No Batteries and No Internet

This morning I arrived at Alexandre's office just before 9 AM and soon we were on our way to the battery supplier, which is a few miles this side of Angra.

Two brands of batteries were available: Moura and Heliam, both made in Brazil. We ran into the unexpected problem that Brazilian batteries tend to have a smaller footprint but more height. According to my measurements 18 cm was the tallest battery that the case would allow, as long as the posts were at one end of the battery. The batteries on offer had posts along the side and worse, the large ones were 22 cm high (excluding the posts) and the smaller 95 a/h ones were 19 cm high. Any smaller batteries were tiny golf cart sized. We agreed that I would hold off on the purchase until I had a second look at the boat's battery case with the possibility that I would somehow be able to squeeze in another 1 cm of height. If I found that I could accommodate the 95 a/h batteries the order would be phoned in and the batteries would be delivered to Alexandre's office. The company could make cables to any length that I specified. I would make sure that Alexandre would have sufficient funds to cover all costs.

Alexandre then dropped me in downtown Angra and proceeded to his private business. I visited the HSBC bank and withdrew another 1,000 Reals, meaning that I was now carrying a hefty 1,900 Reals (about $900)in my wallet. From there I decided to make the long (several kilometers) walk to the Piratas marina. Alexandre had told me that there were two boat shops at Piratas, though they were poorly stocked. I made it to Piratas and found it to be an up-market marina that included a sort of boutique shopping mall. I found a boat shop and confirmed Alexandre's opinion that it had a poor selection of merchandise. All I wanted was netting for the boat but I found none while prowling the aisles and the young man at the counter spoke no English or Spanish and could not understand my drawing of a boat with the netting which I required. I decided to walk back to Angra to purchase some provisions and possibly fresh fish, then take the bus to Frade and get off at the highway for the walk to Bracui. As I was walking out I heard Alexandre call me. He had a shopping cart full of purchases and asked me if I wanted a ride back to Bracui. I accepted his offer in order to spare myself the long walk back to the downtown area with so much cash in my wallet.

We were back in Bracui shortly after noon and when I rechecked my battery measurements I found that the 18 cm had been over generous and that there was no way that the batteries on offer would fit. I looked at the possibility of building up the sides of the battery box to accommodate the taller batteries, but that would have resulted in the gel batteries above being raised and not fitting because they would make contact with the lower end of the autopilot linear drive. I visited Alexandre and gave him the bad news and he replied that I could try to get batteries at Ilha Bella, though he figured that there would be the same selection of Brazilian batteries. I replied that with my language and transport problems I wouldn't even attempt it. I thanked him for his help, he replied that at least we tried, and that, unfortunately, was the end of the matter. I will carry on to South Africa with the batteries that I've got.

At mid afternoon I began work on the port side netting and finished the work before sunset. That's one more task off the list. ... Two, actually, because before starting on the netting I drained fuel from the bottom of each diesel tank and found it to be very good: no water as usual, none of that black slimy scum that settles at the bottom, and very little clouding.

I also checked the wireless internet service and still found it down. I walked into the office and asked if their internet was working, which it was. I then said that I had had no internet for 24 hours and the woman made a gesture with her hand indicated that the wireless service was down. I asked her if maybe tomorrow and she replied "tal vez". Because of the language barrier I am not sure exactly what is going on. However, late in the afternoon I saw Ricardo and his wife in their boat returning from the islands and tomorrow I will ask him find out what is going on.

In the meantime, I have no access to Gmail or Skype or the blog.

I checked my waist line and found it to be just be low 45", meaning that I've managed to shed about 1.25" off my waistline. Unfortunately I still have a long way to go with this project.

With the battery issue settled I am no thinking of the possibility of sailing out of Bracui at the end of November. This marina is a wonderful place - like living in a resort, really - but sailing early will be to my advantage for several reasons and quite frankly, I'm getting itchy feet,so to speak.

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