Before heading off to continue exploring more islands we had to return to Bracuhy to collect our new comfy cockpit cushions . While slowly motoring up the main canal to the sailmaker's loft we heard someone shouting Windwaaard from a distance and spotted our good mate Guilherme ( St Bill ) waving from his boat that was tied up to a private dock in front of a beautiful waterfront home on the canal.We turned the boat around and rafted up alongside and ended up having a festive evening with him and his good lady . It turned out that the owner of this beautiful property is a good friend of his and allowed us the full use of the ablutions e.t.c. We have discovered that cruising is all about spontaneous , unplanned happenings which always for some reason seem to be a lot more fun than planned events.
The following day we sailed for Ilha do Sandri and anchored off a small fishing village where we spent a very pleasant evening .
The next morning we decided to sail to the western part of Baia da Ilha Grande to explore a more remote part of the bay.On route we cruised past Paraty in the distance and then continued while accompanied by a huge group of dolphins down to the historic village of Paraty Mirim where we anchored in front of their ancient little church . This place is steeped in history dating back to the early 1500's when the gold rush and slave trading flourished.We went ashore and took a long walk through the village to the outskirts trying to picture the scenes that took place in those times.This is when a time capsule would be very handy.
Our next anchorage Saco da Velha has a beautiful little restaurant built on a pile of huge granite boulders tucked into a pretty little cove where we took the advice from the author of our cruising guide and ordered their speciality called Aipim Frito which he recommended should be washed down with a couple of cold beers.We had no idea what was on order and we think it was fried cassava which is something similar to a potato. All the same , we enjoyed sitting and relaxing while looking on at our boat at anchor in this beautiful setting with a couple of turtles slowly drifting past.
The weather has been warm and standard dress on the boat is me wearing a pair of baggies and Urs wearing her new thong.I cannot get my head around how come such a small garment , one that you can literally stuff into a matchbox can cost so much . Sadly she intends to buy a number of them as she feels a thong is very appropriate within the confines of the boat .
The following day we decided it was time to go and check out Paraty itself as we had been told that it is a must while in that part of the bay.
We dropped our hook in a small anchorage right alongside Marina do Engenho , a large marina across the bay from the historic city.
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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Hey Urs brave girl wearing your new thong, well when in Rome,,,,,,
ReplyDeleteYou are right, aipim is cassava. It is also known as mandioca or macaxeira (in the NE of Brazil).
ReplyDeletePhilippe @kilimandjaro
Hi Philippe,great to hear from you . Hopefully we will meet up again . As you can see your modem is working perfectly . What made the aipim taste even better was having met Marcal Ceccon . I introduced him to the right guy in South Africa who is very keen to sell his Cruising Guide . Keep in touch .
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