It's clear that we are approaching the mainland, as I currently have four ships that I am watching on the radar within 20 miles of us - more than we have seen collectively on the entire passage from Cape Town. The majority of the traffic seems to be going up or down the coast of Brazil and has not been a problem. However, I watched one large ship for about 20 miles on the same bearing line, indicating we were likely on a collision course. Once the boat was within about 10 miles, we could see his lights but could not see a red or green to indicate his direction. At six miles we finally decided to call the captain on the VHF. At first he said that he could not see us, which was a little frightening, but once he did he told us he would alter his course to pass to our stern. He did so and crossed us with a closest point of approach of one mile.

Many of our friends that we have met sailing have said that they never get an answer or cooperation from the big ships when they are hailed on VHF. This surprises us as we have done it several times in the past and the captains have always been most polite and willing to help, especially when we are flying the spinnaker at night and have limited maneuverability.