Hello again, and welcome back to my continuing adventure along the coast of Brazil. I last wrote in mid-July, after deciding to leave the boat in Fortaleza for a while, waiting for better weather, getting needed spares and making repairs. I returned to the boat last Thursday evening, and was happy to find everything just as we had left it. I spent Friday and Saturday making the repairs, fueling, handling exit paperwork with the local authorities, and generally getting ready to go again.
\nIt is now Sunday morning, and I am on my way! The big difference this time is that I am going solo, as Steve and Marianne couldn’t get away again so soon after the last 17-day ride from the Virgin Islands to Fortaleza. On the plus side, I am not constrained by anyone else’s schedule, so if I want to stop and rest somewhere I can, I won’t be constantly worried about how they are feeling, whether they are having fun or not, and nobody is ever sitting in \u201cmy\u201d spot. \u00a0But the down side is that I must rely only on myself for everything, which makes some tasks slower and harder, and I have only myself to complain to.<\/p>\n
I’ve got about 2600 miles to go still, which could take anywhere from 17 days to 35 days or more, depending on weather and how long I decide to take breaks, either to rest or to avoid bad weather. And of course also depending on the reliability of the boat and its systems.
\nI expect the first 2 to 3 days will be with strong winds on my nose, until I get to the eastern corner of Brazil, and that is just unavoidable. I am hoping they will be the worst days, and everything will get better after that. It’s possible I will still have wind in the nose for another 2 or 3 days after that, but hopefully not as strong. Somewhere around 9 degrees south I should get reaching winds, which should last until I get to Rio. Then I need to pay more attention to weather forecasts to avoid any southerly storms kicked up from Antarctica, as they can bring very strong winds and seas. If I miss those, I should enjoy beam and broad reaching all the way to Argentina, with the last day or two in brown water going up the river, where the winds can do anything- but it’s a shallow river so it never gets that bad.<\/p>\n
A very special Happy Birthday today to my Dad, who introduced me to sailing some 40 years ago. He\u2019s 82 years old, today, and still sailing vicariously through my adventures.<\/p>\n
So, wish me luck, and I’ll keep you posted on how everything goes…
\n-David<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hello again, and welcome back to my continuing adventure along the coast of Brazil. I last wrote in mid-July, after deciding to leave the boat in Fortaleza for a while, waiting for better weather, getting needed spares and making repairs. … Continue reading