Last Day at Ilha Bella

The pressure cooker meal last night turned out exceed my expectations. I had emptied a half a packet of lentils into the pot which turned into a very thick soup. I'll start eating the meat off the bone in the next meal.

It was another crystal clear night with little wind. All round me I could see a continuous string of shore lights, as though I was in a gigantic lake. To the south the channel is relatively narrow and the shoreline of the island has a slight curve. The north is more open but the mainland angles to the NE, giving that illusion of enclosure. I could hear the music and laughter of the locals whooping it up this Saturday night.

When I woke up at 7.30 AM I found the sea to be like a mill pond. The wind speed was registering at 0.7 kt, which was very good for my purposes. After breakfast I began working with the furler line that I had purchased the day before. The 10mm line just barely fit through the hole provided on the roller drum. This suggested to me that it was OK with Profurl to use a 10mm line. I then threaded the new line through the rail blocks then through the aft turning block and forward to the winch and rolled out the headsail to see if the thick rope would fill up the drum. There was plenty of capacity left in the drum so I rolled the sail back in and re tied the line to the drum after giving two more turns to the roller, ensuring that the setup could accommodate my largest headsail.

So my mistake of the day before had led to an improvement in that I was now using a stronger furling line with more thickness which would be easier on my hands when I rolled in the sail. Time would tell how suitable this line would prove to be. I was not worried about its tensile strength but the quality and strength of its sheathing had yet to be proved.

The new line was 28 meters long. I measured the old line at 33 meters, meaning that there was 5 meters less of line to clutter up the cockpit. I could see the difference when the new line was coiled up and hanging off the rail. We the new line actually in place I could see that I could have comfortably made it 4 meters shorter. So for my records the specifications for the roller furling line are now: 25 meters long, diameter 10mm (preferable) or 8mm.

While I was at it I end-for-ended the jib sheets to spread the wear, and I am so glad that I did. The port sheet bowline knot was rock hard tight and it took me 10 minutes to free it. The stbd turning blocks at the coaming were frozen so that the jib sheet had been sliding around the block, which was no problem other than providing more resistance to the jib sheet adjustments. I treated both of the blocks with WD40 but still got more movement. I then got out the ball peen hammer and gently tapped the inner block and got minute movement with each tap. In the end I freed both blocks, though they were still stiff and would turn only under load. I would continue treating them with WD40. The port blocks were in better shape and at the end I could spin them with my finger. This was all a reminder that one must visit every piece of equipment on a boat often, even though it may look OK. Things seize up, bind up, get over stressed, etc.

At 10 AM I was enjoying a cup of coffee looking forward to an easy day of preparation. Before lunch I would make one last visit to the marina for a shower and pop in to the jetty office to give my farewell and thanks.

Last night I had received a gracious comment to the blog by a Brazilian who offered the use of his mooring at Ubatuba, only about 25 miles up the coast. I cannot read the blog directly while at sea but Brenda had passed on the comment via Sailmail. My response was that it would be great to visit Ubatuba to meet my blog friend and have a look at the town. But this morning in the cold light of day I realize that it will be unlikely that we can make the arrangements before my departure next morning. I will propose that I visit Ubatuba in December, when I expect to be heading south from Angra headed for Florianopolis for provisioning and departure for Cape Town.

Before leaving for the marina at noon I used the 20 liters of fresh water in the containers to wash two bath towels, the galley towel, and a wash cloth. Bath towels require a lot of fresh water because they act like big sponges, and I washed them because I knew that I would be re filling the water containers.

At about noon I went to the marina and had a wonderful hot shower complete with shampoo. While I was at it I washed my underclothes and a fluffy track suit bottom that had gotten a dose of salt water. After all was washed I had a difficult time in turning off the shower because it was so enjoyable. I left the shower very satisfied with the knowledge that at this point all of my laundry was clean.

I motored back to the boat and after lunch and a short nap got to work on getting the boat ready for sailing. The big job was to hoist the outboard motor on the davit, the most difficult part being setting up a rope harness around the engine that would safely hold it upright for the hoist There is a point where the engine is left alone, dangling a few feet from the ocean surface by the harness hooked to the davit line, so the harness must be good. I got that done then went through the process of lifting the Zodiac onto the foredeck using the staysail halyard. Once that was done it was a matter of folding up the Zodiac and lashing it to the platform above the life raft in front of the mast under a tarp. At 5 PM the deck was ready for sailing. In the morning I would spend 30 minutes getting the interior ready for sailing.

I then spent 30 minutes in the cockpit enjoying the waning day over some red wine, thinking how things had gone so well during my brief stay at Ilha Bella. Once the club had accepted me as a visitor the staff were marvelous to me and I had spent a generous 5 free days at their mooring. I would certainly recommend Ilha Bella as a stop to any passing cruiser, either to make formal entry to the country at Sao Sabastiao, or just for a pleasant Rest and Relaxation visit.

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