Headsail Stowed, Laundry on Way

I woke up to a brilliant sunny day. 

The first thing that I thought of was what an opportunity to bring down and stow the headsail.  Martin of North Sails during his discourse on the care and feeding of sails while he was giving me a tour of the premises had advised me to take the headsail down if I didn't expect to sail the boat for more than a month or two.  Angra would present a particular problem for any headsail rolled up for  the 5 months that I expected to not need it, given the moisture and warmth of the area.

But first things first.  My first task of the day, as it will  be until I have caught up with the backlog, was to visit the office and have an internet session.  There is a small desk and chair in the shower and spa section of the building and I tried my luck with the internet there, but the router is so weak that my machine couldn't even see it (forget the bars), even though we were in the same building.  I went to the office, said Hello, and indicated in an asking sort of way that I would sit down and do some internet work.  There was no problem with that.  After a bit of fiddling around I got connected and did about 2 hours of good work. 

Even though I was hungry and could have done with an early lunch I decided to try to drop the headsail.  The wind was off the port beam rather than from ahead which would have been better, but it was running at only 3 or 4 knots and I thought that I could get away with rolling out the entire sail sheeted and dropping it.  If I got into trouble I would let the sheet fly and quickly roll the sail back in.

The drop went OK, though my hopes of flaking (i.e. folding) it neatly as I dropped it did not work out.  Even though the sail was easier to handle than the earlier laminated one, it was still of heavy material, which made it heavy and somewhat stiff.  I realised that I could not possibly do a good folding job on the deck, which meant that the sail would have to come off the boat.  I went ashore and found a good grassy spot for the flaking then returned to the boat with a large marina  cart.

I realised that I'd never get the sail off in one round lump because it would not pass over the stern rail, so I spent a lot of time tying it as one long cylinder of sail.  I knew in the back of my mind that I would not be able to get this long sausage of sail onto the jetty alone and I would need help.

Then two men came by.  One was Victor, a shipwright or naval architect, and his friend (I can't recall his name.)  from Ibatuba.  They both spoke good English and I mentioned the Canadian Mark Nash at Ibatuba.  They asked me if I had had any problems with termite-like organisms attacking the wood inside my cabin.  I replied that I could not be of much help because I had arrived only 3 days earlier.  I gave the man my boat card and asked me to send me his information, with the hopes that I would see him when I pass through Ibatuba in December.  They then returned to a nearby boat to engage in other discussions. 

When I got the headsail  in position, snaking from the pushpit, through the cockpit, into the side deck, I went over to my English speaking friends and asked for their  help at their convenience. 

I had lunch and about an hour later I was called and we proceeded with the work.  As luck would have it a man who seems to run a boating service saw what was going on and soon had his two strong workmen helping us to unload the sail and tie it onto the cart.  He told me that he offered various services such as cleaning boats, and I told him that I was more interested in a diver to clean the hull and propeller and change the anodes.  He told me that he could provided that so I asked him for his card and got it.  I asked him if there were any boat lifting facilities in Bracui and he replied No, that I'd have to go somewhere else.  It is likely that I'll have the hull cleaned before I leave for the USA then have it cleaned before I depart for Cape Town and rely on the antifouling that I've got on the hull. 

The two workmen were very enthusiastic and helpful.  Their initial choice was to fold the sail over a concrete area but their boss listened to my request and had them take the sail to the grassy area that I had spotted at one end of the premises. 

There the men folded the sail with the flakes too narrow.  I tried to tell them to make them wider, showing the length of the sail bag, but they didn't want to know and gave a sign that they would roll up the sail.  I didn't know enough (any) Portuguese to argue.  They flaked the sail, rolled, it, and found that it would not fit through the mouth of the bag.  They stretched the sail out again and re-flaked it using my bag as a guide, but I could tell that they were now making the flakes too wide.  I kept my mouth shut and we got the sail into the bag with maybe 2 inches of excess that we could not cram into it.  But that was OK. 

I wasn't sure if I was supposed to pay them or not.  When they wheeled the sail back to the boat and got it into the cockpit I asked them to wait a minute then returned with 22 Reals for each of them – about $10 for 30 minutes of work.  They seemed pleased with that and volunteered to move the sail to the forward hatch and drop it in. 

After they did that I then shook hands with each of them and thanked them for their help.

In trying to stow the sail in the V-berth area I discovered that both cushions were damp in their forward halves.   So by shifting the cargo around I managed to extricate both large cushions and the small one and put them on the foredeck.  The task was to run plenty of fresh water through them to get the salt out and to wash them.  That meant digging out the hoses and, well, I might as well fill the boat's water tanks while I was at it. 

After dealing with the cushions I dug out a large perennially damp bag that I will need in the future and gave it the same fresh water and wash treatment. 

On my way to scout out a grassy patch I had made two discoveries.  There appears to be a small laundry (Yes!) which I'll approach soon for doing my washing.  Also, there was a charming waterfront kiosk that served booze.  After my hard, productive, and very sweaty afternoon I headed for the kiosk hoping to have my first beer in days.

I wasn't disappointed.  The small crowd was engrossed watching Brazil playing the USA in volley ball.  I ordered what the others were drinking, which turned out to be an ice cold “Itaipava” pilsner of 4.5% alcohol.  To my mind it was the perfect beer for the climate.  I paid a princely $R2.5 (just over $A1.00) per can (2 cans, to give me a nice buzz) and thought to myself that here I was enjoying a cold beer in a friendly crowd with the boats in the marina right over my shoulder and, well, how much more should I expect from life?  I realised then that my standard of ho-hum reality is now one of new cultures, pleasant climates, friendly people, good drink, happy boats all around me, and not having to work for a living.  How good is that?   … And how bad it will be if I were to be dragged kicking and screaming to a lesser reality?

This morning I woke up to a bright and sunny day with a sky totally free of clouds or mist.  There was no wind. 

I went for a shower and shave because I like to look as presentable as possible during my internet sessions at the office.  On the way back to the boat I visited the small laundry.  The woman who seemed to be managing it spoke no English but a little Spanish, so that is how we communicated, which seems to be the norm of my stay in Brazil.  I asked her if she could wash my clothes and the said Yes.  I told her that I'd return in 30 minutes with my clothes and she told me that it would be too late, but she agreed to 10 minutes so I raced back to the boat, packed my laundry, and got back as soon as I could.  I loaded the clothes into the basket and she asked if I wanted them today or tomorrow.  I told her that it didn't matter to me, so we agreed to tomorrow morning.  She finished with the only English of the conversation: “Tomorrow Nine”.  “ Hasta manana” I said as I walked out.  The laundry was a big win for me because the Bracui marina is fairly isolated with very few services that I can see within reach.  (I'll write more about this later.)

After a cup of coffee to settle down I headed off for the internet session with the plan to begin work on my travel to the USA.