat with one day to sightsee and hopped back on and sailed back to Brazil all because they only had two months leave available to them which barely allowed them time to get back .
They were giving a talk at The Brazilian Cruising Associations Annual Conference which took place here at the marina and Philippe invited me to attend some of the talks .Unbelievable the support that is available to the brazilian cruisers and because the talks are all in portuguese , Phillipe did his best to translate to me while the talks were in progress.We became good friends and hopefully will see a lot more of them while we are cruising the area.By the way , they own a Sparkman Stevens 32ft monohull which now has a Transatlantic crossing both ways under her keel .
We have spent two weeks in Bracuhy Marina , will probably have to sell a property to pay the bill but the boat is spotless , organized and ready to do some serious island hopping.
We sail tomorrow morning for a little anchorage in the bay where l need to dive on the boat , change anodes and scrub her bum clean and then we are off.
With 365 islands and 2000 beaches to explore , who has time to get bored , not us .
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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