25 nautical miles later, we went into Santo André at high tide but we still hit our bottom several times. We anchored at (S 16.15.127 W 39.00.900).
Santo André is another small quiet village, located about 35 km from Porto Seguro, the main city of the region.
View of Raptor - Chillin' out at Gaivota (a restaurant)
About 25 mins walk away from Gaivota, a restaurant in Santo André, we caught the ferry to Santa Cruz Cabrália.
Ferry "terminal" from Santa Andre - Just a landing for the ferry and everyone waits by the roadside
A beach at Santa Cruz Cabrália
View of Santa Cruz Cabralia from the church
Streets of Santa Cruz Cabralia
My 400ml Acai for $5 reais
Artistic! It looks as if they built the wall around the bicycle
Dried (cabaça) - used to make a Berimbau which is a single‑string percussion instrument, a musical bow from Brazil
The Berimbau is a single-string percussion instrument, a musical bow, from Brazil. Although it could've been originated from Africa. This instrument is played with the martial art capoeira, which is a mix of acrobatic movements and dance with music. The berimbau (the soul of capoeira) leads the capoeiristas movements - the faster the berimbau is played the faster the capoeirista moves.
We also visited Porto Seguro, a neighbour of Santa Cruz Cabralia, which is located far south of Bahia, Brazil.
The Nossa Senhora da Penha Matrix Church
Streets
of Porto Seguro lined with colourful houses. Porto Seguro which means
safe harbour is Portugal's first entry into Brazil in 1500.
Alex & Bill walking about Porto Seguro
Acarajé - Fried bread with shrimps & some veggies
Porto Seguro
One one of our many walks..
We found a giant Brazilian Grasshopper!
We spent a week here and departed for Illeus on 7th September.
We departed Vitoria for Santo Andre (15 nautical miles north of Porto Seguro) on 29th August 2014.
20 nautical miles southwest of Albrolhos islands and we've already seen over a dozen whales up close. It's mating season (July to November). We had 3 humpback whales cross our bows flapping their long pectoral fins as if they were waving "Hello!".
To be honest, 99% of the time its pretty boring being out at sea with 360 degrees of
the same scenery day after day. But once in a while we get to experience
these special moments of joy and amazement that remind us (me especially).. Life at sea
is kinda cool!
Humpback whales typically migrate up to 25,000 km (16,000 mi) each year, an adult can range in length from 12–16 m (39–52 ft) and weigh about 36,000 kg (79,000 lb)! {gulp} We're very thankful that they did not hit us or vice versa. I'm sure our fibreglass boat would not survive it. How these beautiful giants can grow so big on krill and small fish still befuddles me.
We picked up a mooring (S 16.37.157 W 38.54.616) in Abrolhos on 31st August, an archipelago consisting of 5 small volcanic islands with coral reefs off the southern coast of Bahia state in the northeast of Brazil. The name comes from the Portuguese word abrolho ("Abre Olhos") which means "open your eyes". This is a great place for whale watching and diving. The Abrolhos reefs represent the most extensive and richest area of coral reefs in Brazil and in the Southwestern Atlantic.
Wish we could've stayed longer but at 7:30pm that evening, we suddenly realised our mooring had broke and decided to resume our journey to Santo Andre, Bahia.
A 3 days sail from
Buzios, approximately 188 nautical miles to Vitória, the capital city of
Espirito Santo state in southeast Brazil. On this passage, we sailed
with the spinnaker. Love the colours of the sail. Pretty isn't it? Would
you believe that this is the first time we've sailed with it? (since I
got onboard that is). Wind in the Indian Ocean is so erratic that we
never had the chance to deploy it.
We also caught a 5kg mackerel! Woohoo! We hardly catch anything these days, so we were delighted to have fresh fish for lunch!
We picked up a mooring (S 20.18.053 W 40.17.314) opposite the Iate Clube do Espirito Santo on 21st August 2014 and spent 8 days here. Clearing in was a bit of a hassle as the Capitania (Port Authority) and Policia Federal (Immigration) are not close to each other. The Capitania is about 20 minutes walk but we had to take a bus down to the Policia Federal.
Our stay in Vitoria was most eventful. Our crew Fred, a local Brazilian made arrangements with his friend Loriana for the local TV to interview with us about our journey around the world. It sure was an interesting experience. We had a TV presenter and a camera man on board. I wish I had put on my best outfit, but I was only in shorts and a raggedy t-shirt. The interview was aired in Portuguese. A little embarrassed to share the video, but here are some photos instead.
Goodbye TV Crew
Vitoria is well developed
A couple of days after the interview, Alex and I decided to take the dinghy for a ride around the riverineisland. The main island is surrounded by Vitoria Bay, which has many beaches, mangroves, granite formations and other smaller islands.
On our way back, we noticed Raptor was a lot closer to the beach than we had left her. It was clear that the mooring we picked up had either broke or drifted. The wind and waves were not in our favour as we had to pound against the waves to get on board to re-anchor.
Raptor was getting too close to the beach for comfort. Once we secured the dinghy and started the engine, I untied us from the mooring. Unfortunately the mooring ball went in between our hulls and got caught under us. After some shouting anda panic attack (on my part), Alex was able to kick it free and immediately maneuvered us away from the beach. This time we decided to anchor much further out. (S 20.17.875 W 40.17.137).
One of the nice trees on shore
We visited the Parque Pedra da Cebola in Vitória. The park was named after a rock that looks like an onion.
We also visited the Garoto Chocolate Factory in Vilha Velha. Founded in 1929 by a German immigrant named Henrique Meyrfreund. Garoto is one of the biggest chocolate manufacturers in Latin America and exports to around 40 countries.
We can't say we're fans of Garoto because we love our Swiss and Aussie chocolates too much!
We were invited to lunch by our new friend Loriana at Restaurante Pilao Enseada located along the waterfront. Here we tried our first Moqueca - a Brazilian fish stew made with fish, onions, garlic, tomatoes, cilantro slowl cooked in a terra cotta casserole. It was delicioso!
What a wonderful spread!
Thanks Loriana ;)
Speaking of food, decided to end this post with a photo of my favourite snack in Brazil. I wish I could have one of these now! A big cup of Acai! Yum! ;9
We departed Rio de Janeiro on 13th August 2014, 66 nautical miles later, we anchored at Ilha do Cabo Frio for the night.
The next day, in cold and miserable weather, we motor-sailed another 20 nautical miles andarrived at Buzios. We picked up a yellow mooring (S 22.44.889 W 41.53.019) and stayed here for 5 days.
Buzios was a peaceful little fishing
village until it was made famous by Brigitte Bardots stay in the 1960s. Now its a high
profile and popular tourist resort in Brazil.
