Before sailing to Brazil , good friends of ours who have cruised this coast made numerous notes and comments on various anchorages and ports in our cruising guide . Alongside Santo Andre their comment was " A must " so we were looking forward to visiting this spot . We were needing to catch up on some boat projects , some overdue admin and after the Brazilian Navy on the Abrolhos Archipelago had kindly informed us that all the authorities were available in Porto Seguro it was the perfect place to renew our visas . We also felt like chilling for a while , as my little wife calls it " centering ourselves ".
Santo Andre turned out to be the perfect place with the calmest of anchorages on the beautiful Rio Joao de Tiba opposite a forest of mangroves . This laid back village located on the banks of the river is also the place where the current world champions , the German soccer team based themselves for a number of months prior to winning the World Cup . Along the beach opposite the tricky entrance to the river are some very upmarket resorts and it was here that the Germans prepared themselves for what turned out to be a very successful campaign .
We anchored upriver from the well known Gaivota Restaurant owned by Anna and her husband Aloisio , wonderful hosts who soon made us feel very welcome even inviting us to join their family and friends to celebrate Anna's birthday with a big churrasco ( braai ). Our daily routine ended each day with a hot shower and evening meal with caipirinhas in their restaurant with a beautiful view over the river .
The nearest town is Santa Cruz Cabralia which is close to the spot where the Portuguese explorer Pedro Cabral first stepped onto Brazilian soil in 1500 . We explored the old historic town with its very conspicuous church high up on the hill overlooking the sea , the first building that we could identify when we sailed in from offshore . The ferry that connects these towns really fascinated me with the way in which the drive unit ( tug ) pivots from its bow , swinging through 180 degrees when it turns to head back . Two ferries run simultaneously passing each other midway along the river every half hour . They are the life blood of these communities and there is no other way to cross these rivers apart from in a boat . The captains driving these very ungainly craft are highly skilled operators as they have to deal with lots of current and when the ferries are fully ladened with trucks , cars and you name it , winding your way around tight bends and timing your turns takes years of practise . One quite bizarre incident that happened on one of our ferry trips involved an ambulance . While waiting on the ferry to leave we heard a siren wailing on route to the ferry landing . This ambulance arrived and drove onto the ferry . The driver switched off his siren and stepped out of the vehicle as the rules stipulate that no-one can remain in their car while on the ferry . Walking past the ambulance l noticed two patients lying in the back . As soon as the ferry had docked at the other end the driver hopped back into the ambulance switched on his siren and took off like a bullet down the road . Hopefully these patients ailments were not life threatening .
Anna had offered to take us to Porto Seguro to renew our visas . We spent the day with her , most of the morning in a meditation centre , my first experience on how to meditate . We then had lunch at a really nice per kilo restaurant near the famous Passarela do Alcool ( Booze Walkway ) which apparently parties all night .
After sixteen days in Santo Andre and having made a substantial contribution to Anna and Aloisio's retirement fund we sailed for Ilheus which lay 108nm up the coast .
Apart from putting on a few kilos we felt totally relaxed and ready to continue with our adventure .
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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