Tue Mar 30 13:28:11 EDT 2010, Itaparica, Bahia, Brazil
The mainsail and fisherman sail were repaired by the sailmaker in Itaparica. In the picture, I am inserting one of the troublesome (for many reasons) plastic battens into the mainsail after it had some rips repaired.
My posts are behind a fair bit, because I found a lot of things to take pictures of in Baia de Camamu (south of Salvador and Itaparica). I will be posting some more pictures from that area later.
I am in Maceio, in the state of Alagoas (Brazil) now. Maceio is a few hundred miles north of Baia de Camamu and Salvador. Del has returned to Rio for work and I am singlehanding again.
Del got sick while offshore and went to the hospital when we got to Maceio. He had a private supplemental insurance plan (60 USD per month) so we went to a hospital that is not for the public only (he said the public hospitals have long queues). After queuing for about 15 minutes to provide all his payment information, he was seen by the doctor. I had it even easier (I lost some sensation in two fingers a few weeks ago and wanted to find out if it was a real problem or something that just needed time to heal)--I asked at the ever-helpful yacht club (Federacao Algoan) and a member who was a doctor immediately looked at it, told me my wristwatch strap was too tight and probably caused the problem, and gave me some exercises to do. By phone, another doctor member (I think he's a neurologist, I didn't quite understand the word) arranged for me to come to his hospital office the next morning and see him there, in case I needed an xray. The following morning, the yacht club manager took me to the hospital, called the doctor from reception and we missed the queue entirely. After examining and discussing it, the doctor thought that no xray was likely necessary, and gave me a prescription for some vitamin B pills.
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Comments [0]
Mon Mar 29 6:38:13 EDT 2010, Camamu, Bahia, Brazil
This fuel dock is unusually well set-up for boats. It includes a gin pole (crane) for lifting masts in and out of boats.
The fuel dock is owned by the fellow who owns the schooner yard mentioned earlier.
see below posts for more
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Mon Mar 29 6:37:00 EDT 2010, Camamu, Bahia, Brazil
Beside the fuel dock is a bed where you can dry your boat out (when the tide goes down) for bottom-painting or other maintenance.
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Mon Mar 29 6:36:00 EDT 2010, Camamu, Bahia, Brazil
Last but certainly not least, what every fuel dock needs is a smiling bartender.
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Sat Mar 27 1:30:00 EDT 2010, Camamu, Bahia, Brazil
Two 25m wooden schooners under construction in the boatyard Estaleiro Camarada at Camamu. The owner, Elpidio Caetano, kindly gave us a lift to the boatyard (Camamu is very shallow) and showed us around.
On the schooner in the foreground, the frames (ribs) are made of piki, the middle, yellow plank is tatajouba, and both the upper (brown) plank and rubrail (red) are massaranduba. Though the keel cannot be seen, it is made of oiti. Massaranduba is an extremely strong, rot-resistant wood, which is quite difficult to put nails into (it dulls them). Tatajouba is rot-resistant and strong. Oiti is resistant to both rot and worms "after the boat dies, the keel continues". All fasteners are galvanized.
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Fri Mar 26 6:30:00 EDT 2010, Baia de Camamu, Bahia, Brazil
A schooner awaits repairs in the backwaters of the schooner yard at Camamu.
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Wed Mar 24 9:30:00 EDT 2010, Baia de Camamu, Bahia, Brazil
Another dugout canoe used for fishing in Baia de Camamu.
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Tue Mar 23 9:30:00 EDT 2010, Baia de Camamu, Bahia, Brazil
Baia de Camamu is a shallow bay 65 miles south of Salvador. Fishing in the well-protected waters is mostly done from dugout canoes like this one.
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I've been impressed by how well-used these dugouts are...seems most places I go I see some dugouts being used
Mon Mar 22 10:00:00 EDT 2010, Itaparica, Bahia, Brazil
For a hot place (like most of Brazil), these boxes seem a lot cooler way of moving stuff than using a backpack. I haven't tried it myself, though.
George, George and Yann, thanks for your comments.
I've been mostly working on the boat and relaxing in Itaparica. Del flew in from Rio to join me for the short sail south to the remote town of Camamu (more on this next entry), and then the sail north.
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Fri Mar 12 0:00:00 EST 2010, Salvador, Brazil
I arrived in Salvador Tuesday, and have concentrated on sleeping instead of blogging, so am late with the blog entry :).
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Provisioning in Itaparica is adequate.
In Salvador itself, the new, expensive Bahia Marina is an option (they have space), but many people have been mugged on the street outside it, and they strongly advise always taking taxis. You can either anchor or dock at Centro Nautico, in a somewhat better area of the city. I've heard good things about Ribeira Marina, farther in than Centro Nautico, but I'm not entirely sure of the location.
In Salvador, there is the huge Salvador Market, an experience unto itself. You can get pretty much any food there...if you want chicken, you can buy one live or have it killed in front of you. Not much refrigerated stuff there, but lots of dried and salted meats that don't need refrigeration.
Salvador also has Mercado Rodriguez, near the Salvador Market, which is a big store, selling big quantities of stuff, something l
How do you view the remaining portion of the coast of Brazil up to the corner where the winds (ITZ excepted) and the currents will be more favorable for your destination of Carrib and North America? Are the winds north of Salavador much more favorable?
As for the ITZ, what is your expected strategy?
Any thoughts of Amazon? I seem to recall that March-April was high water floods and lots of rain, but I'm not sure about that.
- George
I imagine your trip against the wind, with the rather high temperature, ...
you probably feel happy to be anchoring
congratulations
friendly
Yann
