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| The journey continues. |
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| "Oryx" off Macae, Espiritu Santo, |
We left Salvador on
Saturday the 22
nd of June in the midst of the Sao Joao festival. The
breeze was light initially, but the sun was shining and the sailing pleasant.
The Brazilian navy were out in full force, doing some sort of exercise and at
times it seemed as if we were part of their exercise. Two frigates and a patrol
boat came close to “Oryx” before wending their way back towards Salvador. While
Pete was napping another patrol boat came nearby, deployed their dinghy with
six combat ready marines. They circled “Oryx” awakening Pete, before coming
alongside to ask for our details. After ascertaining that we had life jackets
(we never wear them) and where we were headed, they wished us a safe journey
and headed back to the patrol boat!
We spent the next several
days going to windward. The forecast northerly never materialised. Our progress
with the newly cleaned bottoms continued to please, but Aeolus just wasn’t
playing along. It was a little like being back in the doldrums. Fierce squalls
were interspersed by periods of being becalmed. The pounding to windward took
its toll again, loosening the tri colour navigation light fixture on top of the
starboard mast. Pete noticed it nodding madly at first light and broke the news
at breakfast. We were going to stop again to repair the light. He had selected
Coroa Vermehla as it was nearby and had a sheltered anchorage behind the reefs.
COROA VERMEHLA!!!
Coroa Vermehla (red coral)
is a small village. Beyond the reef lies a long beach with barracas (beach
bars). It is considered to be the very first Portuguese landfall in Brazil and
there is a monument to commemorate the landing. It is also renowned for its
nearby indigenous Indian reservation. The Brazil Indian tribe here is the
Pataxo and walking to the town from the beach, one passes through a piazza
lined with Indian craft stalls.
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| One of the many baracas on beach at Coroa Vermehla |
Four years ago, when we
first stopped here, I inadvertently photographed a little Pataxo boy of about
five. I was photographing the monument and there he was reflected in the
marble, in full Pataxo regalia. One is supposed to pay one real for the
privilege, but I had no change. I almost acquired the little boy, as he
wouldn’t let me go. I tried picking him up and although he was slender he was
not a lightweight. I promised to pay him on our return, but it started raining
and he was no longer there. This time I searched the faces for the gorgeous
little kid, but four years is a long time and none of the nine/ ten year old's resembled him.
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Notice his finger!
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Pete spent no time
dallying about and scooted up the mast to repair the tri colour light fitting,
by replacing the dislodged nut and securing it with
lock tight and
sikaflex.
Pete decided to stay for a few days as we both like the place.
We were well
sheltered behind the reef and Porto Seguro was a short bus ride away. When we
explored the coast four years ago, we sailed into Porto Seguro on “Pelican”,
but couldn’t stay, as there was nowhere to anchor. The coast between Coroa
Vermehla and Porto Seguro is filled with hotels and pousadas and swarms with Brazilian
visitors on package holidays in the summer.
PORTO SEGURO
Three years after Pedro
Cabral’s landing at Coroa Vermelha, Goncalvo Coehlo’s expedition placed a
marker at Porto Seguro. (Porto Seguro literally means secure port another
example of the prosaic nature of some of the Portuguese names.) The local
Brazil Indians were the Tupininguin. They were rapidly conquered and enslaved,
but the Aimore, Pataxo and Cataxo tribes resisted and retook Porto Seguro
twice, reducing it to rubble in 1612.
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| View from the historic city |
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| Tourists browsing through Brazil Indian handcrafts under shade of tree. |
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| Looking down at the lower modern part of the town of Porto Seguro |
Once again the town has
two parts. The original settlement was on the upper reaches, so this is where
the historical city lies. We explored the beautifully restored buildings and
then picnicked with a panoramic view of the bay.
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| One of the beautifully restored churches.The upper city is a World Heritage site. |
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| A Marmoset comes to investigate. |
We then headed down the steps
to the lower part of the town and the harbour. Porto Seguro was still
celebrating the Sao Joao festival and their streets abounded with colour. After
checking out the anchorages we headed to the main drag with its many
restaurants and bars. The road is called “Passada do Alcool” (Alcohol Alley)
Don’t you love the aptness of the names? We caught the bus back to Coroa
Vermehla.
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| Along Passada de Alcool |
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| Dugout canoe |
THE PATAXO
This is the biggest
group of Brazil Indians in the Bahia region.
They number approximately 3500. The name is pronounced Pa tash o.
They are mainly
subsistence farmers, fishermen and hunter-gatherers. They utilise local
plants for medication. Their traditional pharmacy is bio diverse and utilise
more than 90 different plants. They have remedies for colds, asthma, fever,
toothache and rheumatism to name but a few. Their healers are revered, but
they are struggling to maintain the tradition. Many healers are over sixty
and so this knowledge could be lost within as little as two decades.
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We left Coroa Vermehla on
a Friday and sailed to windward again, but managed to lay the course. On Sunday
Aeolus and his promised north wind arrived just after sunrise. We were sailing
off the Abrohlos islands (Open your eyes islands! Low lying, hard to spot!)
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| This was taken from "Pelican" Abrohlos Islands |
Pete always does the final
watch and then starts breakfast. I was starting my watch and did the usual look
around for ships and boats etc. I called to Pete that I had seen “something
big!” It was a Southern Right Whale. Thereafter, between 0700 and 1700 we saw
whales on almost every point of the compass. We were enthralled. I stopped
counting after the tenth pod of three. Most were distant fountains of water,
but some were close enough to see them breaching, slapping the water with their
side fins and also flashing their tails! Unfortunately my slack jaw seemed to
impede my photographic skills and I shot mostly views of the sky.
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| One of the pods of whales. |
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| Dusk the day before we had a fearless visitor. |
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| Perhaps Faye can identify again. He had webbed feet. |
The next day there were
still a few distant squirts of water near the horizon. We spent several hours
becalmed and Pete and I relaxed on the trampolines enjoying the sunshine and
the relatively flat seas.
By the Tuesday a front was coming through and we
reached our intended destination south of Vitoria. We had to sail through
several small islands and breaking rocks, dark clouds were obscuring the
horizon ahead of us. Fortunately we dropped anchor in an unknown bay, near Guaripari and took cover. The topography south of
Vitoria is stunning. There are tall blue mountains and some of the shapes seem
to be precursor of the sugar loaves of Rio. We were now in the state of Espirito
Santo.
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| The beautiful homes in the restricted condominium north of Praia Cerca, Guarapari |
GUARIPARI
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| It took me a while to figure out the 'kiosk' |
As soon as the front
abated we launched “Crake” and rowed to the nearest beach, but as we approached
we saw that the beaches were private and part of a walled condominium, so we
headed for the public beach, but unfortunately the surf was not quite Hawaiian,
but getting there. We tucked our tails and returned to “Oryx”. The following
day we sailed to the next bay – Enseada de Cerca and anchored there. We managed
to get ashore, but the return to “Oryx” after exploring the town was
reminiscent of Lagos. Pete was drenched. We were swept by two waves; our
groceries were floating on the bottom of the dinghy, but on the bright side:
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It was warm,
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We didn’t capsize
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And it was Hannah’s
first birthday.
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| Enseada de Cerca |
The day after we sailed slowly and blissfully around
the point, which is a nature reserve and anchored off the town’s main beach,
which proved to be one of the nicest anchorages yet. (Enseada de Guaripari.) We
rowed ashore and landed in a corner with virtually no swell. When we were stowing
the dinghy, a Brazilian chap from the Nature reserve came and chatted to us.
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| Pete's encounter with a constrictor. |
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| The apartments of Guarapari from the nature reserve, |
We
went off to get the fixings of a picnic and then returned to have our picnic on
the beach before heading for the reserve. The reserve charges the princely some
of R$2.00 (60p) and when we were about to pay, the nature warden approached and
let us enter without payment, because we are “Estrangeros”!!! The nature
reserve was well maintained with paved pathways and verdant foliage.
Unfortunately, the path is not circular, so we couldn’t view the Praia Cerca
anchorage.
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| Sailing around from Cerca we seemed to pass into a parallel universe! (A 'Fringe' moment) |
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| Anchored off main beach Guarapari |
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| Bikers visit blue marlin on main beach |
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| Beautiful mountainous backdrop. |
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| These teenagers were paddling between our hulls and then stopped to pose for the photograph! |
Guarapari is a very ordinary Brazilian town with few foreign
tourists. The mountains that form the backdrop to the town add to the aesthetic
beauty. We tried out another anchorage, in the centre of town, near the fuel
dock and bridge, but found the one a little short of space and the other not
ideal for overnight.
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| Anchored in the channel for lunch. |
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| Close up. A man on the beach offered to buy 'Crake', but Pete didn't take orders! |
We had lunch in the channel and then sailed on to Meaipe.
MEAIPE
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| Do you see any black sand? |
The Lonely Planet describes the sands around
Guarapari and Meaipe as ‘black’ so I was expecting sand similar to that of
volcanic beaches. (Myrtos on Crete comes to mind.) The beaches however are
golden with the occasional black streak. A bit like oil pollution, but nothing
that was very obvious, even in places called Praia Preto. (Black Beach.) According
to LP these beaches are said to be ‘healing’ but are actually radioactive. My
Geiger counter was on the blink, but my hair texture seems to have change and
Pete now glows in the dark!
UBU
We sheltered at the ore terminal overnight, which was well charted. The pilot boat came to ask if we had a problem and then bid us welcome.
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| Not many yachts visit this man made ore terminal and harbour, but we sheltered for the night. |
Next stop was the village of Ubu, which was just
around the corner and off the chart. We sailed in amongst breaking waves on the
rocks and anchored amongst a small fishing fleet.
Ubu is the recorded first landfall for the explorer Amerigo Vespucci, who gave his name to the Americas. Ubu today is a small town where the
locals are apparently reticent because they don’t want an influx of developers,
but the swells were so big, that Pete braved the natives alone and returned
unscathed with some good photographs and some fresh bread rolls.
ANCHIETA
Still exploring the coast we managed to visit the
old town of Anchieta. We had to anchor ¾ miles from the shore, because the bay
was so shallow. Anchieta is one of the oldest settlements in Espirito Santo
State. It contains many relics of the 16
th century Jesuit priest
Jose’ de Anchieta.
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| Tree in square where walk culminates. |
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| View from the upper town |
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| The original church built with the help of the Brazil Indians. |
The popular 100km
Steps of Anchieta walk along the
beaches from Vitoria to Anchieta takes place in June. Local Indians built the
church walls. There is a statue of Jose’ de Anchieta giving a blessing to the
Goitaca warriors. These Brazil Indians stirred my sympathy and evoked remorse.
According to Lonely Planet these fierce warriors were longhaired, tall and robust.
They lived on the coastal planes of Espirito Santo and Rio de Janeiro region.
The early Europeans found the Goitaca almost impossible to capture. They were
outstanding runners and swimmers and by all reports were equally at home on
land or on sea. According to legend they could capture a deer with their arms
and disembowel a shark after wedging a stick in its jaws. In the 18
th
century this tribe, never defeated in battle – around 12 000 people- were
exterminated by a small pox epidemic, apparently introduced deliberately! And
we talk about chemical warfare and ethnic cleansing in the 21
st
century. Imagine what splendid footballers and Olympic athletes the Goitaca
would have made!
IRIRI
Iriri was yet another splendid anchorage. Huge rocks
surrounded the small beach. One of the disadvantages of Brazil is the noise.
People having parties and having fun like it
LOUD, but Iriri’s beaches
forbid excess noise! Even in Joao Pessoa noise pollution is being addressed in
the form of contact numbers on the local trains.
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| Another 'black; beach? |
MACAE
As we sailed overnight to Macae, rounding Cabo Sao
Tome, Pete reminded me of an incident four years ago when we almost ran into a
fishing boat with no lights. I thought the likelihood of history repeating
itself, highly unlikely, but guess what? Not only did we almost run into
another trawler, but at 0300 we got caught in a drift net. Pete spent the next
two hours trying to free us without damaging the net too much. Our boat hook got
horribly ensnarled and at times Pete was severely doused by waves on the stern
deck.In the end we had to cut the line and later found
that the net had cut into the leading edge of the new rudders. Usually the
fishermen stand watch and warn off approaching vessels with a spotlight showing
the lie of the net, ‘our’ fishermen were sleeping and no one witnessed our
struggles.
IHLA SANTANA
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| This fisherman came to welcome us to Macae, just off Ihla Santana |
Free at last we sailed on to Ihla Santana off the
city of Macae. Not many yachties visit the oil fields of Macae. Both a fishing
boat and some Brazilians on a powerboat welcomed us to the anchorage off Ihla
Santana on a Sunday afternoon. We had a quick lunch and then joined Pierre and
his family ashore. Pierre lives in Macae and extolled the virtues of the place
with its fabulous islands, coast and the nearby mountains. He said that the
people of Macae always have the choice of seaside or mountains on the weekend.
As the oilfields drive Macae, perhaps this is affluent privilege. Pierre plied
us with beer whilst his fisherman friend gathered fresh sea urchins and
introduced us to sea urchin roe cured with lemon juice. Sea urchins are better
eaten than sat upon.
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| Pierre and his family and friends lied us with chilled beer... |
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| And fresh sea urchins! |
The island of Santana belongs to the Brazilian navy, but the beaches are open to the public. Pete had a yen to see the lighthouse, so Pierre spoke to the chap in charge and we rowed ashore the next morning with a packed picnic. The marineiros couldn't have been more friendly, but had to escourt us to the lighthouse and where expecting a boat with supplies. Pete and I explored the beach and the rocks on either end and had a relaxed picnic basking in the winter sun at noon, watching the supplies being unloaded.
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| Picnic at Santana Rock |
A pleasant young Brazilian called Daniel escorted us to the lighthouse, stopping to show us all the viewpoints along the way. He then duly unlocked the lighthouse and up we climbed. He allowed us to snap pictures to our hearts content, but asked us not to publish a photo of him.
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| The modern led light. |
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| Daniel pointed out some impressive spiders! |
MACAE
Macae is the city closest to Brazil’s offshore
oil rigs and the majority of the people work in the oil industry. There are few
tourists who visit Macae and we found the people very welcoming and interested
in “Oryx”. Whilst clearing in with the port captain, he asked to see
photographs of the boat. We explored the city before having lunch at a kilo
restaurant, and shopping for supplies. At dusk we saw an interesting interpretation
of a jangarda. The sailor was an environmentalist called Vincente, who was as
interested in “Oryx” as we were in his jangarda. He came alongside and came on
board. Unfortunately the language differences made communication difficult, but
fortunately not impossible. Vincente has worked on the manatee projects and had
just sailed in from Buzios on the fringes of a front. He capsized at one stage,
but managed to right the boat. Light was fading fast and he had other
commitments, but we exchanged contact details and have subsequently met friends
of his in Rio.
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| Vincente comes alongside in his jangarda. |
There is a small yacht club up river in Macae, but
the entrance is dotted with rocks and without local knowledge, we didn’t
attempt to enter. We simply anchored off the Enseada Macae, which provided
excellent shelter from the south and west.
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| Tortuous entry to yacht club up the river |
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| Celebrating Louis Braille |
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| Thought of Pam's birthday dinner on the other side of the ocean. |
IHLA FEIA
En route to Buzios we anchored alongside a fishing
boat off the island of Feia. The next morning we heard a squawk, which I
attributed to the fishermen, but was actually coming from a pair of Magellanic
penguins. In the 20 odd years that Pete has been visiting Brazil, he has never
see penguins in Brazil before. We consulted his bird book to find that these little
fellows were some 1500km north of their northernmost hangout – the river Plate.
Ihla Feia is uninhabited, but the bay has clear water and some good
snorkeling, so tripper boats from Buzios come out regularly.
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| Day trippers from Buzios. |
BUZIOS
Buzios is a favourite amongst Brazilian and
international tourists. It is in the Rio de Janeiro state and is a short drive
from Rio. Unlike the majority of Brazilian beaches, Buzios has 17 small beaches tucked away in coves all around the peninsula. The beaches
almost disappear at high tide, but they have a cosy intimacy. The snorkeling
all around seems good. Buzios is known as the Brazilian Riviera. In the 1960’s
Brigitte Bardot and her Brazilian boyfriend ‘discovered’ Buzios. There is a
street on the seafront named after her and various café’s and cinemas bear her
name.
We initially anchored off the northern side of
Buzios off Enseada Tartaruga. We headed for the town after breakfast, just as
the crowds were starting to arrive at the beach. We had packed a picnic and
after looking around the tourist shops we walked to a beach on the far side, Praia Forno.
The tide was high and the beach a little crowded and as it was still a little
early we walked across a hill to Praia Brava, one of the main surfing beaches
and had our picnic there. It was no less crowded, but we found a spot on the
rocks and sat watching the surfers.
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| Enseada Tartaruga with ihla Feia in distance |
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Praia Forno
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Lavish house en route to Praia Brava
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| Picnic at Praia Brava |
ARRAIAL DO CABO
A cold front was approaching so we headed for the
bay near Cabo Frio. We anchored in a sheltered spot called Enseada do Forno, which is
surrounded on three sides by high cliffs. The town is a kilometre further and
the path between the beach and town is well utilised. It is steep in places but
affords great views. The fishing harbour is packed with fishing boats and
tripper boats and on the days when the weather was good, the tripper boats
brought visitors in droves.
After crossing the hill we did the usual - explored
the historic part of town, the beachfront and then raided the supermarket for a
suitable picnic and some beers. We knew the cold front was imminent so we
headed for a beach on the exposed Atlantic side and had our picnic there. Once
again we were back to the Brazilian norm of long wide beaches stretching for as far as the eye can see.
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| Crowded harbour off Arraial do Cabo itself |
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| Even in the midst of all the joy, there is always a hint of homesickness! |
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| Yet another beautiful Brazilian beach. |
We spent a week in the bay near Arraial do Cabo,
Pete scrubbed the bottom, I caught up on laundry… all the mundane things that
need doing. We found some splendid ten-year-old Argentinean wine at a
reasonable cost and stocked up our now diminishing cellar. Once the front had
abated we explored the bay around Cabo Frio. The Portuguese explorers who named
Cabo Frio were a little disorientated, as Cabo Frio (Cold Cape) is not a cape,
but is an island. Still it looks like a cape,just like Rio’s Guanabara Bay look
like an estuary…
We anchored off Cabo Frio lighthouse, where we met a
singlehander called Luc. Luc is a Belgium polyglot who is currently working in
Sao Paulo. He went to explore Enseada do Forno, but returned just before
nightfall with a bucket full of red grouper, which he shared with us. He had
asked local fishermen what their catch was like and they showed him, literally!
He joined us for my version of Pete’s Portuguese Fish Stew.
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| Beach at Cabo Frio |
We left Cabo Frio in the late afternoon, to utilise the
afternoon breeze and also to ensure arriving in Rio by daylight. Just beyond
the Cape like island we saw a flock/ school of penguins swimming in formation!
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| Heading for the gap! |
ITAIPU
Rio, the city that is named after a non-existent
river is surely one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I have never
visited by air, but sailing into Rio de Janeiro from the west in 2008 filled
me with suadade – the indescribable longing to return. Approaching from
the east was a little different and just as beautiful but unfortunately we were met by a tide of
litter, which dampened my enthusiasm somewhat. Our first port of call was the village of Itaipu, where the surf was tremendous. The following morning we
hastened to go ashore, but after examining the surf, decided to skip the
landing. The village has a unique service, in that the one restaurant brings out a
menu and should you desire then delivers a meal of your choice to your cockpit! The next morning we sailed into Rio de Janeiro itself, but that will follow.
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| Approaching Itaipu |
Keep reading and please keep the comments flowing by blog or by
email. Thanks for the positive feedback. If you read the blog regularly, could you please 'follow' it? If any of our Brazilian friends know the name of the bay in Guarapari, with the gated condominium, could you please email us with the details - can't find it on the charts or on Google Earth.
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Sugar Loaf beckons!
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http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cruising-Guide-Coast-Brazil-Part-ebook/dp/B00IT3L64E/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1394734579&sr=1-1&keywords=a+cruising+guide+to+the+coast+of+brazil
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