Charitas and Rio

We are anchored off the small town of Charitas across the bay from Rio de Janeiro. On the way in from the ocean we passed many fishermen and were intercepted and greeted in English by one fisherman in a rowing boat who had worked on fishing boats in Alaska. He was happy to see our American flag flying off the stern.





Clube Naval Charitas, our host yacht club, had a problem last month with disappearing outboard motors. Being inspired by all the rowboats in the bay, as well as keeping the outboard safely stowed below decks, Peter was motivated to get our dinghy into rowing condition. He fabricated thole pins and has been rowing ever since. It's not a fair competition between the beautiful old local pulling boats



and our homely tinnie.



We've decided to re-name the dinghy “Hootie the wee beastie” in honor of Peter's mom. We've been thinking about her a lot after her death last week and will think of her always when we use “Hootie” now.



Charitas has an active marine community. There are 5 or more yacht clubs around the bay and hundreds of fishermen too. On the 29th of June there was a celebration to honor St. Peter, the patron saint of fishermen and sailors. We were lucky to be on board Marcy to catch all of the action. We heard voices, drumming and music, it sounded as if a parade was approaching the anchorage.

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In fact, it was a parade, there were many party boats,

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barbecues.................... and even lifeguards.

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There were so many fireworks set off that the clear day quickly turned to a dense haze that reduced visibility to a quarter mile as the boats sped toward our anchorage.

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Our tourism has not been limited to the water. Susy, who lives here in the Clube Naval marina, is an amazing host to all the cruisers. She took us up to a paraglide launch ramp overlooking Niteroi for an early morning view of the city.



It was a perfect morning and on the way back we even found a spot for a snack.



Food is an important part of travel. Especially when celebrating national holidays far from home. We celebrated American Independence Day, July 4th, with traditional fare – with an international twist. Peter did miss the bun and mustard but beans and dogs were still on the menu on Marcy.



One day we were invited to tour the district of Santa Teresa during an artist studio opening day. This artist opening happens only one day each year and was a great opportunity to see not only the art work but also to see the inside courtyards and architecture of this old neighborhood.

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There were musicians, fantastic views and lots of people.

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Our lunch stop, with our hosts Maria and Max, involved a beer on the street while waiting for a table.



One of the traditional art items is a lady house monitor looking out the window – or guarding the front door. We couldn't figure out where to place one on Marcy.



There were so many people in the afternoon when we were ready to leave we couldn't find an room on a trolley car for the ride back downtown. We'll have to do that on a day with smaller crowds.

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Our day in town ended with a stop to see the night view of Rio and the modern art museum at Niteroi.



It's always good to be back at the boat after a hectic day in the city!

Vitoria to Rio de Janeiro

We were in Vitoria for three weeks. That seems to be about the minimum for recovering from an ocean passage, repairing the necessities and getting started in a new country. The yacht club employees were extremely helpful and many people we met in town were willing to find a way around our language challenges. We enjoyed patient explanations by our Brazilian friends of local foods, customs, and pronunciations, though we quickly learned that Logan's wicked sense of humor made some of his suggested Portuguese vocabulary suspect. Our stop in Vitoria was a fine introduction to Brazil though we didn't venture far from the boat or do any tourist things.

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Alexandre machined new bolts to replace worn parts in the boom gooseneck. The fit when reassembled was better than when it was new. We are so grateful for his generous efforts.

Logan entertained us and kept up a steady stream of Portuguese/English translation, including perfectly delivered jokes in two languages. He and his daughter Stephanie took us to a fantastic Italian restaurant before we left. Unfortunately our camera skills were not up to par and we neglected to take many photos.



Ginger was on antibiotics for much of our stay in Vitoria and had an allergic reaction to medication on our last day in town. Though we had to cancel lunch plans with Logan he delivered flowers and his special roasted almonds to the boat. With such hospitality we were tempted to stay a few more weeks! Before departing Peter secured the flowers for the passage by lashing them to the saloon table.



We look forward to returning to Vitoria some day to explore more of the city and to visit our friends.



Sailing down the coast took 47 hours anchorage to anchorage. It was an easy, comfortable passage and reminded us of coastal sailing in Mexico. The mountains provided a dramatic backdrop for the sunsets. We saw a huge sea turtle that looked like a large piece of styrofoam until we were close and could see the barnacles on his back. Sea birds were abundant and the sailing conditions were near perfect for a sail down the coast.

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There was a fair amount of shipping traffic.



The sun rise approaching Rio de Janeiro was a beautiful end to a good trip.



As we entered the famous bay and passed Sugarloaf Mountain we saw frigate birds circling overhead and reflected on all the ocean miles we had sailed since we last saw them in Mexico.

Vitoria, Brazil

We love Vitoria, Brazil. Maybe it's the fantastic weather, the nice yacht club and the beautiful city, but it's more likely because we've met such engaging people here.



How long does it take to check in to a new country? For Marcy, an entire week this time! And that was with lots of help.



Our first day in the city was a difficult one. First stop, yacht club office. Second stop, HQ Policia Federal for immigration. They couldn't help us. Third stop, a long taxi ride across the entire city to the airport for Policia Federal. Success, with stamped passports in hand a quick trip downtown. Then, FULL STOP, customs downtown. We suffered a breakdown of the check in process.

If we spoke Portuguese it might have gone well. We don't and it didn't. To our surprise we were sent by customs to a private agent who wanted to charge us $500US to handle our paperwork. Though our informal survey revealed that none of the other visiting yachts here have paid any fees to enter the country, none of them entered in this city. We were determined to avoid paying an agent even if it meant we'd need to leave Vitoria and do our paperwork in Rio de Janeiro. We managed to check in with the Port Captain and somehow found the correct bus to take us back to the yacht club arriving at 6P. The outboard fuel filter clogged on the way back to the boat and we paddled the dinghy to Marcy. Defeated, we fell into bed exhausted.

Day 2 in Brazil we were very fortunate to meet a couple of members of the yacht club who are interested in sailing and fantastic ambassadors for the city as well. Logan speaks perfect English and is also a shipping agent. Alexandre is an engineer who offered to help with a boom goose neck repair. While Logan helped us (it took a week of his time and help from friends of his too!) with our clearance issues, Alexandre machined new bolts to fit our worn boom attachment. But, more than the help with our problems, they also hosted us at their local hangouts, offered rides for errands and showed us how to enjoy Brazilian beer and their national drink caipirinhas.

What else have we been up to? We went to a "meat by sword" lunch place with Logan and his girlfriend Natache where the meat is delivered skewered on swords and sliced off at the table. The meat keeps coming as long as you've got room to eat it. Peter was in heaven! The salad and accompaniment buffet was fantastic as well but Peter didn't really get a chance to taste much of that. No photos, we were too busy eating!



Though there are definite advantages to anchoring, when offered power, water and a dock for the same price as anchoring, we can hardly pass it up! Further incentive was provided by the pilot boat (and big wake) passing regularly through the anchorage. In fact, we (gasp) lost a bottle of fine Madagascar rum to a pilot boat wake. Our first med-mooring in Marcy went well. It's no mean feat to back a sailboat between two others, drop an anchor and get aligned without hitting anything.

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We've been walking on Vitoria's beautiful beach front walks.



And, of course, we've checked out the local fishing boats.

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We and the other international yachties here were invited to a fantastic lunch at the home of Ana and Alexandre.



And there was a lot to talk about as we sat on the patio and enjoyed the good food and great company. Sometimes charades were necessary to communicate between all present including Americans (just us), Brazilians, Canadians, Italians, South Africans and Venezuelans. Logan translated for all of us, including some well executed translations of jokes.

Our second week here finds us enjoying life in Brazil.