Mamangua , considered to be Brazil's only fjord is a place l was really keen to visit . It consists of a long narrow passage of water roughly 5nm(8km) which is flanked on both sides by mountains and is a place of solitude where one can anchor at the head of the fjord and not see another yacht for days on end.
We had been warned by local yachties that it is not the place to be when the fronts move in from down south as strong katabatic winds funnel down the mountains and with the bottom consisting of soft mud , the holding is not very good . In fact while visiting the local sailmaker in Bracuhy the other day , a local yacht arrived that had been caught out in the fjord in just the same circumstances and he claimed that he had experienced gusts of 65kn seriously damaging his bimini and genoa and when he awoke the following morning his duck had disappeared .
So after doing a careful weather check making sure that nothing was heading our way from down south in Patagonia we headed off to check out Mamangua.
We headed straight down to the head of the fjord and dropped anchor in perfect conditions which stayed with us for the following three days .
The following morning we hopped into the duck and went exploring as we had been told that there was a waterfall and mangroves to see and because the water was too shallow for Windward , the duck was the right boat for the job .
The scenery was awesome and just the right conditions for Urs to get familiar with handling the duck .
The next morning we headed to Vila do Cruzeiro , a small fishing village in the fjord with its old chapel right on the beach . A fleet of prawn boats lay at anchor off the village which lies at the foot of Mount Pao de Acucar .
We decided to climb to the top of the mountain as apparently the view is breathtaking . After getting directions to the path that leads up the mountain using sign language , we started hiking through the rain forest at the base . After an hour of walking seemingly past the mountain we arrived at this beautiful home with its own private beach . Somewhere along the line we took a left and not a right which is quite easy in a forest without a view of any outside bearings . We then found out that this particular house was used to shoot scenes for the Twilight movie series which according to my little wife our daughter enjoyed . Vampires were the main feature in these movies so it added a whole new dimension to the walk back through the forest to the boat anchored off the village . That night l could have sworn that l heard screams in the forest , although it could have been a bird .
After three wonderful days we headed out of the fjord and back to the islands.
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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"That night l could have sworn that l heard screams in the forest , although it could have been a bird ." - Those were the screams of my fellow Man U supporters :-)
ReplyDelete"The scenery was awesome and just the right conditions for Urs to get familiar with handling the duck ." - Down the river with two old ducks - im sure theres a Blues song in there!