Brazilian Upriver Haven

Before I tell you about our Brazilian experience - a nautical note on entering the river (Pariaba). We had planned to enter a couple of hours after low tide so that we would have enough water underneath us, not be fighting the current and if we hit a sand bar the tide would be coming in to float us off. 

Obvious, good practice. 

Well, we had discussed this with our French pals and written down the projected times allowing an hour difference each day. But we were so far away from our projected arrival that our rule of thumb of adding an hour each day could have become less than accurate. So a rethink was necessary. 

Were our original calculations for GMT (+1) or Central American time of +4 hours? I know, we will consult the Raymarine chart plotter, it's always right with the time and tide predictions, or is it? Should I keep it on Gmt or change for our location in the world. If I wasn't so tired my brain might work. 

    The crew and I were in disagreement by a number of hours. Who was right?

We decided to head to port at our earliest calculation and see how it went, we could always turn around. 

As we entered the channel we didn't seem to be getting any tide assistance but the sea current is so strong here, one could be battling the other. We continued until we came to the end of the (safe) bouyed channel.

We could see some local boats at anchor and as we watched them they gently swang on their moorings so that their sterns pointed upstream. The tide had just changed.

We were earlier than our chosen time but as we could see local yachts actually sailing from upstream and us drawing 1.5 metres or so, we continued.

All was fine and the waypoints were ok but probably not updated for a long time, you can actually see the areas of shallow water to avoid.

As for our tide predictions. Neither were correct. Also the time difference here according to my android tablet is 3 1/2 hrs, Brazillia time. iPad says 4 hrs. GMT - 4 hrs I believe to be correct.

I know I've gone on a bit but if you are coming here do some better homework than we did before setting off.

We were fine because we are cautious.

A yacht that moored next to us a few weeks later had entered at night and hit a fishermans net stretched across the full width of the river. It took him 2 hrs to cut himself free.

Jacare Village Marina is like a 70's campsite facility on first impressions, it has since had a tidy up and now looks more presentable. There is a bar/restaurant, wifi, tv, laundry, multi gym, small swimming pool, toilets and showers, table tennis and library. 

At least 3 members of staff speak English.

Our first meal there was steak chips and salad and was superb, we can also recommend the pizza.

The prices are a bit 'european' and there is much cheaper food to be found out and about but not of the same quality. 

We wouldn't usually be so appreciative of restaurant food but after 20 days at sea!!! 

We also used the laundry as a treat - not cheap. Back to hand washing now.

Other services include diesel delivery, taxi calling, help with checking in at customs, police and port Captain.

These services are a great help but don't expect anything for nothing, there is usually a charge.

The clientele are mostly French with a smattering of other nationalities. 

Jacare Village Marina

Caipirinha's with Phillipe and Imelda

Although we moved from Jacare Village Marine we are still welcome as long as we are spending of course. The safest place to leave your boat if you are flying home or touring South America by land.

The heat here in March/April is in the mid 30's and the lack of breeze didn't help. Time to use our Air Conditioning. It worked for half an hour then conked out. Our fridge was also playing up.

We cleaned everything we could think of on the air con, water intake filter, radiator fan etc.. 

No better.

The fridge problem we put down to the refrigerant having not settled after being shook up, so much en route. So we switched it off for a couple of days to see if it would make any difference. Nope.

Also the pontoon junction box tripped when we tried to heat water. Boiling a kettle was ok though.

Some of our neighbours suggested that the pontoon electricity was not very powerful.

We then met South African Alan Ward and his pal Phillipe S/V Windward. He was on the next pontoon along and told us that his electricity was good, got wifi on the boat, rates reasonable, why don't we move?

We enquired and the monthly rate worked out at about 10 euros/night.

We moved to Peter's Pier (Nautico Centro Jacare) after a week and the air con works perfect. The fridge is fine which I can't really explain as its 12 volt but maybe our vintage battery charger wasn't doing so well with reduced voltage and the wifi is very good.

The cons of our move are: toilets/showers and pontoon water supply only in business hours 7.30 - 5.30 closed Monday and security cameras (not a physical guard like Jacare Village Marina has on a night). Not too bad.

Peter's Pier

Alison was delighted to see cows

'Merci's' ensign looks superb - next time we must remember to get 100/50 ratio as it still looks a bit too square.

A plus apart from those already mentioned is that we can buy a bag of ice from the marina office and use about a third of it for our new favourite evening drink 'Caipirinha' and store the rest in their freezer.

One problem we did have was that while Jacare Village Marina has 24hr security, the cameras and guard dog at our present location became ineffective during a blackout power cut and an opportunist thief wrenched the fishing rod from our push pit handrail, breaking the holder and had away with it.

We heard something at the back of the boat and as I peered from the companionway the thief was making his getaway into the darkness. I didn't fancy giving chase in the pitch black.

It had crossed my mind to put it down below but didn't bother! Tut!

Oh well, never used it anyway. I put an extra chain on the outboard engine for peace of mind.

We like it here, a lot of things are super cheap, especially public transport and the Brazilian people we have met here are friendly and kind. This part of the country is not exactly a tourist destination for foreigners so a lot of people stare, unsurprisingly as we look very Northern European.

Atlantic Crossing - Part 2

Day 12  Beautiful day. The sea is like a pond with only 2 knots of wind rippling the surface. E.T.A. for the equator is 4pm approximately. We have 200 liters of fuel left. Coolant and stern gland checked. At 4:46pm we crossed the equator under engine. We had champagne but preferred a glass of red wine each, pouring some into the ocean we toasted Neptune. We then messed around with the sails however there was not enough wind. We could see squalls in the distance.

Pretty calm

Cheers

Just over the equator - isailor app.

Day 13  The wind had picked up and we were close hauled traveling at 4-5 knots with a double reefed main and a full jib which we reduced midday as squalls were imminent. This was an uncomfortable sail while it lasted, we put the engine on for the evening then off again around midnight - jib back out.

Day 14 We were close hauled again, not comfortable but 'Doc' liked it, 5 knots. At 11:15 am the biggest squall ever, toe rail was almost submerged so we altered course to broad reach until it passed, then back on course. No wind. Engine on, off again a couple of hours later - broad reach. We checked the engine oil, gearbox oil and stern gland. The engine was on then off. During the evening it was very squally, the night was black with zero visibility, wind on nose, not fun - raining constantly.

Day 15 It was still raining, very grey and miserable, both weather and crew. They should have been fuel in the tank but it had read empty so we syphoned some more from our jerry cans. The engine was back on again in the afternoon but by the evening there was 30 kts of wind. This was a squally night with plenty of thunder and lightening but we were glad of the wind as we were getting worried about our dwindling diesel supplies. A bird hitched a ride with us overnight, leaving us in the morning.

Passing tanker 'Hector' - we think it said Liverpool on the back - must get some better binoculars - we fancy a telescope/monoscope 

Day 16 The morning had been great with the wind steady and giving us an easy 5 kts. We had collected some rainwater overnight in a large bucket and Alison washed & conditioned her hair with it.'Bliss' she said. We were a bit (lot) bored with our menu onboard so decided to make pancakes for lunch.....yummy! At 5pm a squall hit us, no problem......then another, except it wasn't a squall but a weather front. It hit us with such force that it broke our Jib Roller Furler.....we couldn't roll it in! Items had been thrown around our cabin and even a light fitting had shook loose. We had no option but to run with the wind (wind behind us). After a few hours of heading in the wrong direction, we decided to heave to. This was not too comfortable with a full jib and the bow into the building sea, however it gave us time to assess damage and think......... Then the bilge pump started to operate! We pulled up the floor boards to see water lapping into the bilge. I fetched a hand pump to give the electric one some help. Water was coming in but from where? We checked all the sea cocks and thru hulls...all dry. The only conclusion was the water came in when the bow dunks itself into the waves???

Hove to

Action stations all hands to the pumps.

Day 17 Come daylight we managed to inspect the roller furler and Alison managed to do a partial repair whilst sitting in the anchor locker which enable us to roll most of the jib in....phew! Started to sail again and we were back on course and no more water coming. We were still wary of the weather, wondering how long the big winds were going to last. The interior of Artemis was a bit of a mess after the night before so we had a good tidy up. We were a bit tired but we had a good sail during the night.

Day 18 The wind had abated and to make headway against the strong swell and current in this part of the Atlantic (Guiana Current) we needed the jib out which did the trick. Yes you've guessed it....the wind increased dramatically and we couldn't roll the jib in, it was stuck tight. Our only alternative was to     take the sail down. Not simple. The bolt rope guide sections had become mis-aligned and the sail was stuck mid way. After an hour of pulling and shaking, and the use of our boarding step on the foredeck we eventually got it down and dragged it down the fore hatch. We were now off course, close hauled under mainsail alone...not happy! The wind died and we motored for 23 hours.

Day 19 The ocean waves and swell have never been big but have a heavy handed power as if the water carries more density than normal.

We were worried about our diesel supplies so we switched the engine off and searched for our storm sail. We had never used this sail before and we threaded it up. We shook the reefs out of the mainsail and started to make slow but steady headway. We put our remaining can of diesel, including all the dregs, filtering into the tank.

Storm jib in action.

We saw the Brazilian coast but didn't want to arrive too soon as it was not recommended to go up the Paraiba river in the dark. We got close in the night and had to tack out to fill in the time. Unfortunately the GPS showed us to be going backwards so about turn again at dawn. When we deemed ourselves in range we started the engine, took the sails in and plied our way up the river, past Cabedelo where cargo ships unloaded and followed Jacare Marinas waypoints to our destination. (Waypoints are on their website but of course any red or green buoys take priority). On the way powerboats and jet skis roared past us and we saw butterflies and small crazy tropical birds (like a Walt Disney cartoon). Radioing ahead got no response (Sunday) so we identified a free space on the outer pontoons in case of draught issues and with the help of neighboring yachties berthed Artemis after 20 days at sea. First job - COLD BEER !

Brazil is there, somewhere.

Not far to go now.

BANG ! and The Battery is Gone !

Woke up in the early hours to a 'Bang'. 

I thought that something had fallen from a great height and smacked on the deck. 

    Couldn't see anything. Still dark. Alison shot up to see what had happened. As we wondered, Alison noticed shredded bits in the cockpit. A cockpit stereo speaker had exploded and the deck shower compartment lid was down. 

    We looked at each other 'The battery box'. 

   Once it got light I carefully opened the battery locker. 

One of the batteries had exploded shearing the top off it and spraying acid all over. 

What a mess. 

I wasn't even playing any Heavy Metal. 

Unhooking the shore power lead and switching everything off we surveyed the damage. 

The blast had taken out the affore mentioned speaker and blown the shower cover down. 

A quick Google showed that this isn't unheard of and water and bicarbonate of soda was called for. 

   We went to the marina office to tell them and see if they could dispose of a partial battery. Yes, but leave it outside. 

   On carefully removing the damaged batt. With protective gloves and upmost care. We put it in a battery box we had spare and trollied it to the office. 

     The onboard shore power trip had activated, so after a thorough clean up I insulated the hanging terminals and tried the electrics. Everything worked. Thank God.  

   Now a warning to others in a similar situation. 

We had heard a whistling sound for a few days before, when the batteries were on charge. I had Googled it and 'Nothing to worry about' was my conclusion. 'I was wrong!!'

The battery in question had been inspected by myself a few weeks earlier. Topped up with distilled water, terminals cleaned and the the green ok indicator was showing. 

It was our oldest battery and seems the noise was the acid bubbling under charge. It could of boiled too dry, 'been overcharged. ( it was the first in line in a bank of three ) or just become defective due to age. Don't know which. 

    With a replacement battery fitted I carefully checked the wiring. Also swapped the largest battery over to the electronics side and put the new one on the engine, as it has a Green indicator for quick checking. 

New battery installed

    Found the battery charger, under the settee in the saloon. Sterling Marine Power, battery charger/power pack. Looked online for an installation guide to check that it had been installed correctly. Couldn't find the right model. All seem newer than mine.

 I am going to give the company a call or email tomorrow and check a few things out. 

    Also, after my activities in the battery compartment, Alison noticed holes appearing in my jeans. Going to clean the locker again with more bicarb. 

     Down below, our bedroom woodwork was showing damp patches. The water I had put in to dilute the acid hadn't found its way to the bilges but sat behind the hanging locker. How annoying. 

Lots of screws and panels were removed and any water soaked up with paper towel. 

Water has got in there before by the looks of it. Will be checking that out. 

You've still got to eat. 

A day out at the Chateau Museum

German mini sub from WW2