Jacare Village, Cabedelo, Brazil

A hundred yards upstream lies Jacare Village. The tourist hot spot of the area, renowned for its sunset cruises, accompanied by live saxophone playing. The sax player, over many years has made the village popular and profitable. There are numerous shops that cater for the visitors, only opening from 4 pm - 6 pm, 8 pm during the weekend, selling clothes, souvenirs, jewelry etc. There is the Treehouse bar & restaurant, sometimes we enjoyed it, sometimes it was too busy and noisy. My favourite shop was the House of Nuts, no guesses for what they sell! Unfortunately Alison banned me from going there after a €45 spend. You would think nuts would be cheap in Brazil.....think again....not even in the supermarkets.

Every evening the sunset cruise boats would pass close to our pontoon, dancing, singing and very loud music. The people on board always looked like they were having a great time. The boats were our cue for our favourite alcoholic beverage Caipirinha (sugar cane alcohol with limes, ice and fake sugar for me).

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.

Atlantic Crossing - Part 1

On the morning of departure we went to the marina bar for a full English breakfast. We started eating and then just sat there staring at each other. We couldn't do it justice, lost our appetites.....nerves maybe!

Because we were reversed in, getting out of the Marina was a breeze and off we went. The wind and the sea state that first day was windier and rougher than forecast - local conditions due to the acceleration zones caused by the islands. We were determined to have our mainsail up this time to help control the rocking on the boat and we did. Artemis has a fractional rig with a very large mainsail for the size of the boat. With 2 reefs in (we haven't got a third) the sail still looked big. We would have liked to have some jib out as well, to balance the boat however our sailing companions only had their reefed jib out, so we got our mainsail nice and tight and swung the boom out to reduce the power which the auto pilot seemed to like - moving very little. We sailed most of the way across the Atlantic with this arrangement. 

Artemis leaving Cape Verde

Our new auto pilot functioned very quietly and the effort further reduced by selecting the leisure setting. On our amps gauge, with everything else switched off, it was consuming 1 amp per hour - Great!

Alison had christened our 3rd crew member (the auto pilot), Dr. Ray Marlin. The reason is that he is a Raymarine Linear Drive. Doc for short...a bit contrived...' The auto pilot is good for our health'...I agree.

After the first day the weather matched the forecast with light/medium wind and a low sea height..nice.

On day 2 I started feeling sea sick with a bad headache and blocked sinus'. I took sudafed, sea leg tablets and when my headache didn't go away, a migraine tablet (thanks Melodie). After most of the day in bed...thanks Alison & sorry!....I was feeling much better. 

Pilhaouer

Poled out jib worked well but only for a day

We lost our sailing companion Pilhaouer after the 3rd night. When night came they really slowed their boat down, maybe to a couple of knots. We slowed down also, however we thought 4 knots was slow enough for us and with a big main it was impossible for us to slow down anymore and keep our comfort. After coasting at about 3 knots on the 4th day to see if Pilhaouer would catch up, there was still no sign of them so we got our jib out and carried on. We thought this might happen and had agreed to try and stay with each other knowing that it might not be possible. Every other day we put the engine on to help our solar panel charge the batteries. By day 5 we were both feeling good. We cleaned our bilge and adjusted and greased the stern gland. Day 6 we spotted Pilot Whales and had a shower in the cockpit.

Miles taking a shower 

Sun dried flying fish

Squidlydiddly

Day 9 we changed course from downwind (almost) to a beam reach. This was 1 knot faster but uncomfortable so by evening we changed back. Day10 we have rain in the form of a very wet and windy squall. Artemis got a good rinse and we used the conditions for another shower. By the end of the day the wind was gone - doldrums? We checked our grib files (weather) and this confirmed that we were just on the edge of them. Engine on all night. 

Doldrums

Day 11 we tried to sail in the light winds with great difficulty, only managing 2-3 knots. Engine on. The days were very hot now as can be expected. In the morning we syphoned 60 liters of diesel into our tank to keep it topped up. The ocean  was like a lake.....very surreal!

Mindelo - Delays

Weeks passed, still no sign of our new auto pilot! We were getting itchy feet as we had planned to leave around the 15th February.  When it eventually did arrive our technician Gilson had his hands full fixing charter boats (scheduled to go out). Then the bad weather arrived, howling winds, big seas and very dusty.

Work eventually started on our auto pilot installation....don't get too excited....in Cape Verde they say back in 1 minute, they mean 1/2 hour and back in 10 minutes means tomorrow.  To be fair a lot of items had to be custom made for our boat in the workshop in town i.e. The impressive aluminum frame (mounting for auto pilot), reinforcement to quadrant (to strengthen), a new better fitting pin, a rubber waterproof boot for the linear arm and then the installation of the electronics.

Gilson with frame

All in all we were very impressed with Gilsons work.  The work was completed and the bad weather moved away.  We agreed a date for departure with Philippe & Imelda and prepared Artemis for the journey - destination Brazil!

Mindelo - Out & About

We were invited by our friends Philippe & Imelda to a Sunday afternoon at Chez Loutcha, a short bus ride away for a 'all you can eat' Cape Verdian buffet with live music and dancing.

Apres food, we joined in with the dancing

Another day we all went (14 of us) for swimming and then an evening bbq of locally caught fish etc. At Elvis' beach restaurant at Salamansa, music and dancing again......phew!

Elvis 

Good eats

L-R ; Mae, Sandrine, Marco, Phillipe, Imelda

Tribal dance, once a year something to do with coal

Mindelos famous carnival took place whilst we were here. This was quite spectacular and even some of our friends got in on the act.  We didn't go to the carnival on the first night (lasted 3 days) and luckily  for the charter boat near us.  We saw a flare light up our cabin in a red glow and upon outside investigation we saw the charter boat on fire. The flare had landed on the boats spray hood and was burning its way through ferociously.....We sprang into action. I grabbed a bucket and Alison went to raise the alarm just in case I was unable to extinguish the fire - fire doused with sea water. This was successful and the charter operator was very pleased with us and later that week paid for our breakfast at the marina bar.

Spectacular floats

Mae in Carnival attire

Burnt spray hood 

Mindelo - First Impressions

Our First impressions of Mindelo was total surprise. The marina is smart and well run with a popular floating cafe/bar (yes, they do an English breakfast, albeit a spicy version). Clean toilet facilities, a ship shop chandlery, good key card security and very proficient marinios. Mindelos atmosphere is relaxed and laid back. Not far away, past the commercial port is a lovely white sandy beach. There is several small supermarkets, a fish market and a outside market where we found Merci (flag lady) and purchased 2 courtesy flags and ordered a red British ensign.

Alison found a new friend

Mindelo beach

Merci, Merci !

There were several familiar boats/faces that we were pleased to see again in the marina. One thing we have been looking to buy, for quite a while, is a new anchor. The ship shop has another premises in town that we are directed to and we purchased a spade type anchor at a very good price. We also decided to buy a big round fender to protect our stern from nudging the pontoon when the swell builds up (so glad we did!). We thought about those rubber or spring shock absorbers for our ropes but one of our neighbors said his only lasted around 10 days and another said they made their boat spring back and forward so much that they couldn't sleep. We used reinforced hose pipe and 3 ply nylon rope plus some 8 ply from our middle cleats as insurance, which worked great !

Anchor in situ

After our very tiring trip from the Canaries, hand steering all the way, we had to make a decision regarding a new auto pilot. After speaking to Raymarine specialist Gilson, we pulled the trigger and ordered a linear drive 'Evolution' system to be fitted. Also new cables for our VHF handsets.