Day 411: Salvador to Gamboa, Brazil – 21/02/11

OK.  So it’s not 7 am when we leave as Mike had planned, but 8 am isn’t bad.  We slip the disgusting lazy lines which now feel amazingly clean after all the rain over recent nights, and head out into the Baia de Todos os Santos.  As we leave the bay and enter the Atlantic it feels good to be on the move once more.

Even better, there’s just enough wind on the beam to put the mainsail and genoa out.  And when I say there’s just enough wind, that’s exactly what I mean.  It’s blowing at about 10 knots at the most and with a bit of current going with us we manage about 5 knots which quickly slows down to a rather pathetic 3.5 knots during the afternoon.  However, for the first time in ages, we are in no hurry and just let Jeannius take us at this leisurely pace.

We hug the Brazilian coastline for around 30 miles until we reach Morro de Sao Paulo on the Ilha de Tinhare.

Photo:  Morro de Sao Paulo

This tip of the island was once a major fortification against the marauding French and Dutch in the early 17th century when Salvador was the capital of Brazil.  Now this once sleepy fishing village is a trendy holiday resort which receives 120,000 tourists a year.  There are meant to be a couple of anchorages right here but as we motor past (sails down now) we don’t like the look of them as the only yachts there all have stern anchors out which might mean that the tides and currents can cause a problem and continue instead towards the anchorage at the fishing village of Gamboa.

Arriving at around 4.30 pm is obviously arriving in rush hour.  For an island that has no cars, transport by water is the only way and there are ferries and water taxis galore – all of whom seem to need to zoom by our boat and make us rock around in their wake.  This continues until way past 6 pm but by then we are used to the strange rocking sensation.  We are zoned out and ready for rest.  After an early supper of steak and salad, we watch TV and head to bed ready for a night of being rocked to sleep.  We keep the anchor alarm on though … just in case!

 

Our position is:  13 deg 23 min S, 38 deg 56 min W

Distance so far:  21805 nautical miles