Abraao is the main centre on Ilha Grande offering just about everything you might need while cruising the island . Restaurants , bars , dive operators , kayak and bicycle hire and everything centred around tourism . Reasonable shops and a great little bakery / eatery where we often sit and enjoy the day's special with one of Brazil's amazing fruit juices , nature's own Red Bull .
The town has two large piers extending off the beach from the waterfront and there is a continual stream of ferries transporting goods and people to and from the island from the continent . As there are no cars on the island , everything is transported from these piers by trolley to whichever shop or establishment have ordered the goods .
We have learnt that the town only wakes up at night and it takes on a whole new character with shops even the chemist closing late into the evening with tourists from all parts of the world packing the restaurants and bars making the atmosphere very festive . Standard dress is T - shirt , baggies and slops and we have even spotted people particularly men sitting have a meal in a speedo feeling quite comfortable that he is appropriately dressed , not that the proprietors seem to have an issue with it .
Abraao also marks the start of most of the island's many hiking trails and it has a number of historical sites close to it including the Lazaret ruins and the stone aqueduct that used to supply it with water at a rate of 1 million litres per hour . The Lazaret was a quarantine house where immigrants were kept as Cholera was a major problem in Europe in the 19th century and it could accommodate up to 1000 people at a time . It served 4000 ships before being converted to a political prison during several episodes of Brazilian history when it lost its importance as a quarantine house . Walking amongst the ruins it has a feeling of sadness and misery and is very out of place compared with the surrounding beauty of the island and the holiday atmosphere that pervades the nearby town .
The town is also one of my little wife's favourite haunts and she loves browsing in all the shops while l catch up on world cup games in a local pub . I have noticed that the cruising kitty gets severely whacked everytime we call in at Abraao .
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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