I am too much of a sailor to allow a good wind to go to waste. This morning the wind was so good as I motored toward my anchorage at Ilha Grande that I decided to set sail and be on my way. Last night's grib file helped me to make the decision. It predicted good east winds until the morning of 2 November, and it was just too good an opportunity to miss.
I weighed anchor at about 8.30 AM under a clear sky and gentle breeze. As I motored around the east side of Ilha da Gipoia I noticed that the breeze was up to 12-15 knots. I thought about it for a while then decided to set sail for the open ocean. Once I was clear of local dangers I rounded into the wind, set the autopilot, then hoisted the mainsail with one reef. Then I rolled out some jib and we were on our way at about 12.30 PM, and I celebrated with a chilled mango followed by a chilled banana. The wind died before I could clear the west in of Ilha Grande did a bizarre 180 degree shift, but then came back from the east in force. Soon we were doing 6.5 kt on a port tack against an 18 kt wind, but that did not last too long because when the seas built up I was forced to roll in some headsail to slow the boat down.
There were the usual teething problems, made worse by my snap decision to sail. I had to climb onto the Monitor (wind steering) frame to retrieve a boat fender that I had used for protection at the marina. Then I fastened the air vane and dropped the water paddle before I built up the boat speed. Punching into the heavy sea brought out other problems. I closed the cabin hatch and when I checked the forward hatch I found it to be clamped down in its "loose" position and I got a nice dose of sea water while I frantically worked to tighten it down. Then I remembered the anchor. It had to come off the stem roller lest it jump off and start banging against the side of the boat. That meant putting on the wet weather gear in the Brazilian heat then heaving to. I left the anchor on deck, lashed against the mast. I will stow it below when conditions are calmer and I am well clear of land. I unshackled the chain from the anchor and fed it back down the hawse pipe so that it would not rattle as it slid across the deck. Then I had trouble setting up "Jeff" the Monitor wind steering. The control lines that had been recommended in Seattle might be OK from the Monitor into the cockpit (time will tell), but they were hopeless at the wheel because they were too slippery and the knots that I tied through the bowline knots of the control lines would not hold. After a frustrating 45 minutes (and one accidental gybe) I put together a new set of lines for the wheel and thereafter all was well. The autopilot had done a marvelous job of supporting me through the hazards of the bay and the sail hoist, but for rough long haul conditions the wind steering is the way to go.
Then I remembered to put the loop of shock cord over the computer's screen so that it would not slide off the desk on a heavy heel to starboard. I also tied shock cord around the mouse cable, and I can guarantee that it will do scores of bungee jumps off the desk during this passage. I will put up the shower curtain that protects the navigation station before the day is out.
By 3 PM things had settled down and we were making a respectable 5 kt to the south with an 18 kt wind just forward of the beam. My main concern was to clear Ilha Bela, and thereafter the South American continent would fall away to the west. I thanked my lucky stars that I had brought up the mainsail with one reef, and the boat was managing well with a small bit of headsail. I was tired and pepped myself up with two cans of Itaipava pilsner. Once I've settled down in the passage I'll go easy on the beer - I'll have to, actually, because I departed from Bracui with 30 cans of beer, the 26 bottles of wine that I reported earlier, and no hard liquor.
I set the boat's clocks to UTC (GMT)and for the rest of this passage deal with UTC. Western Australia is at UTC+8 and I figure that Seattle is at UTC-9. During this passage to Cape Town I'll try to report my daily position at noon UTC.
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Pachuca
Pachuca in Port Angeles, WA USA
Friday, November 30, 2012
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Left Bracuhy
I motored out of Marina Bracuhy at 1 PM and am now safely at anchor on the north side of Ilha Da Gipoia at lat/log 23S02.2, 044W21.23.
Last night I gave myself a going away banquet and had a large bottle of beer and their "the works" hamburger with good lean beef, cheese, an egg, and the rest, accompanied by French fries. I enjoyed it so much that I did it again. It was the first meat that I had eaten since Rio and will be the last until Cape Town. During this passage I'll rely mainly with rice accompanied by beans or canned sardines, and spaghetti once in a while. I've brought 3 dozen eggs for extra protein, and there is plenty of cheese in the refrigerator. The beans I do as a stew. In the morning I'll throw dried beans into the pressure cooker and let them soak all day. In the evening I throw in plenty of onions, potato, garlic, carrots, carrots, canned corn, and whatever else I can think of. I pressure cook it for 30 minutes and wind up with enough "stew" for 3 or 4 days, always accompanied by rice and the occasional egg.
I had arranged to be assisted out of the slip at 9-10 AM but it was such a nice day and the next anchorage was so close (about 5 mi) that I asked for a postponement until noon. That gave the a final chance to look at my email, and I was able to respond to several bon voyage messages from friends. I also used my remaining Brazilian currency to do two more shopping runs for fruit and vegetables. The ones in my usual shop were pretty sad looking so I tried for the first time a small shop that I had spotted from the bus, and the man had an excellent array of fresh produce. I now have plenty of potatoes, onions, carrots, garlic, tomatoes, capsicums (bell peppers), bananas, oranges, a few apples, two mangoes and two lines. There will be no scurvy on this ship.
I started the engine at 11.45 AM and just as well, because the two helpers arrived 10 minutes early. They were simply going to cast off my stern lines but I expressed anxiety about the buoy and rope up front, so one of them got into a dinghy and positioned himself at the bow. The cast off went fine but as expected I had trouble making the sharp left turn into the fairway. I was not going to clear the line of boats on the other side and was forced to apply reverse with the wheel hard the other way and as expected my stern kicked back to the left negating most of the turning progress that I had made. I let the boat drift back almost to the jetty where I had started from then turned the wheel hard to port, gunned the engine, and cleared the line of boats on the other side by less than 5 ft. I was so close that I was worried about fouling the mooring lines at their bows so I allowed the boat to drift by in neutral until I had cleared the danger. I then yelled my thanks to the two men and I was on my way.
I had a good motoring to the anchorage, remembering my seamanship as I went along. It took 30 minutes to realize that I did not have my safety harness on. On the third trip to the foredeck realized that I was not clipping myself to the jack line. Then the navigation routine started to come back to me, and so it went.
As I approached the island I got a very pleasant surprise. I noticed a sloop with full sail motoring to catch up with me. It was my friend Ricardo with his wife and presumably his two dogs on board. I had managed to give him my boat card early in the morning pointing out that it contained the address of my blog, but I expected to say Goodbye later. Unfortunately when I went by his slip a couple of hours later his boat was gone, and no doubt they were enjoying one of their frequent sails. It was great to exchange our goodbye's across the water but I couldn't help feeling sad afterward. There is something special about this good man, and I will miss being around him. I am hoping that he will send a message to my Gmail address so that we can communicate later, because in the excitement I forgot to thank him for helping me so much during my stay at Bracuhy.
At the anchorage I took my time searching for a good spot and on the third circuit dropped the anchor in 10 meters of water over sand. I payed out 30 meters of chain and was pleased to see that I was well clear of other boats and moorings. The wind was from the SSW at a surprisingly strong 10-12 kt. I then set three anchor alarms: the Raymarine, OpenCPN, and Marine Plotter. I would have a look at this night's grib wind file to decide whether to spend 1 or 2 more days working my way to the open sea.
During the run I got my first technical surprise of the passage. The brand new Raymarine autopilot head is behaving exactly as the one that was repaired in Mar del Plata. Whenever I try to make a course adjustment to port or starboard of either 1 or 10 degrees the steering goes berserk, sending the wheel hard one way then hard the other. So I was wrong in assuming that there was something faulty with the repaired head. Most likely there is a problem with a crossed wire or a setting in the autopilot, unless there is something wrong with the course computer itself. I'll look at it when I get a chance but the problem is not particularly serious because the autopilot will steer the boat straight on whatever course I set it.
I'll be cooking one of those bean stews tonight and to accompany the meal I am chilling in the refrigerator a bottle of Suter Pinot de la Loire from Argentina.
I'm hoping to get good communication from Sailmail. These days I must rely on the Chile station because I haven't had much joy from the many stations in the Caribbean area. What this means is that my missing a day or two of blog reports should not be a cause of worry, because at this distance bad atmospherics could prevent HF radio communication.
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
Last night I gave myself a going away banquet and had a large bottle of beer and their "the works" hamburger with good lean beef, cheese, an egg, and the rest, accompanied by French fries. I enjoyed it so much that I did it again. It was the first meat that I had eaten since Rio and will be the last until Cape Town. During this passage I'll rely mainly with rice accompanied by beans or canned sardines, and spaghetti once in a while. I've brought 3 dozen eggs for extra protein, and there is plenty of cheese in the refrigerator. The beans I do as a stew. In the morning I'll throw dried beans into the pressure cooker and let them soak all day. In the evening I throw in plenty of onions, potato, garlic, carrots, carrots, canned corn, and whatever else I can think of. I pressure cook it for 30 minutes and wind up with enough "stew" for 3 or 4 days, always accompanied by rice and the occasional egg.
I had arranged to be assisted out of the slip at 9-10 AM but it was such a nice day and the next anchorage was so close (about 5 mi) that I asked for a postponement until noon. That gave the a final chance to look at my email, and I was able to respond to several bon voyage messages from friends. I also used my remaining Brazilian currency to do two more shopping runs for fruit and vegetables. The ones in my usual shop were pretty sad looking so I tried for the first time a small shop that I had spotted from the bus, and the man had an excellent array of fresh produce. I now have plenty of potatoes, onions, carrots, garlic, tomatoes, capsicums (bell peppers), bananas, oranges, a few apples, two mangoes and two lines. There will be no scurvy on this ship.
I started the engine at 11.45 AM and just as well, because the two helpers arrived 10 minutes early. They were simply going to cast off my stern lines but I expressed anxiety about the buoy and rope up front, so one of them got into a dinghy and positioned himself at the bow. The cast off went fine but as expected I had trouble making the sharp left turn into the fairway. I was not going to clear the line of boats on the other side and was forced to apply reverse with the wheel hard the other way and as expected my stern kicked back to the left negating most of the turning progress that I had made. I let the boat drift back almost to the jetty where I had started from then turned the wheel hard to port, gunned the engine, and cleared the line of boats on the other side by less than 5 ft. I was so close that I was worried about fouling the mooring lines at their bows so I allowed the boat to drift by in neutral until I had cleared the danger. I then yelled my thanks to the two men and I was on my way.
I had a good motoring to the anchorage, remembering my seamanship as I went along. It took 30 minutes to realize that I did not have my safety harness on. On the third trip to the foredeck realized that I was not clipping myself to the jack line. Then the navigation routine started to come back to me, and so it went.
As I approached the island I got a very pleasant surprise. I noticed a sloop with full sail motoring to catch up with me. It was my friend Ricardo with his wife and presumably his two dogs on board. I had managed to give him my boat card early in the morning pointing out that it contained the address of my blog, but I expected to say Goodbye later. Unfortunately when I went by his slip a couple of hours later his boat was gone, and no doubt they were enjoying one of their frequent sails. It was great to exchange our goodbye's across the water but I couldn't help feeling sad afterward. There is something special about this good man, and I will miss being around him. I am hoping that he will send a message to my Gmail address so that we can communicate later, because in the excitement I forgot to thank him for helping me so much during my stay at Bracuhy.
At the anchorage I took my time searching for a good spot and on the third circuit dropped the anchor in 10 meters of water over sand. I payed out 30 meters of chain and was pleased to see that I was well clear of other boats and moorings. The wind was from the SSW at a surprisingly strong 10-12 kt. I then set three anchor alarms: the Raymarine, OpenCPN, and Marine Plotter. I would have a look at this night's grib wind file to decide whether to spend 1 or 2 more days working my way to the open sea.
During the run I got my first technical surprise of the passage. The brand new Raymarine autopilot head is behaving exactly as the one that was repaired in Mar del Plata. Whenever I try to make a course adjustment to port or starboard of either 1 or 10 degrees the steering goes berserk, sending the wheel hard one way then hard the other. So I was wrong in assuming that there was something faulty with the repaired head. Most likely there is a problem with a crossed wire or a setting in the autopilot, unless there is something wrong with the course computer itself. I'll look at it when I get a chance but the problem is not particularly serious because the autopilot will steer the boat straight on whatever course I set it.
I'll be cooking one of those bean stews tonight and to accompany the meal I am chilling in the refrigerator a bottle of Suter Pinot de la Loire from Argentina.
I'm hoping to get good communication from Sailmail. These days I must rely on the Chile station because I haven't had much joy from the many stations in the Caribbean area. What this means is that my missing a day or two of blog reports should not be a cause of worry, because at this distance bad atmospherics could prevent HF radio communication.
----------
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for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Last Day
I expect this to be my last full day at Marina Bracuhy It has been one of the best accommodation for the boat in my 4.5 year cruise. The marina is quiet, safe, well run, very clean, and in a spectacular setting. I highly recommend a visit to the world class cruisiing grounds of Angra and a stay at the Bracuhy marina to any cruiser wanting to experience something new. For those wanting to bare boat, I have seen first hand the excellent boats that Delta Yacht Charter (http://www.marinabracuhy.com.br/delta.htm) has to offer and how professionally it is managed.
I learned yesterday that although the per-month charges at this marina are very reasonable (about $14 per day), short term accommodation runs at about $50 per day. At Parati it is $200 per day!
I am including some photos of Bracuhy taken early in the morning.
Today I will visit Angra to get my official clearance from Brazil. All going well I will motor out of the marina at 9-10 AM tomorrow. Although we got a few more showers last night Ricardo told me this morning that the weather for tomorrow will be good.
My initial progress may be a bit slow until I reach the higher latitudes further south. Along this part of the coast the wind can be all over the place and no place, depending on the latest weather system. Fortunately the Ugrib file predicts good northerly winds on Saturday.
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| Francois's Boat, also bound for Cape Town in January |
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| Pachuca, now ready for departure |
I learned yesterday that although the per-month charges at this marina are very reasonable (about $14 per day), short term accommodation runs at about $50 per day. At Parati it is $200 per day!
I am including some photos of Bracuhy taken early in the morning.
Today I will visit Angra to get my official clearance from Brazil. All going well I will motor out of the marina at 9-10 AM tomorrow. Although we got a few more showers last night Ricardo told me this morning that the weather for tomorrow will be good.
My initial progress may be a bit slow until I reach the higher latitudes further south. Along this part of the coast the wind can be all over the place and no place, depending on the latest weather system. Fortunately the Ugrib file predicts good northerly winds on Saturday.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Deck Light Working, More Preparation Work
I made good progress working my way down today's task list
At 8.30 AM I dropped off a 2-machine load of laundry which I will pick up tomorrow before departing for Angra. On the way back to the boat I saw Ricardo and shared my misgivings about motoring out of the slip with the mooring line and float in front of the boat. No problem. We walked to one of the nearby marina staff, Ricardo explained the problem, and the fellow had no hesitation in agreeing to help. Someone will arrive in a dinghy on Thursday morning between 9 and 10 AM to hold the mooring tackle out of the way while I motor by. I need to make a quick left turn in order to head out of the fairway, and if I can't turn the boat fast enough I'll have to use reverse which will pull my stern to the left and swing the bow back to the right. If I get into this sort of trouble I'll have no qualms about asking for a tow.
The I had in internet session where I Skype called Australia, wrote an Adios note to Jorge in Mar del Plata, and translated thank you notes to the staff of the marina and condominium offices. I also prepared a note for Immigration requesting clearance from Brazil. (I had already sent farewell messages to Pato in Mar del Plata and Martin of North Sails in San Fernando.)
After the internet session I attended to the deck light. I went up the mast with a set of spare bulbs in a small plastic bag but more importantly, a brand new German-made one that I had brought back from the USA. The eve of a long passage was no time to try to get more use out of a spare bulb of questionable life, so I fitted the new one. I had another hope too. The spares bulbs that I had purchased in La Paz had a very subtle difference in the arrangement of the fitting posts, and I had been forced to make do by jigging the bulb around the socket until the light came on. It was my hope that the new bulb would have a proper firm fit, and so it seemed when I inserted it. Back in the cabin I noted 2.4 net amps being charged into the house bank and after after throwing on the deck light switch the net amperage went down to 0.7 amps, a good sign and an indication of how power hungry these old fashioned halogen bulbs are. (They get phenomenally hot after only a few seconds.) I walked to the foredeck and sure enough the deck light was shining brightly.
The urgency of a deck light had receded somewhat thanks to the donation by Arnold of two superbly designed LED head torches. (namely a harness that fits over the head like a cap rather than simply a band around the head, and batteries that fit from the side into the main body rather than behind the flip-down bulb section) Nevertheless the deck light will be very useful and could prove crucial in a crisis. I have in store a brand new LED deck light with a spare sealed bulb that I brought from the USA, but it looks like I'll wait on fitting it until after I reach Australia.
After lunch the rain came back and it got harder and harder. The wind picked up, gusting to 20 knots and there was the rumble of thunder in the distance. I decided to work inside the cabin and had an extremely productive afternoon. While resting after lunch I had thought of the problem of the Fujifilm camera charger having a US style plug, meaning that I would not be able to charge it because the 110V inverter had broken down. Then I thought 'Wait a minute, Brenda purchased that camera for me in New Zealand, so it must have had a 240V plug.” Duh! I remembered that similarly to computer chargers it was simply a matter of swapping cables. Soon I was charging both the Fujifilm still camera and the Sony video camera from the boat's 240V outlets. While at sea I'll rely on the 240V inverter, which is still working.
I then thought of charging the hand held 1 watt VHF radio. I looked for it inside my life vest and discovered that the vest was covered in a sheen of mould. That vest had seem me around the Horn and I had been remiss in not even rinsing the salt out of it when I got to Argentina. The VHF radio was not in the life vest then I remembered that it was in the grab bag.
I emptied the grab bag and familiarised myself with its contents. Everything was still there: the signalling mirror, EPIRB, VHF radio, strobe light, flash lights, spare batteries, first aid kit, knife, spare batteries, water, etc. The strobe light was still working but I swapped in fresh AA batteries. The EPIRB is good as gold for power. I put the VHF 16 radio on the charger. I replaced the old fashioned flash light (which was working fine) with one of the two LED lights that I purchased in good old Henry's Hardware in Kingston, Washington.
When lifting out the grab bag I noticed the jack lines and tethers. I normally sail with a webbing jack line (the proper thing: only licensed specialists are allowed to sew them in Australia) running along each gunwale with a tether clipped on each one and dangling into the cockpit. When I go on deck I clip the tether to my life vest then climb on deck. I had removed them after arriving in Bracui to protect them from the weather and UV, and I had forgotten about them. I spent 30 minutes setting up the jack lines and tethers.
After sweeping and wiping the cabin floor I turned my attention to the neglected life vest. I removed the strobe light, and personal EPIRB then washed it in a warm gentle solution of detergent and bleach., using a paint brush for scrubbing the material. While I has handling the vest the pressurised cartridge that inflates it simply fell out. I screwed it back on to the release mechanism very tightly, wondering what would have happened had I fallen overboard on the way to Argentina. I then rinsed it and hung it on deck to dry. … And dry it would because by then the front had passed and the sky had burst in wonderful, clear, clean sunshine!
There are two other life vests on board, the ones that Arnold and Brenda used when they were part of the crew. However, I am a sentimental bloke, as the Aussies say, and am loyal to the vest that has seen me through since the 4.5 years since I sailed out of Fremantle.
The cameras and VHF radio charged OK and I put them away.. The grab bag is now in order and ready to go.
The wind had shifted and was now from the stern of the boat, trying to push it away from the jetty. I took advantage of that to alter the mooring line at the bow so that now I have a jib sheet passing through the loop at the end of the mooring line with each end cleated to an anchor bollard. Thus I am ready for a quick release of the bow line during departure. The two stern line3s are pretty well ready to go because they are looped around concrete bollards that are practically round. All I have to do is release the tension the jump on the jetty and lift out the lines … duh … making sure that I can jump back on board. Perhaps there will be a marina person at the jetty to cast off my lines, which will make things even easier.
At 8.30 AM I dropped off a 2-machine load of laundry which I will pick up tomorrow before departing for Angra. On the way back to the boat I saw Ricardo and shared my misgivings about motoring out of the slip with the mooring line and float in front of the boat. No problem. We walked to one of the nearby marina staff, Ricardo explained the problem, and the fellow had no hesitation in agreeing to help. Someone will arrive in a dinghy on Thursday morning between 9 and 10 AM to hold the mooring tackle out of the way while I motor by. I need to make a quick left turn in order to head out of the fairway, and if I can't turn the boat fast enough I'll have to use reverse which will pull my stern to the left and swing the bow back to the right. If I get into this sort of trouble I'll have no qualms about asking for a tow.
The I had in internet session where I Skype called Australia, wrote an Adios note to Jorge in Mar del Plata, and translated thank you notes to the staff of the marina and condominium offices. I also prepared a note for Immigration requesting clearance from Brazil. (I had already sent farewell messages to Pato in Mar del Plata and Martin of North Sails in San Fernando.)
After the internet session I attended to the deck light. I went up the mast with a set of spare bulbs in a small plastic bag but more importantly, a brand new German-made one that I had brought back from the USA. The eve of a long passage was no time to try to get more use out of a spare bulb of questionable life, so I fitted the new one. I had another hope too. The spares bulbs that I had purchased in La Paz had a very subtle difference in the arrangement of the fitting posts, and I had been forced to make do by jigging the bulb around the socket until the light came on. It was my hope that the new bulb would have a proper firm fit, and so it seemed when I inserted it. Back in the cabin I noted 2.4 net amps being charged into the house bank and after after throwing on the deck light switch the net amperage went down to 0.7 amps, a good sign and an indication of how power hungry these old fashioned halogen bulbs are. (They get phenomenally hot after only a few seconds.) I walked to the foredeck and sure enough the deck light was shining brightly.
The urgency of a deck light had receded somewhat thanks to the donation by Arnold of two superbly designed LED head torches. (namely a harness that fits over the head like a cap rather than simply a band around the head, and batteries that fit from the side into the main body rather than behind the flip-down bulb section) Nevertheless the deck light will be very useful and could prove crucial in a crisis. I have in store a brand new LED deck light with a spare sealed bulb that I brought from the USA, but it looks like I'll wait on fitting it until after I reach Australia.
After lunch the rain came back and it got harder and harder. The wind picked up, gusting to 20 knots and there was the rumble of thunder in the distance. I decided to work inside the cabin and had an extremely productive afternoon. While resting after lunch I had thought of the problem of the Fujifilm camera charger having a US style plug, meaning that I would not be able to charge it because the 110V inverter had broken down. Then I thought 'Wait a minute, Brenda purchased that camera for me in New Zealand, so it must have had a 240V plug.” Duh! I remembered that similarly to computer chargers it was simply a matter of swapping cables. Soon I was charging both the Fujifilm still camera and the Sony video camera from the boat's 240V outlets. While at sea I'll rely on the 240V inverter, which is still working.
I then thought of charging the hand held 1 watt VHF radio. I looked for it inside my life vest and discovered that the vest was covered in a sheen of mould. That vest had seem me around the Horn and I had been remiss in not even rinsing the salt out of it when I got to Argentina. The VHF radio was not in the life vest then I remembered that it was in the grab bag.
I emptied the grab bag and familiarised myself with its contents. Everything was still there: the signalling mirror, EPIRB, VHF radio, strobe light, flash lights, spare batteries, first aid kit, knife, spare batteries, water, etc. The strobe light was still working but I swapped in fresh AA batteries. The EPIRB is good as gold for power. I put the VHF 16 radio on the charger. I replaced the old fashioned flash light (which was working fine) with one of the two LED lights that I purchased in good old Henry's Hardware in Kingston, Washington.
When lifting out the grab bag I noticed the jack lines and tethers. I normally sail with a webbing jack line (the proper thing: only licensed specialists are allowed to sew them in Australia) running along each gunwale with a tether clipped on each one and dangling into the cockpit. When I go on deck I clip the tether to my life vest then climb on deck. I had removed them after arriving in Bracui to protect them from the weather and UV, and I had forgotten about them. I spent 30 minutes setting up the jack lines and tethers.
After sweeping and wiping the cabin floor I turned my attention to the neglected life vest. I removed the strobe light, and personal EPIRB then washed it in a warm gentle solution of detergent and bleach., using a paint brush for scrubbing the material. While I has handling the vest the pressurised cartridge that inflates it simply fell out. I screwed it back on to the release mechanism very tightly, wondering what would have happened had I fallen overboard on the way to Argentina. I then rinsed it and hung it on deck to dry. … And dry it would because by then the front had passed and the sky had burst in wonderful, clear, clean sunshine!
There are two other life vests on board, the ones that Arnold and Brenda used when they were part of the crew. However, I am a sentimental bloke, as the Aussies say, and am loyal to the vest that has seen me through since the 4.5 years since I sailed out of Fremantle.
The cameras and VHF radio charged OK and I put them away.. The grab bag is now in order and ready to go.
The wind had shifted and was now from the stern of the boat, trying to push it away from the jetty. I took advantage of that to alter the mooring line at the bow so that now I have a jib sheet passing through the loop at the end of the mooring line with each end cleated to an anchor bollard. Thus I am ready for a quick release of the bow line during departure. The two stern line3s are pretty well ready to go because they are looped around concrete bollards that are practically round. All I have to do is release the tension the jump on the jetty and lift out the lines … duh … making sure that I can jump back on board. Perhaps there will be a marina person at the jetty to cast off my lines, which will make things even easier.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Departing Earlier and Passage to Cape Town
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| Pachuca in the Angra Region |
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| First Leg, to Tristan da Cunha |
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| Second Leg, to Cape Town |
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| C-Map Chart of Tristan da Cunha |
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| Anchorage Just off the Coast |
Here are some screen shots from OpenCPN running on the navigation laptop computer.
There is a chart of the Angra region. The large island in the middle is Ilha Grande, with interesting anchorages all around it. At the top and slightly to the left is a red boat symbol indicating the current position of Pachuca in the marina at Bracui. The blue squares are waypoints that I have up at recommended anchorages. (Note that there are many, many more anchorages than that.)
Another photo shows the first leg of the passage, to the island of Tristan da Cunha, 1890 miles away on a bearing of 116 degrees True.
Another shows the leg to Cape Town as 1475 miles long on a bearing of 082T. The total distance of the passage is 3360 miles. (Bear in mind that due to the vagaries of the wind I will actually cover about 20% more distance. )
Then there are two C-Map charts of Tristan da Cunha. The settlement of Edinburgh of the Seven Seas is represented by that black circle on the NW side. The anchorage area is shown on the close up chart. The island is the top of a volcano, with the crater in the middle.
I will make contact on VHF 16 as I approach the island to obtain permission to visit and take advice on anchoring. I will have to anchor offshore in open water and there will be issues of swell, general weather, and holding ground. I am hoping that there may be a mooring available for my use.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Navigation Computer Set up, and “Kindleized”
I woke up to a rainy Sunday morning so decided to set up the new navigation computer, the Toshiba Satellite that I purchase during my recent visit to the USA. One of the things that I didn't like about the older Toshiba that supported me so well around the Horn was that it had only 2 USB ports. I had to dedicate one to the Pactor III modem, which meant that I had to connect both BU-353 GPS antennas and the mouse one a USB hub, potentially putting a big data load on the port. Worse, if I lost one of the USB ports due to, say, salt water invasion, I would have been down to only one available port, which probably would of meant a lot of device manipulation when I swapped between navigation and communication.
The new Toshiba has 3 USB ports (one a blazingly fast USB 3.0 port), a faster processor (Intel i3@2.4GHz vs Celeron 900@2.2GHz), a similar disc drive (500Gb SATA-II 3.0Gb/s), but double the memory (4.0Mb vs 2.0Mb. I expect the extra memory to be very helpful given that I will be running two navigation systems (Marine Plotter and OpenCPN) simultaneously, then in addition to that Airmail3, OpenOffice, and other software as needs dictate. It is considered a low end machine, yet should my purposes well, which is a testament to the state of modern computing. Besides, I thought it an unnecessary risk to invest in a high end machine given that one dose of salt water could destroy it in an instant.
The first task was to plug the machine into the boat's 12V system via the cigarette lighter outlet. I plugged in the Merex transformer but was surprised to find that the tip (plug) did not fit either the Toshiba or the Acer. These transformers come with an array of 20 or more tips of various sizes and designs to accommodate the wide range of laptop computers in the field. I retrieved the two plastic containers of computer bits from the forecastle and began to work my way through the pile of tips. Eventually I found tips for both the Toshiba and the Acer, so that crisis was over. Better yet, I also found another transformer with a permanent tip that fit the Acer. I must have picked this up sometime in a stroke of genius. Then I found another Merex transformer. This was all very satisfying. I am a maniac for backups and redundancy, and it appears that I've got the issue of boat power to the computers well covered. I've even got two cigarette lighter outlets at the navigation station.
Then it was time to set up the two BU-353 GPS antennas. I plugged the USB hub into the laptop, plugged in the two antennas to the hub, identified their virtual port names, then brought up OpenCPN using one of the GPS antennas. Nothing happened and I could not see any GPS data streaming down. After a bit of experimentation I concluded that the hardware was working fine. The machine was detecting the new ports but the software was not receiving data. I could either panic or back off over a cup of coffee. The coffee option worked. It hit me that I had not installed the BU-353 driver when I set up the new machine in Kingston. I fetched the driver DVD from the forecastle, installed the driver, and soon I had Marine Plotter and OpenCPN reporting the boat's position.
So it looks like the navigation computer is ready for sea, given that I've already exercised the communication system by issuing two blogs and some emails.
Thanks to enlightened policy of the Brazilian government I have electronic charts covering all of Brazil available to both MP and OpenCPN. Fortunately OpenCPN handles C-Map charts very well, so until I reach Australian waters I will be relying on OpenCPN for the chart navigation, and Marine Plotter for satellite image navigation. Fortunately there is a detailed C-Map chart of Tristan da Cunha to go with the very detailed Google images of the island that I have downloaded with MP. As I approach Australian waters I'll have a third option, a data card for the Raymarine chart plotter that contains a complete set of Australian charts.
Both MP and OpenCPN have AIS capability. I brought back from the USA several different DB9-USB converters that will allow me to connect the AIS transponder to the laptop. I'll explore this in the future because it is another redundancy issue: were something to happen to the Raymarine chart plotter I would have to fall back to the laptop for my AIS data.
-----
I downloaded more literature to the Kindle: The Complete Works of Mark Twain, The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde, and The Life of General George Patton. I read the first chapter of Patton and it will be one of those books that I will savour slowly because I don't want it to end. I suppose this means that I've been “Kindleized” in all of three days.
The new Toshiba has 3 USB ports (one a blazingly fast USB 3.0 port), a faster processor (Intel i3@2.4GHz vs Celeron 900@2.2GHz), a similar disc drive (500Gb SATA-II 3.0Gb/s), but double the memory (4.0Mb vs 2.0Mb. I expect the extra memory to be very helpful given that I will be running two navigation systems (Marine Plotter and OpenCPN) simultaneously, then in addition to that Airmail3, OpenOffice, and other software as needs dictate. It is considered a low end machine, yet should my purposes well, which is a testament to the state of modern computing. Besides, I thought it an unnecessary risk to invest in a high end machine given that one dose of salt water could destroy it in an instant.
The first task was to plug the machine into the boat's 12V system via the cigarette lighter outlet. I plugged in the Merex transformer but was surprised to find that the tip (plug) did not fit either the Toshiba or the Acer. These transformers come with an array of 20 or more tips of various sizes and designs to accommodate the wide range of laptop computers in the field. I retrieved the two plastic containers of computer bits from the forecastle and began to work my way through the pile of tips. Eventually I found tips for both the Toshiba and the Acer, so that crisis was over. Better yet, I also found another transformer with a permanent tip that fit the Acer. I must have picked this up sometime in a stroke of genius. Then I found another Merex transformer. This was all very satisfying. I am a maniac for backups and redundancy, and it appears that I've got the issue of boat power to the computers well covered. I've even got two cigarette lighter outlets at the navigation station.
Then it was time to set up the two BU-353 GPS antennas. I plugged the USB hub into the laptop, plugged in the two antennas to the hub, identified their virtual port names, then brought up OpenCPN using one of the GPS antennas. Nothing happened and I could not see any GPS data streaming down. After a bit of experimentation I concluded that the hardware was working fine. The machine was detecting the new ports but the software was not receiving data. I could either panic or back off over a cup of coffee. The coffee option worked. It hit me that I had not installed the BU-353 driver when I set up the new machine in Kingston. I fetched the driver DVD from the forecastle, installed the driver, and soon I had Marine Plotter and OpenCPN reporting the boat's position.
So it looks like the navigation computer is ready for sea, given that I've already exercised the communication system by issuing two blogs and some emails.
Thanks to enlightened policy of the Brazilian government I have electronic charts covering all of Brazil available to both MP and OpenCPN. Fortunately OpenCPN handles C-Map charts very well, so until I reach Australian waters I will be relying on OpenCPN for the chart navigation, and Marine Plotter for satellite image navigation. Fortunately there is a detailed C-Map chart of Tristan da Cunha to go with the very detailed Google images of the island that I have downloaded with MP. As I approach Australian waters I'll have a third option, a data card for the Raymarine chart plotter that contains a complete set of Australian charts.
Both MP and OpenCPN have AIS capability. I brought back from the USA several different DB9-USB converters that will allow me to connect the AIS transponder to the laptop. I'll explore this in the future because it is another redundancy issue: were something to happen to the Raymarine chart plotter I would have to fall back to the laptop for my AIS data.
-----
I downloaded more literature to the Kindle: The Complete Works of Mark Twain, The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde, and The Life of General George Patton. I read the first chapter of Patton and it will be one of those books that I will savour slowly because I don't want it to end. I suppose this means that I've been “Kindleized” in all of three days.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Kindle, Whisker Pole, Wine
My objective for yesterday was to set up the Amazon Kindle that Arnold and Sandra had given to me for my birthday. The task was to register the Kindle with Amazon so that it was linked to my Amazon account and its payment arrangement. I took the netbook as well as the Kindle to the table where I do my internet work and in the netbook was the Kindle manual that Arnold had downloaded for me. I had already done some familiarisation with the Kindle and had a pretty good idea how to navigate around the screen and drill down to the manyy functions.
The first step was to connect the Kindle to the WiFi, which turned out to be very easy by simply following the instructions in the manual. I selected the WiFi service, entered the password, and jthe little “WiFi” logo came up on the screen.
The next step was to register, but that required an Amazon account. I was pretty sure that I already had an account due to the numerous purchases that I had made through Amazon during my previous two visits to the USA, but needed to make sure. I went into the Settings function, had a look at the payment method and saw that all of my Visa card details were already in place. I could not remember my Amazon account password and used the system to set a new one.
With the account issue settled I registered the Kindle with no problem.
Then it was time to visit the candy store, so to speak, and I was determined to restrain myself and start of with a bit of bottom feeding.
My first download was all of the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald for $2.99.
Then I downloaded four novels of W. Somerset Maugham at no cost.
I finished the session by downloading all of the works of Dickens for $2.99.
With that, the last of the big spenders called it a day.
The Kindle is a well designed piece of gear with all sorts of functionality and is a credit to Amazon, but the book management functions will suit my needs very nicely until I reach Fremantle.
I started off this day by giving the whisker pole some attention. I lubricated the latches, looped a piece of thick stainless steel wire through one of the triggers then tied a loop of cord around that for easy firing. Then I secured it well with the aft end clipped onto the bracket designed for the spinnaker pole and the middle and forward end lashed to the toe rail with shock cord and ordinary cord. (The shock cord is to ensure that the pole doesn't move and clank during heavy rolls.)
While rearranging the contents of the V-berth area I took an inventory of the wine. I'll be sailing out with 6 whites and 21 reds from the stock that I brought from Argentina. I expect to be somwhat restrained in my wine drinking during the passage to Cape Town, but I will definiely enjoy a chilled white at one of the anchorages in the Angra area.
The first step was to connect the Kindle to the WiFi, which turned out to be very easy by simply following the instructions in the manual. I selected the WiFi service, entered the password, and jthe little “WiFi” logo came up on the screen.
The next step was to register, but that required an Amazon account. I was pretty sure that I already had an account due to the numerous purchases that I had made through Amazon during my previous two visits to the USA, but needed to make sure. I went into the Settings function, had a look at the payment method and saw that all of my Visa card details were already in place. I could not remember my Amazon account password and used the system to set a new one.
With the account issue settled I registered the Kindle with no problem.
Then it was time to visit the candy store, so to speak, and I was determined to restrain myself and start of with a bit of bottom feeding.
My first download was all of the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald for $2.99.
Then I downloaded four novels of W. Somerset Maugham at no cost.
I finished the session by downloading all of the works of Dickens for $2.99.
With that, the last of the big spenders called it a day.
The Kindle is a well designed piece of gear with all sorts of functionality and is a credit to Amazon, but the book management functions will suit my needs very nicely until I reach Fremantle.
I started off this day by giving the whisker pole some attention. I lubricated the latches, looped a piece of thick stainless steel wire through one of the triggers then tied a loop of cord around that for easy firing. Then I secured it well with the aft end clipped onto the bracket designed for the spinnaker pole and the middle and forward end lashed to the toe rail with shock cord and ordinary cord. (The shock cord is to ensure that the pole doesn't move and clank during heavy rolls.)
While rearranging the contents of the V-berth area I took an inventory of the wine. I'll be sailing out with 6 whites and 21 reds from the stock that I brought from Argentina. I expect to be somwhat restrained in my wine drinking during the passage to Cape Town, but I will definiely enjoy a chilled white at one of the anchorages in the Angra area.
Friday, November 23, 2012
LPG Cylinders Ready and Visit to Angra
I've decided to go with what LPG I have in the cylinders.
This morning I went to the lazarette with an adjustable wrench to remove the small cylinder to take to the machinist in Frade and it felt very heavy when I handled it. The larger cylinder beside it, which I've been using since Argentina, seemed heavy too. I then checked the blabber blog and confirmed that all three cylinders had been filled in May and June. Given that I was away in the USA for well over 2 months and that I use the electric kettle for heating water when I am on board I figure that I have used very little gas since leaving Argentina. At 9 AM I saw Alexandre, explained my finding, and told him that there was no need to trouble himself with a trip to Frade to have an adapter machined. I dropped into his office later and set up my Acer on a spare desk, plugged it into the internet, and in air conditioned comfort I found several web sites for calculation of propeller pitch. Surprisingly, up to now he had not been able to make these calculations and he was keen to get access to one of these calculators. I emailed him a message containing three hot links, explaining that there were many more available on the web, then we thanked each other and I was on my way.
Back at the boat I mounted the spare large cylinder (the one donated by Rick in La Paz) at the back rail and carefully secured the two “working” cylinders in the lazarette with several runs of shock cord. The last thing I want is for these cylinders to come loose in a heavy rolling sea, and I've been successful with the shock cord so far., I figure that I'll be departing with about 85% of my LPG capacity.
Then checked the bus scheduled and saw that the next bus for Angra departed at noon, and 90 minutes later I was in the way. I had four objectives: (1) exchange Reals for US dollars, (2) get a haircut, (3) get some provisions, (4) get a tube of silicone sealant.
The first item was serious. I had foolishly withdrawn another 1,000 Reals from the ATM in anticipation of purchasing those two new batteries, even though the indication was that they would not fit. That left me with cash of about 1,800 Reals, equivalent to over $800,. Then I made the decision to depart for Cape Town earlier than I had expected and also came to the realisation that there was just not that much more money to be spent to finish my preparations. If I could not find a money changer I would likely sail out with R$1,500 which I would probably not be able to convert once I left the country.
At Angra I visited the HSBC bank. The girl at the counter understood English but nevertheless I handed over a pre-written note in Portuguese explaining my requirement. She went to a back office to speak to someone then returned with the bad news that the bank could not exchange my Reals and that I would have to go to the airport. “You mean the airport at Rio de Janeiro?” I asked incredulously. Yes, it would be Rio. I asked her if there was any place in Angra where I could get the money exchanged and she replied with an emphatic no.
Then I went to see my friends at the Information office. It is a large and modern facility always well staffed with switched on English speaking young men. The fellow who served me told me, to my great relief, that there were two places in Angra where I could have the money exchanged. He pulled out a city map, such as it is (a minimal sketch with few street names) and marked their locations, which were only about 2 blocks away. After two fruitless searches and my third visit to the Information building the fellow took me by the hand to lead me to it.
We went to the first place but the money changer was not in, so we proceeded to the second one. I had noted that this first place was not on the corner as had been indicated on the map, and also “I didn't notice the sign 'Angra Way' that I had been expecting.” He replied that there had been a sign when he had brought some tourists two weeks earlier but now it was gone. (No bloody wonder I couldn't find the place.)
On the way to the second place we passed by the art gallery on the corner where I had been told to look but he said that wasn't the place. Again, we went past the indicated corner then turned into a narrow alley way with shops on either side and soon I saw overhead “Galeria” (which can sound very much like “gallery”). The fellow left me at the door of the business and I thanked him very much for bringing me to it.
I pushed the call button, heard the door buzz open, walked in and got good vibes the moment I stepped in. As soon as I spoke with the clean cut young man with good English I knew that I'd be OK. (One of the dangers of exchanging money, particularly on the street where you can get a better rate, is receiving counterfeit money.) He told me that there would be no problem in converting the Reals to US dollars. He did not ask me for my passport which is just as well because I had not thought of bringing it until I was on the bus to Angra. I put R$1,400 on the table, he counted it out, did some calculations and told me that he could give me $637 USD on an exchange rate of 2.2. I had expected to be burned on the exchange rate but 2.2 was amazingly good – better than what my own bank gives to me! I thanked him very much and told him that he had saved me a trip to Rio.
Then it was haircut time and I was determined to find a barbershop on my own rather than troubling the guys at the Information desk. I walked the fringes of the downtown area looking for a down market low budget operation were the locals go, because I was still bristling (no pun intended) over that over priced muppet/Mohawk cut that I had received in that up market boutique in Buenos Aires. I eventually found the sort of barbershop that I was looking for and the guy gave be a brilliant haircut. I no longer worry about language problems at barbershops. I made a scissor gesture over my eye brows, into my ears, but not my moustache (which I had just done the day before). I marked where I wanted the sideburns to be and indicated a half-inch gap with my fingers for the length of the hair. My instructions could not have been better followed had I used the Queen's finest English in a London barber shop. He threw in one extra. He grabbed the tip of my nose with two fingers and carefully trimmed the hairs inside of my nose. I can't remember ever having that done before. I didn't ask about their scissor hygiene policy. The charge was R$12 (about $5.50) and he was grateful for the well earned R$3 tip.
It was just past 3 PM when I walked out of the barbershop and I headed for the supermarket. On the way I stopped at a likely looking business and presented my note asking for silicone sealant along with the near empty tube that I had brought from the boat. Unfortunately they did not have any so I walked on.
At the grocery store I was disappointed to find little by the way of canned meat or fish. (The tiny cans of fish were unbelievably expensive.) Specifically, there was no corned beef. I plan to avoid fresh red and white meats on the passage to Cape Town, mainly for dietary reasons, but that will also present the advantage of not having to keep the refrigerator cold at all times. I expect to depart with the refrigerator full of fruit, vegetables, eggs, and plenty of cheese. This will allow me to switch the refrigerator off at night to save battery power.
I walked out of the store with a big load of dried beans and lentils of various sorts, 3-minute soups and noodle meals, and some spaghetti. The eggs, rice, paper towels, and much of the fruit and vegetables I'll be able to purchase in the local shop.
I caught the very crowded bus to Bracui at 4 PM as planned. (The bus to Angra, had been crowded too, forcing me to stand for part of the way.) and at 5 PM I was back at the marina, satisfied that I had achieved 3 of my 4 objectives.
I plan to make one more trip to Angra. On Thursday I will visit the Policia Federal and obtain my clearance to leave the country. I will then return with a big load of cheese, other last minute items that come to mind, and that silicone sealant if possible.
This morning I went to the lazarette with an adjustable wrench to remove the small cylinder to take to the machinist in Frade and it felt very heavy when I handled it. The larger cylinder beside it, which I've been using since Argentina, seemed heavy too. I then checked the blabber blog and confirmed that all three cylinders had been filled in May and June. Given that I was away in the USA for well over 2 months and that I use the electric kettle for heating water when I am on board I figure that I have used very little gas since leaving Argentina. At 9 AM I saw Alexandre, explained my finding, and told him that there was no need to trouble himself with a trip to Frade to have an adapter machined. I dropped into his office later and set up my Acer on a spare desk, plugged it into the internet, and in air conditioned comfort I found several web sites for calculation of propeller pitch. Surprisingly, up to now he had not been able to make these calculations and he was keen to get access to one of these calculators. I emailed him a message containing three hot links, explaining that there were many more available on the web, then we thanked each other and I was on my way.
Back at the boat I mounted the spare large cylinder (the one donated by Rick in La Paz) at the back rail and carefully secured the two “working” cylinders in the lazarette with several runs of shock cord. The last thing I want is for these cylinders to come loose in a heavy rolling sea, and I've been successful with the shock cord so far., I figure that I'll be departing with about 85% of my LPG capacity.
Then checked the bus scheduled and saw that the next bus for Angra departed at noon, and 90 minutes later I was in the way. I had four objectives: (1) exchange Reals for US dollars, (2) get a haircut, (3) get some provisions, (4) get a tube of silicone sealant.
The first item was serious. I had foolishly withdrawn another 1,000 Reals from the ATM in anticipation of purchasing those two new batteries, even though the indication was that they would not fit. That left me with cash of about 1,800 Reals, equivalent to over $800,. Then I made the decision to depart for Cape Town earlier than I had expected and also came to the realisation that there was just not that much more money to be spent to finish my preparations. If I could not find a money changer I would likely sail out with R$1,500 which I would probably not be able to convert once I left the country.
At Angra I visited the HSBC bank. The girl at the counter understood English but nevertheless I handed over a pre-written note in Portuguese explaining my requirement. She went to a back office to speak to someone then returned with the bad news that the bank could not exchange my Reals and that I would have to go to the airport. “You mean the airport at Rio de Janeiro?” I asked incredulously. Yes, it would be Rio. I asked her if there was any place in Angra where I could get the money exchanged and she replied with an emphatic no.
Then I went to see my friends at the Information office. It is a large and modern facility always well staffed with switched on English speaking young men. The fellow who served me told me, to my great relief, that there were two places in Angra where I could have the money exchanged. He pulled out a city map, such as it is (a minimal sketch with few street names) and marked their locations, which were only about 2 blocks away. After two fruitless searches and my third visit to the Information building the fellow took me by the hand to lead me to it.
We went to the first place but the money changer was not in, so we proceeded to the second one. I had noted that this first place was not on the corner as had been indicated on the map, and also “I didn't notice the sign 'Angra Way' that I had been expecting.” He replied that there had been a sign when he had brought some tourists two weeks earlier but now it was gone. (No bloody wonder I couldn't find the place.)
On the way to the second place we passed by the art gallery on the corner where I had been told to look but he said that wasn't the place. Again, we went past the indicated corner then turned into a narrow alley way with shops on either side and soon I saw overhead “Galeria” (which can sound very much like “gallery”). The fellow left me at the door of the business and I thanked him very much for bringing me to it.
I pushed the call button, heard the door buzz open, walked in and got good vibes the moment I stepped in. As soon as I spoke with the clean cut young man with good English I knew that I'd be OK. (One of the dangers of exchanging money, particularly on the street where you can get a better rate, is receiving counterfeit money.) He told me that there would be no problem in converting the Reals to US dollars. He did not ask me for my passport which is just as well because I had not thought of bringing it until I was on the bus to Angra. I put R$1,400 on the table, he counted it out, did some calculations and told me that he could give me $637 USD on an exchange rate of 2.2. I had expected to be burned on the exchange rate but 2.2 was amazingly good – better than what my own bank gives to me! I thanked him very much and told him that he had saved me a trip to Rio.
Then it was haircut time and I was determined to find a barbershop on my own rather than troubling the guys at the Information desk. I walked the fringes of the downtown area looking for a down market low budget operation were the locals go, because I was still bristling (no pun intended) over that over priced muppet/Mohawk cut that I had received in that up market boutique in Buenos Aires. I eventually found the sort of barbershop that I was looking for and the guy gave be a brilliant haircut. I no longer worry about language problems at barbershops. I made a scissor gesture over my eye brows, into my ears, but not my moustache (which I had just done the day before). I marked where I wanted the sideburns to be and indicated a half-inch gap with my fingers for the length of the hair. My instructions could not have been better followed had I used the Queen's finest English in a London barber shop. He threw in one extra. He grabbed the tip of my nose with two fingers and carefully trimmed the hairs inside of my nose. I can't remember ever having that done before. I didn't ask about their scissor hygiene policy. The charge was R$12 (about $5.50) and he was grateful for the well earned R$3 tip.
It was just past 3 PM when I walked out of the barbershop and I headed for the supermarket. On the way I stopped at a likely looking business and presented my note asking for silicone sealant along with the near empty tube that I had brought from the boat. Unfortunately they did not have any so I walked on.
At the grocery store I was disappointed to find little by the way of canned meat or fish. (The tiny cans of fish were unbelievably expensive.) Specifically, there was no corned beef. I plan to avoid fresh red and white meats on the passage to Cape Town, mainly for dietary reasons, but that will also present the advantage of not having to keep the refrigerator cold at all times. I expect to depart with the refrigerator full of fruit, vegetables, eggs, and plenty of cheese. This will allow me to switch the refrigerator off at night to save battery power.
I walked out of the store with a big load of dried beans and lentils of various sorts, 3-minute soups and noodle meals, and some spaghetti. The eggs, rice, paper towels, and much of the fruit and vegetables I'll be able to purchase in the local shop.
I caught the very crowded bus to Bracui at 4 PM as planned. (The bus to Angra, had been crowded too, forcing me to stand for part of the way.) and at 5 PM I was back at the marina, satisfied that I had achieved 3 of my 4 objectives.
I plan to make one more trip to Angra. On Thursday I will visit the Policia Federal and obtain my clearance to leave the country. I will then return with a big load of cheese, other last minute items that come to mind, and that silicone sealant if possible.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Plans
I've drafted a rough plan which because it involves sailing must be taken with a big grain of (sea) salt.
Until recently my plan had been to make a leisurely exit from Brazil, savouring the delights of the many islands at Angra, then proceeding south for more leisurely visiting. I had vague expectations of reaching Australia in June or perhaps July.
While I was in the USA I picked up a comment to the blog from Jack Sullivan, a school mate that I had not have seen or heard of since 1963, 49 years ago. Soon we were in regular communication and had two telephone conversations involving Jack, Arnold, and myself from Arnold's home in Kingston.
Jack had found me rather easily using Google because he was doing preliminary work on a 50-year high school of classes from two girls' and one boys' schools. (Catholic high schools were segregated by sex in those days.) During this time Carol Fransen another organiser, telephoned Arnold quite independently of Jack and we had another great conversation. From memory, Carol and Jack go back to the third grade of primary school, as will others who will be attending the reunion.
This will probably be the last opportunity that I will have to see these people because time is moving on and we have already lost some of the group. For me the reunion will have a special edge given that I left the USA in 1966 as a very troubled young man, and for me this would represent a closure (sorry about that word, folks) on a grand scale. Besides, Arnold is also planning to attend and the group would probably get a kick of seeing the twins together again.
The reunion is on 8 June in Mobile, Alabama. To make that journey I would want to arrive in Fremantle no later than 30 April because I will need the time to see my friends and well wishers before I depart. With this new constraint in mind I have made the following calculations.
The nautical distances involved are approximately:
1. Brazil-Tristan de Cunha, 1900 miles
2. Tristan de Cunha-Cape Town, 1500 miles
3. Cape Town-St Paul Island, 3000 miles
4. St Paul Island-Fremantle 1800 miles
I estimate the following days of sailing involved under two assumptions of my average number of miles covered per day: 80 (very pessimistic) and 100:
1. Brazil-Cape Town, 34-42 days
2. Cape Town-Fremantle, 48-60 days
The “worst case” time, including a 3 day stay at Tristan de Cunha and only a sail-by of St Paul, is 105 days, or roughly 3.5 months. A six-week visit to Cape Town would add another 1.5 months, yielding a total of 5 months. Clearing the Brazilian coast in mid-December would put me in Fremantle in mid-May.
I hasten to emphasize that the above is “worst case”. “Best Case”, including a 5 rather than 6 week stay in Cape Town would put me in Fremantle at about 18 April. If conditions when I arrive at Tristan de Cunha are not suitable for safe anchoring then another 3 days will be saved. Also, I can pick up a week if I clear the Brazilian coast by 8 December.
It's worth a shot. One advantage from this new schedule is that it will put me in Fremantle before winter.
Until recently my plan had been to make a leisurely exit from Brazil, savouring the delights of the many islands at Angra, then proceeding south for more leisurely visiting. I had vague expectations of reaching Australia in June or perhaps July.
While I was in the USA I picked up a comment to the blog from Jack Sullivan, a school mate that I had not have seen or heard of since 1963, 49 years ago. Soon we were in regular communication and had two telephone conversations involving Jack, Arnold, and myself from Arnold's home in Kingston.
Jack had found me rather easily using Google because he was doing preliminary work on a 50-year high school of classes from two girls' and one boys' schools. (Catholic high schools were segregated by sex in those days.) During this time Carol Fransen another organiser, telephoned Arnold quite independently of Jack and we had another great conversation. From memory, Carol and Jack go back to the third grade of primary school, as will others who will be attending the reunion.
This will probably be the last opportunity that I will have to see these people because time is moving on and we have already lost some of the group. For me the reunion will have a special edge given that I left the USA in 1966 as a very troubled young man, and for me this would represent a closure (sorry about that word, folks) on a grand scale. Besides, Arnold is also planning to attend and the group would probably get a kick of seeing the twins together again.
The reunion is on 8 June in Mobile, Alabama. To make that journey I would want to arrive in Fremantle no later than 30 April because I will need the time to see my friends and well wishers before I depart. With this new constraint in mind I have made the following calculations.
The nautical distances involved are approximately:
1. Brazil-Tristan de Cunha, 1900 miles
2. Tristan de Cunha-Cape Town, 1500 miles
3. Cape Town-St Paul Island, 3000 miles
4. St Paul Island-Fremantle 1800 miles
I estimate the following days of sailing involved under two assumptions of my average number of miles covered per day: 80 (very pessimistic) and 100:
1. Brazil-Cape Town, 34-42 days
2. Cape Town-Fremantle, 48-60 days
The “worst case” time, including a 3 day stay at Tristan de Cunha and only a sail-by of St Paul, is 105 days, or roughly 3.5 months. A six-week visit to Cape Town would add another 1.5 months, yielding a total of 5 months. Clearing the Brazilian coast in mid-December would put me in Fremantle in mid-May.
I hasten to emphasize that the above is “worst case”. “Best Case”, including a 5 rather than 6 week stay in Cape Town would put me in Fremantle at about 18 April. If conditions when I arrive at Tristan de Cunha are not suitable for safe anchoring then another 3 days will be saved. Also, I can pick up a week if I clear the Brazilian coast by 8 December.
It's worth a shot. One advantage from this new schedule is that it will put me in Fremantle before winter.
More Preparations
Yesterday I fitted the water vane of the Monitor wind steering. That went well probably because I didn't treat it as a routine job but rather a serious one with risks of losing tools, the vital pin, and even the water vane itself into the water.
I also put up the headsail. It is a heavy beast and I worked in small steps to avoid damaging my back or the equipment. I managed to get the sail bag up onto the foredeck through the forward hatch then laid it out on the port side of the inner forestay because the wind was gusting gently from the starboard quarter. I added a second shackle at the peak of the sail because I didn't like how there was a 90 degree twist in the strop at the peak of the sail when it was attached to the single shackle on the Proful roller. By the time the peak of the sail was connected with the shackle moused with wire, and both sheets in place, the wind strengthened and began to veer to the port side of the boat. It was at this time that I decided to stop working on the headsail and turn my attention to the Monitor water vane.
By the time I had finished work on the Monitor the wind was off the port bow and moderating, so I man handled the sail to the starboard side of the deck and decided that it conditions were safe enough for a hoist, In fact the conditions were perfect because you want a bit of wind from the side to give the sail shape while it is being rolled in.
I started off by attaching a snap block to a ring on the mast then passing the halyard to the bow. In this way I could pull on the halyard while feeding the sail into the track. Thereafter I would line up a few feet of luff under the feeder, go to the mast, and use my weight on the halyard to raise a few more feet of sail. I would then snub off the halyard, go forward and line up more sail luff, and repeat the process. When the sail was about 1/3 up there was too much weight for this hand work so I passed the halyard through its normal path to the starboard cabin winch. Then it was a methodical process of lining up a few feet of luff at the bow, then going back to the cockpit to winch up more sail. When the sail was 2/3 up even the size 22 cabin winch could not cope. I used binoculars to make sure that all was OK aloft then transferred the halyard to one of the larger size 28 cockpit winches. The angle at which the halyard met the winch made it prone to a crossover and I had once ruined a nearly new main halyard by tearing the sheath during such a crossover, so I was very careful to not make the same mistake again.
When the foot was at the level of the lower shackle of the Profurl roller I fitted it to the shackle (again a 90 degree twist) and soon had the sail rolled in. The sail rolls “fat” partly because of the heavy weight of the cloth (9.55 oz from memory), and largely because pads have been sewn in along the luff of the sail to achieve a better shape when rolling – something that I had never seen before.
Fortunately the Proful roller has a very good feeder and the bolt rope on the sail luff is in as new conditions. Were the feeder a poor one or the bolt rope frayed, as I've seen in other boats, raising the headsail would be a 2-person job. … Also, I've made a mental note to purchase two shackles with 90 degree twists for the headsail at first opportunity.
Jobs remaining are (1) refilling an LPG cylinder (2) provisioning (3) re caulk a slightly leaky cabin window (if I have time)
I also put up the headsail. It is a heavy beast and I worked in small steps to avoid damaging my back or the equipment. I managed to get the sail bag up onto the foredeck through the forward hatch then laid it out on the port side of the inner forestay because the wind was gusting gently from the starboard quarter. I added a second shackle at the peak of the sail because I didn't like how there was a 90 degree twist in the strop at the peak of the sail when it was attached to the single shackle on the Proful roller. By the time the peak of the sail was connected with the shackle moused with wire, and both sheets in place, the wind strengthened and began to veer to the port side of the boat. It was at this time that I decided to stop working on the headsail and turn my attention to the Monitor water vane.
By the time I had finished work on the Monitor the wind was off the port bow and moderating, so I man handled the sail to the starboard side of the deck and decided that it conditions were safe enough for a hoist, In fact the conditions were perfect because you want a bit of wind from the side to give the sail shape while it is being rolled in.
I started off by attaching a snap block to a ring on the mast then passing the halyard to the bow. In this way I could pull on the halyard while feeding the sail into the track. Thereafter I would line up a few feet of luff under the feeder, go to the mast, and use my weight on the halyard to raise a few more feet of sail. I would then snub off the halyard, go forward and line up more sail luff, and repeat the process. When the sail was about 1/3 up there was too much weight for this hand work so I passed the halyard through its normal path to the starboard cabin winch. Then it was a methodical process of lining up a few feet of luff at the bow, then going back to the cockpit to winch up more sail. When the sail was 2/3 up even the size 22 cabin winch could not cope. I used binoculars to make sure that all was OK aloft then transferred the halyard to one of the larger size 28 cockpit winches. The angle at which the halyard met the winch made it prone to a crossover and I had once ruined a nearly new main halyard by tearing the sheath during such a crossover, so I was very careful to not make the same mistake again.
When the foot was at the level of the lower shackle of the Profurl roller I fitted it to the shackle (again a 90 degree twist) and soon had the sail rolled in. The sail rolls “fat” partly because of the heavy weight of the cloth (9.55 oz from memory), and largely because pads have been sewn in along the luff of the sail to achieve a better shape when rolling – something that I had never seen before.
Fortunately the Proful roller has a very good feeder and the bolt rope on the sail luff is in as new conditions. Were the feeder a poor one or the bolt rope frayed, as I've seen in other boats, raising the headsail would be a 2-person job. … Also, I've made a mental note to purchase two shackles with 90 degree twists for the headsail at first opportunity.
Jobs remaining are (1) refilling an LPG cylinder (2) provisioning (3) re caulk a slightly leaky cabin window (if I have time)
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Back on the Internet
After a gorgeous sunny day yesterday I woke up to heavy showers this morning and didn't expect to get much done. Between showers I brought my laptop to test the wireless internet on the way to shower room and found it to be still down. On the way back to Pachuca I saw Ricardo boarding his boat after taking his dog for a walk and asked for his help. Soon we were walking back to the marina office and he had is iPad in hand in order to test the connectivity.
After a brief discussion in Portuguese Ricardo told me that the wireless service that I had been using was no longer available, and that I should another one which was password protected. Ricardo successfully connected his iPad with the password that he had been given, then I tried the connection with my Acer and Bingo! I was back on the internet again.
I told Ricardo that without his help I may have been off the internet for many more days. I gave him my thanks and I could tell that he was very happy with help that he had given to me.
After a brief discussion in Portuguese Ricardo told me that the wireless service that I had been using was no longer available, and that I should another one which was password protected. Ricardo successfully connected his iPad with the password that he had been given, then I tried the connection with my Acer and Bingo! I was back on the internet again.
I told Ricardo that without his help I may have been off the internet for many more days. I gave him my thanks and I could tell that he was very happy with help that he had given to me.
Monday, November 19, 2012
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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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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Sunday, November 18, 2012
Blog Update from Sailmail
My first blog update from the boat since returning from the USA was supposed to be a test only, to validate the entire system from the new Toshiba navigation computer running the newly installed Airmail 3 software to the HF radio, Pactor III modem, and finally the email address that Stephen set up for the updates.
Unfortunately this will also have to serve as my blog update because the wireless internet service that I've been using abruptly stopped working at about 8.30 AM. The service is not available using either the Acer/XP or the Toshiba/Win7 system, so I'm confident that it is a weekend problem that will be rectified on Monday (tomorrow) morning. Until the service is restored I will not be able to communicate via either Skype or my Gmail address.
This morning I spent some time with the rigging. I had noticed that the leeward lower shrouds still looked just a tad loose when going to weather after my first adjustment so I gave them each another half turn of the turnbuckle. I also gave the intermediate shrouds a half turn but left the cap shrouds alone because they seemed nice and tight.
I then spent an hour checking out the anchor to make sure that it is ready for use. I'll keep the 45 lb plow anchor on the roller until I am on my way and well clear of the South American continent and then I'll either lash it to the mast or stow it in the clothes closet on top of the 50 lb Swarbrick. I will leave all the chain and rode up front in the anchor well. For the run to the Horn I moved all of the chain back to lighten the bow, but I will not do it this time because I expect to make landfall at Tristan de Cunha after only about 20 days after a somewhat easier passage than the Horn, given that we'll be running at about latitude 40S - about 900 miles north of the latitude of the Horn.
In the afternoon I put up new netting as before, from the pulpit to the stanchion across from the mast. Lashing the netting to that stanchion was a bit tricky because first I had to untie the ropes holding the planks to which a line of full jerry cans were attached. I then managed to pry the boards back just enough to allow me to work. Unfortunately it looks like I miscalculated and the remaining netting will be 1-2 feet short of the stanchion on the port side. I'll have to get creative and fill that gap with plenty of cord running between the end of the netting and the stanchion.
But the port side netting will have to wait one more day because tomorrow is the day when Alexandre will take me to the battery place. Fortunately I have enough cash on board and did not have to make a special trip to the ATM at Angra. The plan is for the batteries to be delivered by the company to the marina, I suppose because Alexandre does not want to be running around with two heavy batteries in the car. After the visit for the batteries I'll stay with Alexandre and he'll drop me off at Angra so that I can do some shopping. (I need a haircut but may as well wait until closer to departure time.
The starter batteries, by the way, settled down at 12.7V after yesterday's engine run and after 24 hours are down to 12.3V.
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
Unfortunately this will also have to serve as my blog update because the wireless internet service that I've been using abruptly stopped working at about 8.30 AM. The service is not available using either the Acer/XP or the Toshiba/Win7 system, so I'm confident that it is a weekend problem that will be rectified on Monday (tomorrow) morning. Until the service is restored I will not be able to communicate via either Skype or my Gmail address.
This morning I spent some time with the rigging. I had noticed that the leeward lower shrouds still looked just a tad loose when going to weather after my first adjustment so I gave them each another half turn of the turnbuckle. I also gave the intermediate shrouds a half turn but left the cap shrouds alone because they seemed nice and tight.
I then spent an hour checking out the anchor to make sure that it is ready for use. I'll keep the 45 lb plow anchor on the roller until I am on my way and well clear of the South American continent and then I'll either lash it to the mast or stow it in the clothes closet on top of the 50 lb Swarbrick. I will leave all the chain and rode up front in the anchor well. For the run to the Horn I moved all of the chain back to lighten the bow, but I will not do it this time because I expect to make landfall at Tristan de Cunha after only about 20 days after a somewhat easier passage than the Horn, given that we'll be running at about latitude 40S - about 900 miles north of the latitude of the Horn.
In the afternoon I put up new netting as before, from the pulpit to the stanchion across from the mast. Lashing the netting to that stanchion was a bit tricky because first I had to untie the ropes holding the planks to which a line of full jerry cans were attached. I then managed to pry the boards back just enough to allow me to work. Unfortunately it looks like I miscalculated and the remaining netting will be 1-2 feet short of the stanchion on the port side. I'll have to get creative and fill that gap with plenty of cord running between the end of the netting and the stanchion.
But the port side netting will have to wait one more day because tomorrow is the day when Alexandre will take me to the battery place. Fortunately I have enough cash on board and did not have to make a special trip to the ATM at Angra. The plan is for the batteries to be delivered by the company to the marina, I suppose because Alexandre does not want to be running around with two heavy batteries in the car. After the visit for the batteries I'll stay with Alexandre and he'll drop me off at Angra so that I can do some shopping. (I need a haircut but may as well wait until closer to departure time.
The starter batteries, by the way, settled down at 12.7V after yesterday's engine run and after 24 hours are down to 12.3V.
----------
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Saturday, November 17, 2012
Hull Clean, Monitor Ready, Engine Ready
On Thursday I launched the Zodiac and washed the hull of the boat. I held a slow running hose (water is plentiful in this part of the country) and washed with fresh water, dish detergent, and a sponge and in places a green scouring pad. There were 4 or 5 of black thick sticky oily patches left there by my older boat fenders during our stay in Argentina. For these I used a rag soaked with paint thinner followed by a water and detergent wash. Two of my fenders are well past their prime, with the outer covering deteriorating and becoming sticky. I'll go with what I got until the end of the cruise and purchase a new set of fenders with proper canvas covers in Fremantle.
After I finished washing the hull I stepped back and deliberated on whether or not to go to the expense of polishing the hull (Enrique estimated a whopping $250). Given that the paint job has seen better days and I am about to set off for for Cape Town I decided that polishing would be a waste. I promised Pachuca years ago that if she got me safely back to Australia I would treat her to a new paint job on her hull, and so I will, though it may take a year or two to make that happen. It will be a deluxe job with no expense spared and when it is done I hope to see a mirror finish on the hull. CUOF's can indulge in these follies. (cashed up old farts) Anyway, I finished up the day satisfied that the boat was now clean inside and out with new anodes on propeller shaft.
Yesterday I took advantage of having the Zodiac in the water to attend to the Monitor wind steering. I swapped the control lines with the new ones that I had brought back from the U.S.A. I then made sure that every nut on the unit was tight. One of the blocks was a bit stiff so I backed off on the nut and sprayed it with WD40. I made sure that the double wires passing through heads of the lower bolts were secure. This work was very, very easy with the boat backed up to the floating jetty because I could work from the jetty in relative comfort with the Zodiac positioned underneath the unit to catch any tools or fastenings that I might drop during the operation. I'll mount the water paddle a day or two before sailing.
To be honest, the cordage recommended by Fisheries Supply in Seattle for the control lines does not seem to have a particularly strong covering, which is an important issue because chafing is a bigger problem than load. Nevertheless I was told that it was what the locals use so I'll try it and see how it goes. If the lines don't last I'll make a mental note to grumble to Fisheries on my next visit then swap back to the lines I installed in MdP.
While I was sitting at my morning internet session Ricardo said hello as he passed by. Ricardo had the boat at the end and I had not seen him since before my departure for the USA. He and his wife alternate between their property toward Santos and Bracui. It was great to see him again because I like him a lot.
Just before the internet session I dropped by Alexandre's office to show him a photograph of the starter battery setup. He thinks that the batteries that I will wind up with will have their posts on two side corners rather than two end corners, meaning that I might have to find someone to make new cables. Alexandre will help me with this. It is just as well that I dropped in because he told me that Tuesday is a holiday so that we will be going into Angra on Monday.
After the internet session I popped into the marina office with a note asking for the Bracui-Angra bus schedule. When this was done the office manager used her Google translator to ask me about my departure plans. I replied on her keyboard that I expected to leave Bracui on 15 December. I also told her that I think that I am paid up at the marina until the end of November and will pay for December in a few days (when I have a better idea of the exact departure date.)
In the evening tested out the Sailmail system. This was important because for the first time I was using the new navigation computer, the Toshiba laptop that I had purchased in the USA, with its recently downloaded Airmail 3 software. All of the components played nice with each other and at 8.30 PM I sent out a test message to 3 people via the Chile station asking that they confirm reception of my test message. [All 3 confirmed my message within 24 hours.] Next I'll send a test blog update.
Today, Saturday, I had an easy morning working with the two Toshiba's on the internet. (There is a a third Toshiba, the original one on board Pachuca when I sailed out of Fremantle. It work fine and is loaded with backup software, however it has no battery and must be run directly off boat or shore power.) I upgraded their versions of Marine Plotter, installed some desktop gadgets, and found free 128 encryption program that I used to produce a secure spreadsheet containing my passwords.
In the afternoon I turned my attention to the engine and ran it for the first time since before my departure to the USA. I started off by exercising the cooling water inlet and exhaust thru-hull valves. I had left them open in case somebody tried to run the engine during my absence but I wanted to ensure that they still close and open freely. I then checked the levels and found the transmission and oil levels to be spot on then added a few ml of coolant. The belt tension was good, as usual.
Using the starter bank which was down to 12V after sitting idle for well over 2 months I manage to start the engine with a few more turns of the starter than usual. After reaching operating temperature while running at 1000 rpm in forward gear I moved the lever to neutral, pushed in the little red button to disengage the transmission linkage, then took the revs up to 2000 in order to assess the state of the fuel filter by looking at the vacuum gauge. At 2000 rpm the vacuum gauge was still on the peg, inside the little square labelled “0” on the Hg and kPa scales, and well away from the beginning of the yellow warning zone at 7 Hg and 25 kPa. I had intended to change the fuel filter on spec but decided that it would be a waste of time and material. … I like to think that my fastidious approach to fuelling (principally being careful where I purchase the diesel, adding anti algal additive, and using the Baja filter) has paid off.
The engine hours on the eve of my departure for Cape Town is 319.1.
After I finished washing the hull I stepped back and deliberated on whether or not to go to the expense of polishing the hull (Enrique estimated a whopping $250). Given that the paint job has seen better days and I am about to set off for for Cape Town I decided that polishing would be a waste. I promised Pachuca years ago that if she got me safely back to Australia I would treat her to a new paint job on her hull, and so I will, though it may take a year or two to make that happen. It will be a deluxe job with no expense spared and when it is done I hope to see a mirror finish on the hull. CUOF's can indulge in these follies. (cashed up old farts) Anyway, I finished up the day satisfied that the boat was now clean inside and out with new anodes on propeller shaft.
Yesterday I took advantage of having the Zodiac in the water to attend to the Monitor wind steering. I swapped the control lines with the new ones that I had brought back from the U.S.A. I then made sure that every nut on the unit was tight. One of the blocks was a bit stiff so I backed off on the nut and sprayed it with WD40. I made sure that the double wires passing through heads of the lower bolts were secure. This work was very, very easy with the boat backed up to the floating jetty because I could work from the jetty in relative comfort with the Zodiac positioned underneath the unit to catch any tools or fastenings that I might drop during the operation. I'll mount the water paddle a day or two before sailing.
To be honest, the cordage recommended by Fisheries Supply in Seattle for the control lines does not seem to have a particularly strong covering, which is an important issue because chafing is a bigger problem than load. Nevertheless I was told that it was what the locals use so I'll try it and see how it goes. If the lines don't last I'll make a mental note to grumble to Fisheries on my next visit then swap back to the lines I installed in MdP.
While I was sitting at my morning internet session Ricardo said hello as he passed by. Ricardo had the boat at the end and I had not seen him since before my departure for the USA. He and his wife alternate between their property toward Santos and Bracui. It was great to see him again because I like him a lot.
Just before the internet session I dropped by Alexandre's office to show him a photograph of the starter battery setup. He thinks that the batteries that I will wind up with will have their posts on two side corners rather than two end corners, meaning that I might have to find someone to make new cables. Alexandre will help me with this. It is just as well that I dropped in because he told me that Tuesday is a holiday so that we will be going into Angra on Monday.
After the internet session I popped into the marina office with a note asking for the Bracui-Angra bus schedule. When this was done the office manager used her Google translator to ask me about my departure plans. I replied on her keyboard that I expected to leave Bracui on 15 December. I also told her that I think that I am paid up at the marina until the end of November and will pay for December in a few days (when I have a better idea of the exact departure date.)
In the evening tested out the Sailmail system. This was important because for the first time I was using the new navigation computer, the Toshiba laptop that I had purchased in the USA, with its recently downloaded Airmail 3 software. All of the components played nice with each other and at 8.30 PM I sent out a test message to 3 people via the Chile station asking that they confirm reception of my test message. [All 3 confirmed my message within 24 hours.] Next I'll send a test blog update.
Today, Saturday, I had an easy morning working with the two Toshiba's on the internet. (There is a a third Toshiba, the original one on board Pachuca when I sailed out of Fremantle. It work fine and is loaded with backup software, however it has no battery and must be run directly off boat or shore power.) I upgraded their versions of Marine Plotter, installed some desktop gadgets, and found free 128 encryption program that I used to produce a secure spreadsheet containing my passwords.
In the afternoon I turned my attention to the engine and ran it for the first time since before my departure to the USA. I started off by exercising the cooling water inlet and exhaust thru-hull valves. I had left them open in case somebody tried to run the engine during my absence but I wanted to ensure that they still close and open freely. I then checked the levels and found the transmission and oil levels to be spot on then added a few ml of coolant. The belt tension was good, as usual.
Using the starter bank which was down to 12V after sitting idle for well over 2 months I manage to start the engine with a few more turns of the starter than usual. After reaching operating temperature while running at 1000 rpm in forward gear I moved the lever to neutral, pushed in the little red button to disengage the transmission linkage, then took the revs up to 2000 in order to assess the state of the fuel filter by looking at the vacuum gauge. At 2000 rpm the vacuum gauge was still on the peg, inside the little square labelled “0” on the Hg and kPa scales, and well away from the beginning of the yellow warning zone at 7 Hg and 25 kPa. I had intended to change the fuel filter on spec but decided that it would be a waste of time and material. … I like to think that my fastidious approach to fuelling (principally being careful where I purchase the diesel, adding anti algal additive, and using the Baja filter) has paid off.
The engine hours on the eve of my departure for Cape Town is 319.1.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Hull and Batteries
Two days ago I received a message from Mark in Port Townsend asking about the new batteries for the boat's starter bank. One of the outcomes of a recent consultation session with him and a colleague at Haven Boat Works concerning my battery charging system was the recommendation that the two Delkor 130 A/H sealed batteries of the starter bank should be replaced. These batteries predate my purchase of the boat in 2005 and from memory are about 12 years old. The big problem was the likelihood that the older starter batteries were sucking the life of the newer house bank. I had a chance to replace them in New Zealand in 2008 when the boat's electrical system was significantly upgraded, but the consultant did not recommend their replacement. (Another outcome of our recent meeting was the opinion that the four size 8D Gel batteries delivering 920 A/H to the house are not overkill.)
Anyway, I replied to Mark that I had decided to try to get by with what I had until I got to Australia. That night I checked the starter bank and it was down to 12V. True, they had not been charged for about 3 months since my departure for the USA because the solar panels and wind generator charge the house bank, but nevertheless it was another indication of their age. I decided then to try to do something about the problem. What had been putting me off were the lack of transport, knowledge of where to go, and worst of all, my language problem. Fortunately I had met Alexandre of Delta Yacht Charter only two days previously and decided to try seek his assistance. He manages a small fleet of charter boats which means that he is well plugged into the boat maintenance world, he is within easy reach at the end of the jetty, he is very helpful, and he speaks English!
Yesterday morning I visited Alexandre and started off by thanking him for arranging for young Luis to do the underwater hull work because he had done a great job. Then I asked him if he could help me with my battery problem. I specified two size 8D AGM (absorbed glass mat) 200 a/h batteries to match the physical size of the existing batteries. Alexandre replied that size 8D has no meaning to his battery people and I should provide him with the actual dimensions. He also told me that AGM batteries were not available (at least in his world) so we settled on maintenance free lead-acid. I got back with the battery measurements and post locations then he made a phone call and learned that matching my specifications would be difficult with the available made-in-Brazil batteries. He planned to drive to Angra next Thursday and suggested that he take me to the battery place where he would act as the interpreter. I happily agreed.
Back at the boat I thought about the battery size question and saw right away that I don't need a 400 a/h bank dedicated solely to starting the engine (Duh!). I drew a diagram of the battery box then returned to Alexandre's office. He was of the same opinion that 400 a/h was overkill and we agreed that two smaller 100 a/h batteries would be sufficient, which meant that the new batteries would comfortably fit into the box. On that basis I will be taking plenty of cash with me on Thursday in the expectation of purchasing two replacement batteries.
During the rest of the day I wiped most of the surfaces in the cabin with a weak solution of bleach in order to remove mold, then tied most of the diesel containers to the rails, and finished up by unpacking the Zodiac and inflating it in preparation for washing the above-water part of the hull on the following day. I'll decide on whether to go to the effort of polishing the hull by hand after I've seen the results of the washing. Once this hull task has been completed I'll put up the rail netting along the foredeck. The hull work must be completed first because to do it I'll need to be able to grab onto the toe rail, which would not be possible with the netting up.
Anyway, I replied to Mark that I had decided to try to get by with what I had until I got to Australia. That night I checked the starter bank and it was down to 12V. True, they had not been charged for about 3 months since my departure for the USA because the solar panels and wind generator charge the house bank, but nevertheless it was another indication of their age. I decided then to try to do something about the problem. What had been putting me off were the lack of transport, knowledge of where to go, and worst of all, my language problem. Fortunately I had met Alexandre of Delta Yacht Charter only two days previously and decided to try seek his assistance. He manages a small fleet of charter boats which means that he is well plugged into the boat maintenance world, he is within easy reach at the end of the jetty, he is very helpful, and he speaks English!
Yesterday morning I visited Alexandre and started off by thanking him for arranging for young Luis to do the underwater hull work because he had done a great job. Then I asked him if he could help me with my battery problem. I specified two size 8D AGM (absorbed glass mat) 200 a/h batteries to match the physical size of the existing batteries. Alexandre replied that size 8D has no meaning to his battery people and I should provide him with the actual dimensions. He also told me that AGM batteries were not available (at least in his world) so we settled on maintenance free lead-acid. I got back with the battery measurements and post locations then he made a phone call and learned that matching my specifications would be difficult with the available made-in-Brazil batteries. He planned to drive to Angra next Thursday and suggested that he take me to the battery place where he would act as the interpreter. I happily agreed.
Back at the boat I thought about the battery size question and saw right away that I don't need a 400 a/h bank dedicated solely to starting the engine (Duh!). I drew a diagram of the battery box then returned to Alexandre's office. He was of the same opinion that 400 a/h was overkill and we agreed that two smaller 100 a/h batteries would be sufficient, which meant that the new batteries would comfortably fit into the box. On that basis I will be taking plenty of cash with me on Thursday in the expectation of purchasing two replacement batteries.
During the rest of the day I wiped most of the surfaces in the cabin with a weak solution of bleach in order to remove mold, then tied most of the diesel containers to the rails, and finished up by unpacking the Zodiac and inflating it in preparation for washing the above-water part of the hull on the following day. I'll decide on whether to go to the effort of polishing the hull by hand after I've seen the results of the washing. Once this hull task has been completed I'll put up the rail netting along the foredeck. The hull work must be completed first because to do it I'll need to be able to grab onto the toe rail, which would not be possible with the netting up.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Fueled Up and Hull Ready
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| Rest Stop On Way To Boat With Fuel |
Before loading the fuel back on board I spent over an hour washing and scrubbing the topside of the boat. I also tightened the lifelines and cleaned the boat fenders. I would tie the containers to the planks along the rails the following day.
In the evening I plugged the 110V inverter into the boat's 12V system and it started to smoke heavily. The unit was always protected from shock and water, so I attribute the failure to the many months of damp sea air. I can get by without it but would be much more troubled were I to lose the 240V inverter.
I woke up this morning to a very rainy day. The rain had started yesterday afternoon as the occasional sprinkle but built up during the night. I resigned myself to being more or less boat bound with little to show for the day. I put in an hour wiping every surface in the head of mold.
At about 11 AM I took advantage of a break in the rain to take a bundle of clothes to the laundry. They were closed even though the official hours covered the entire day. Fortunately the English speaking proprietor of the little kiosk made a phone call on my behalf then told me to expect someone to arrive in 5 minutes.
While I was waiting I wandered over to Delta Yacht Charter to see what services they offered. I was looking for a fallback in case Enrique was tardy in dealing with my boat work needs. The man inside, Alexandre, came out speaking English, and we started a conversation. Delta is in the process of retiring their fleet of five 36-ft boats and will replace them with three 42-ft boats. I asked him how business was going and he said Fine, largely because Angra and another area a day's sail to the north are the best sailing areas along this part of the Brazilian coast. I told him that the problem with Angra is that the rest of the world does not seem to know what a great cruising ground it is – world class, really. He agreed.
I told him that I was looking for someone to clean the hull below the waterline and swap the two anodes. He asked if I had the new anodes and I told him Yes. He then made a phone call and 10 minutes later young Luis arrived. With Alexandre acting as the interpreter I explained the job, told him the length of the boat, and in answer to his question told him that the hull had last been cleaned at Mar del Plata about 8 months earlier. I told Luis that yes, I could provide all of the tools, including the Allen keys. Then Alexandre startled me by asking if I wanted the job done today, and of course I did. Luis's quotation was R$100 for the hull clean and R$50 for the anode work. That represented only about $75 for the lot and I stuck my hand out in acceptance. As Luis was leaving to get his things I asked Alexandre what sort of breathing gear Luis would be using, and the reply was that he would be free diving with a mask and snorkel. I expressed concern and Alexandre told me not to worry because recently he had successfully installed a propeller on one of his boats with just a mask and snorkel.
I returned to the boat and assembled the tools that I though that Luis might need including 3 sets of allen keys, 2 screw drivers, a small adjustable wrench, a ball peen hammer, and adjustable pliers. Soon Luis arrived and started his work with me on the jetty passing tools and materials. He scraped the hull first then cleaned the propeller and shaft then cleaned the thru-hull openings with the screw driver. After that he replaced the anodes. My worry about his being able to do the anode work without breathing gear turned out to be unfounded and after about 90 minutes the entire job was finished, and a fine job it appeared to be from the jetty. Luis's last task was to wash my tools in fresh water with the suggestion that I spray them with WD40. I paid him his well earned R$150, shook his hand, and we parted each very satisfied with the transaction.
The preparation task list now stands as follows:
Done:
- Refrigerator fan installed
- Autopilot head installed
- Refueling
- Hull below water, propeller and shaft cleaned
- Anodes replaced
To Be Done:
- Clean and possibly polish hull above waterline?
- Install new deck light?
- New netting along rails at the foredeck
- Install new Monitor control lines
- Put up the headsail which has been stored below out of the weather
- Provision the boat
At the current rate of progress I should be able to have the boat ready for sea by 1 December. The netting will require 2 days. The control lines and headsail work can be done in a day. Provisioning of the boat will require 4 or 5 trips to Angra. I should also be able to also do the first two tasks, particularly if I make my departure date 15 December.
Incidentally, from the 21,800 miles covered in 271 days of sailing that I recently reported, I calculate that we have averaged 80 miles a day and 3.35 knots.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Head and Belly
This afternoon I installed the Raymarine autopilot head (ie display/control) that I brought back from the USA. I started off by powering up the chart plotter and making sure that the Seatalk network, depth sounder, wind instrument, and radar were all working OK. I then powered down and made the installation, carefully applying silicone sealant around the edge of the head. The autopilot came up OK but a dynamic test will have to wait until the boat is underway. I have no reason to suspect a problem given that the head is brand new. I'll keep the old head for a while as an emergency backup, keeping in mind that the left and right course adjustments are not working, and with the creeping nature of salt contamination in electronics it probably won't come up at all after a few months.
With the head taken care of I checked the belly with the tape measure that Jean gave to me. Unless Jean supplied me with a trick tape measure to be cruel, my waistline is a whopping 46 inches (117 cm), probably an all time high for me. It was all self inflicted, but wow, was it fun while it lasted! I have now embarked on a life as pure as the driven snow, composed of heavy dieting (fruit and vegetables with a little non-meat protein), abstinence from alcohol, and light exercise, I expect to make good progress while enjoying this low stress life in a warm climate, but the real challenge will be to keep losing weight when I am under sail, which is something that I have never tried before. I might get lucky and lose another 3 or 4 inches on the way to Cape Town. (Fat chance. Dream on, baby.)
I brought Pachuca's cruising log up to date. The numbers are:
27, 800 miles sailed
271 days at sea
1379 days (3.8 years) ashore
1650 days (4.5 years) total cruising time
With the head taken care of I checked the belly with the tape measure that Jean gave to me. Unless Jean supplied me with a trick tape measure to be cruel, my waistline is a whopping 46 inches (117 cm), probably an all time high for me. It was all self inflicted, but wow, was it fun while it lasted! I have now embarked on a life as pure as the driven snow, composed of heavy dieting (fruit and vegetables with a little non-meat protein), abstinence from alcohol, and light exercise, I expect to make good progress while enjoying this low stress life in a warm climate, but the real challenge will be to keep losing weight when I am under sail, which is something that I have never tried before. I might get lucky and lose another 3 or 4 inches on the way to Cape Town. (Fat chance. Dream on, baby.)
I brought Pachuca's cruising log up to date. The numbers are:
27, 800 miles sailed
271 days at sea
1379 days (3.8 years) ashore
1650 days (4.5 years) total cruising time
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Refrigerator Fan Installed
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| Chart Magnifier |
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| Goodies from the USA |
It was while the storage boxes were in the open that I dispersed the items that I had brought from the USA. The accompanying photo shows the material displayed on the cabin table. At the back left are the materials that I brought: wax/polish for the hull, fuel additives, and 3M 5200. In front of that is the fuel transfer hand pump that I hope will make fueling at sea much easier and cleaner. At the left front corner are the electrical connectors and ties that I needed so badly. Front and center is the compass that Bob Carroll gave to me, at about the position it will be when I sail. Behind that are several types of DB9-USB converters and behind them are the two LED light strips. At the far right corner is the deck light with the Raymarine autopilot head next to it. In front of them are the two head torches that Arnold gave to me with to the left 2 LED flash lights that I picked up at Henry's hardware and to the right the two computer fans (one spare). In front of them are yet two more (for a total of 4) BU-353 GPS USB antennas next to a spare bulb for the deck light. At the right front corner is the high low stretch, high strength line that Fisheries Supply in Seattle recommended as control lines for the Monitor wind steering.
In addition to that were one pair of shoes, one pair of slippers, a box of 60 milk chocolate sachets, and a box of trail mix granola bars donated by Sandra, and birthday gifts: the Kindle reader from Sandra and Arnold, a wonderful classical brass magnifying glass for reading charts from Jean, and a pair of warm Alpine socks from Francis and Toad. Also there were the two charts of the South Atlantic and South Indian oceans and the roll-up silicone keyboard.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Back in Bracuhy
The trip from Rio to Pachuca at Marina Bracuhy (also spelled “Bracui”) went to plan.
Another reason why I left Rio a day early was that I wasn't sure how I was going to get all of the luggage to Bracuhy and wanted to resolve the matter quickly. The big problem was how to be able to move around even short distances carrying 2 heavy duffel bags, a backpack, and the case with three computers. In the wee hours of the morning I concluded that the only chance I had would be to carry the heavier duffel bag on my back, the duffel bag with one hand and the backpack and computers with the other. The computer case had wheels and an extendable handle, so I transferred as much material as possible from the backpack to the duffel bags to lighten it then figured out a way to strap the backpack to the handles so that it could ride on top of the computer case.
I used the Google translator to write a message to the hotel concierge advising him of my early departure with the request that he hold the room for me until noon in case I was forced to return. I showed the note to him just before the start of breakfast at 7 AM and he nodded OK. After breakfast I turned in the room key, moved the baggage to the street and waited about 3 minutes for a cab. After the cab dropped me off at the bus station it was Show Time with the baggage. I managed fine with the load, and just as well because it took a bit of searching along 2 floors of the terminal to find the Costa Verde ticket counter. After another sweaty walk I positioned myself at gate 8 for the 9 AM bus. Soon we were on the move and though the window I got a clear view of Christ the Redeemer watching over the city, but I could see clouds building up. The 3.5 hour bus ride went quickly for me because of my usual trick of dozing on the way. There was one stop on the way for food at a nice cafeteria and I satisfied myself by munching on an apple that I had brought from the breakfast table.
At the Angra bus station there was a young lady at an Information booth. She confirmed that the best method of getting to Bracuhy with all of my luggage was by cab. She estimated the cost at 50 Reals (I had figured on up to 200 Reals) and advised me to get a firm price from the driver and not rely on the meter. The first cab outside of the bus station quoted the odd figure of 91 Reals and I agreed. We zipped down the highway pretty fast and at 1 PM I was at the marina. I paid the taxi driver 104 Reals over his protest that 100 Reals was sufficient. We then shook hands and then I made the 150 meter walk to the boat.
I left the baggage on the jetty and boarded the boat for a look around. Everything was exactly as I had left it and it was as though I had been away for only a couple of days. I checked the battery voltages and read 13.8V on the house bank and 12.1V on the starter bank. The solar panels and wind charger had done well in bringing up the house bank. (They do not charge the starter bank.) I moved the fuel jerry cans from the cabin to the deck then as I was placing the outboard motor on the stern rail I said “Hola” to a familiar face. He said something to me and as soon as I figured out that he wanted to help load the baggage on board I beamed and shook my head saying Si! It was much, much easier to have the bags handed to me than for me to do it alone.
After doing most of the unpacking I went out to try my luck for fruit and vegetables at the local shop. On the way I dropped by the office, said hello to the staff, then handed each of the ladies a key ring from Seattle. There were two left over so I left them on the counter to be distributed to other employees. They were very appreciative but unfortunately the big language barrier prevented any meaningful conversation.
I got real lucky at the shop. The fruit 'n veggie man must have come through that day because there was a wide selection of very fresh fruit and vegetables. I returned to the boat carrying a heavy load.
The season has definitely changed during my absence. The air is hot and muggy, and there are clouds around the tops of the hills. It reminds me of Fiji many years ag and Raevavae not that long ago. It has been raining steadily for three hours and there is no sign of abating. I don't think that this is a fleeting thing because I have seen mold forming in various parts of the boat both below and above the deck. The rain will probably hamper my ability to make Skype calls because I must make them outside in the open air.
I finished the day happy and grateful that the boat had been safe during my absence and that I had managed to lug all of that baggage from Kingston to the boat with no damage or loss and without hurting my back.
Another reason why I left Rio a day early was that I wasn't sure how I was going to get all of the luggage to Bracuhy and wanted to resolve the matter quickly. The big problem was how to be able to move around even short distances carrying 2 heavy duffel bags, a backpack, and the case with three computers. In the wee hours of the morning I concluded that the only chance I had would be to carry the heavier duffel bag on my back, the duffel bag with one hand and the backpack and computers with the other. The computer case had wheels and an extendable handle, so I transferred as much material as possible from the backpack to the duffel bags to lighten it then figured out a way to strap the backpack to the handles so that it could ride on top of the computer case.
I used the Google translator to write a message to the hotel concierge advising him of my early departure with the request that he hold the room for me until noon in case I was forced to return. I showed the note to him just before the start of breakfast at 7 AM and he nodded OK. After breakfast I turned in the room key, moved the baggage to the street and waited about 3 minutes for a cab. After the cab dropped me off at the bus station it was Show Time with the baggage. I managed fine with the load, and just as well because it took a bit of searching along 2 floors of the terminal to find the Costa Verde ticket counter. After another sweaty walk I positioned myself at gate 8 for the 9 AM bus. Soon we were on the move and though the window I got a clear view of Christ the Redeemer watching over the city, but I could see clouds building up. The 3.5 hour bus ride went quickly for me because of my usual trick of dozing on the way. There was one stop on the way for food at a nice cafeteria and I satisfied myself by munching on an apple that I had brought from the breakfast table.
At the Angra bus station there was a young lady at an Information booth. She confirmed that the best method of getting to Bracuhy with all of my luggage was by cab. She estimated the cost at 50 Reals (I had figured on up to 200 Reals) and advised me to get a firm price from the driver and not rely on the meter. The first cab outside of the bus station quoted the odd figure of 91 Reals and I agreed. We zipped down the highway pretty fast and at 1 PM I was at the marina. I paid the taxi driver 104 Reals over his protest that 100 Reals was sufficient. We then shook hands and then I made the 150 meter walk to the boat.
I left the baggage on the jetty and boarded the boat for a look around. Everything was exactly as I had left it and it was as though I had been away for only a couple of days. I checked the battery voltages and read 13.8V on the house bank and 12.1V on the starter bank. The solar panels and wind charger had done well in bringing up the house bank. (They do not charge the starter bank.) I moved the fuel jerry cans from the cabin to the deck then as I was placing the outboard motor on the stern rail I said “Hola” to a familiar face. He said something to me and as soon as I figured out that he wanted to help load the baggage on board I beamed and shook my head saying Si! It was much, much easier to have the bags handed to me than for me to do it alone.
After doing most of the unpacking I went out to try my luck for fruit and vegetables at the local shop. On the way I dropped by the office, said hello to the staff, then handed each of the ladies a key ring from Seattle. There were two left over so I left them on the counter to be distributed to other employees. They were very appreciative but unfortunately the big language barrier prevented any meaningful conversation.
I got real lucky at the shop. The fruit 'n veggie man must have come through that day because there was a wide selection of very fresh fruit and vegetables. I returned to the boat carrying a heavy load.
The season has definitely changed during my absence. The air is hot and muggy, and there are clouds around the tops of the hills. It reminds me of Fiji many years ag and Raevavae not that long ago. It has been raining steadily for three hours and there is no sign of abating. I don't think that this is a fleeting thing because I have seen mold forming in various parts of the boat both below and above the deck. The rain will probably hamper my ability to make Skype calls because I must make them outside in the open air.
I finished the day happy and grateful that the boat had been safe during my absence and that I had managed to lug all of that baggage from Kingston to the boat with no damage or loss and without hurting my back.
Off to Bracui
Yesterday I visited the Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking the city as planned. I managed to get to the base of the mountain by bus and eventually learned that buses 422 and 497 will get one from the central city to the mountain. Buses 405 and 498 will probably be OK too.
The way up the mountain was via a 2-car electric train at 45 Reals a ticket. To my disappointment as we approached the top we got into cloud and was able to see only fleeting glimpses of the city. In the crowded, breezy, and misty conditions I had no desire to wait for possibly hours in the hope of a clear view and after 20 minutes I began my descent. It was a disappointment but when traveling one can't wait for an optimal time and must take what comes.
I woke up at 3 AM this morning and decided to depart for Angra and Bracui today instead of tomorrow. I've been up Sugar Loaf mountain and the beaches and now prefer to return to the boat instead of spending a day wandering around the city.
The way up the mountain was via a 2-car electric train at 45 Reals a ticket. To my disappointment as we approached the top we got into cloud and was able to see only fleeting glimpses of the city. In the crowded, breezy, and misty conditions I had no desire to wait for possibly hours in the hope of a clear view and after 20 minutes I began my descent. It was a disappointment but when traveling one can't wait for an optimal time and must take what comes.
I woke up at 3 AM this morning and decided to depart for Angra and Bracui today instead of tomorrow. I've been up Sugar Loaf mountain and the beaches and now prefer to return to the boat instead of spending a day wandering around the city.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Back in Brazil
The trip to Brazil went better than expected.
Arnold and Sandra drove me to Paulsbo and saw me onto the "Airporter" shuttle to SeaTac airport. That hour-long ride went quickly because I snoozed much of the way.
At SeaTac I went though the doors and found myself at a surprisingly short queue for the American Airlines counter. At the counter I was pleased to learn that there would be no charge for my two bags and that I would not see them again until Rio.
The flight to DFW went quickly for me because I managed to sleep through most of it even though I was in a middle seat.
I had a roast beef sandwich during the 2.5 hour layover at DFW then boarded the flight for Rio where I got lucky and found that I had a pair of seats on the starboard side all to myself. Because it was a long international flight we got dinner, a movie (the latest Spiderman which was a predictable no-brainer that nevertheless passed the time), and some NBC comedies. Then it was "lights out" and I slept remarkably well spread across the two seats with the use of two sets of pillows and blankets. Then it was "lights on" and I woke up remarkably refreshed. We were give an light breakfast and before I knew it we were descending into Rio as I looked across to the city framed by Sugar Loaf mountain and the statue of Christ the Redeemer,.
I had been expecting to breeze through Immigration and maybe have trouble with Customs over the enormous amount of boat and computing gear that I was bringing in, but instead I got a reaffirmation of the aphorism that in travel one must expect the unexpected.
The Immigration man spent a few minutes studying my visa then told me that I had exceeded my 90 days. The visa states that it is good for up to 90 days on my first entry and a 180 days maximum per year. I took that to mean that I could leave the country before the first 90 days were up then use the visa to re enter the country again for another visit. What the vista didn't state was that I had to apply for extensions and re-entries.
After 45 minutes of waiting while the officials did their work I was told that all they could do was to allow me entry only until the first 90 days of the visa were used up and if I needed more time I would have to return to an office in the airport to apply for an extension. The official told me that based on my absence from Brazil from 28 August until 7 November I could stay for another 50 days which by my calculations will take me to 27 December. I was very happy with the gentle and flexible way in which Immigration had handled the problem and I thanked the man for his help.
Visiting that airport office from Bracui would not be trivial. It would require a bus to Angra, another to Rio, a $40 cab ride to the airport, then the reverse, and probably including an overnight stay at this hotel. I'll have to think about it, but at this point I'm leaning to simply setting sail out of Brazil around Christmas time. This will require some discussion with Mark about my visit to Ubatuba
On the airplane we had been told that passengers who had nothing to declare to Customs need not fill out a form. I approached the Customs stations with no form in hand, saw a woman ahead of me directed to an agent, then the next few passengers including myself were waved through, and just like that I was in Rio.
At the end of the corridor was a set of competing taxi kiosks and I selected one, paid the required 40 Reals, and outside of the door was a blue cab waiting at the curb. The young cab driver had trouble finding the hotel, even though I had given him the address, but fortunately I was able to give him some assistance even though he could not speak either English or Spanish.
At the hotel the driver carried in the bags, the concierge verified my reservation and carried the bags into the room, and soon I was settled in the room and had a shower and shave.
Easy.
Arnold and Sandra drove me to Paulsbo and saw me onto the "Airporter" shuttle to SeaTac airport. That hour-long ride went quickly because I snoozed much of the way.
At SeaTac I went though the doors and found myself at a surprisingly short queue for the American Airlines counter. At the counter I was pleased to learn that there would be no charge for my two bags and that I would not see them again until Rio.
The flight to DFW went quickly for me because I managed to sleep through most of it even though I was in a middle seat.
I had a roast beef sandwich during the 2.5 hour layover at DFW then boarded the flight for Rio where I got lucky and found that I had a pair of seats on the starboard side all to myself. Because it was a long international flight we got dinner, a movie (the latest Spiderman which was a predictable no-brainer that nevertheless passed the time), and some NBC comedies. Then it was "lights out" and I slept remarkably well spread across the two seats with the use of two sets of pillows and blankets. Then it was "lights on" and I woke up remarkably refreshed. We were give an light breakfast and before I knew it we were descending into Rio as I looked across to the city framed by Sugar Loaf mountain and the statue of Christ the Redeemer,.
I had been expecting to breeze through Immigration and maybe have trouble with Customs over the enormous amount of boat and computing gear that I was bringing in, but instead I got a reaffirmation of the aphorism that in travel one must expect the unexpected.
The Immigration man spent a few minutes studying my visa then told me that I had exceeded my 90 days. The visa states that it is good for up to 90 days on my first entry and a 180 days maximum per year. I took that to mean that I could leave the country before the first 90 days were up then use the visa to re enter the country again for another visit. What the vista didn't state was that I had to apply for extensions and re-entries.
After 45 minutes of waiting while the officials did their work I was told that all they could do was to allow me entry only until the first 90 days of the visa were used up and if I needed more time I would have to return to an office in the airport to apply for an extension. The official told me that based on my absence from Brazil from 28 August until 7 November I could stay for another 50 days which by my calculations will take me to 27 December. I was very happy with the gentle and flexible way in which Immigration had handled the problem and I thanked the man for his help.
Visiting that airport office from Bracui would not be trivial. It would require a bus to Angra, another to Rio, a $40 cab ride to the airport, then the reverse, and probably including an overnight stay at this hotel. I'll have to think about it, but at this point I'm leaning to simply setting sail out of Brazil around Christmas time. This will require some discussion with Mark about my visit to Ubatuba
On the airplane we had been told that passengers who had nothing to declare to Customs need not fill out a form. I approached the Customs stations with no form in hand, saw a woman ahead of me directed to an agent, then the next few passengers including myself were waved through, and just like that I was in Rio.
At the end of the corridor was a set of competing taxi kiosks and I selected one, paid the required 40 Reals, and outside of the door was a blue cab waiting at the curb. The young cab driver had trouble finding the hotel, even though I had given him the address, but fortunately I was able to give him some assistance even though he could not speak either English or Spanish.
At the hotel the driver carried in the bags, the concierge verified my reservation and carried the bags into the room, and soon I was settled in the room and had a shower and shave.
Easy.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
All My Bags Are Packed
... and I'm ready to go.
It's 5.30 AM and I've been up since 4 AM because I like to avoid being rushed. At about 7.30 AM Arnold will drive me to nearby Paulsbo where I will board the airport shuttle. American Airlines flight 1948 will take me to Dallas/Fort Worth and from there I'll board flight 251 for Rio.
I woke up this morning as was relieved to find that I was feeling fine. Jean Davies had to spend a day in bed with bronchitis and Arnold has been battling a bad cold for a couple of days, but fortunately it appears that I've been spared.
I'll be traveling heavier than I prefer, with a backpack, a large wheeled computer case containing three machines, and two US navy duffel bags. I'll have rely heavily on taxi cabs during the trip. Fortunately I've got plenty of Brazilian currency for the long ride from Angra to Bracui after my 3-day stay in Rio.
The blog reports that I arrived in the USA on 30 August, making this a visit of over 9 weeks. I've enjoyed it all immensely and I can't say enough about the hospitality of Arnold and Sandra, my wonderful friends spanning three countries, and even the cooperative Northwest weather. But that all has to end for now and I've got to deal with the completely different life waiting for me.
It's 5.30 AM and I've been up since 4 AM because I like to avoid being rushed. At about 7.30 AM Arnold will drive me to nearby Paulsbo where I will board the airport shuttle. American Airlines flight 1948 will take me to Dallas/Fort Worth and from there I'll board flight 251 for Rio.
I woke up this morning as was relieved to find that I was feeling fine. Jean Davies had to spend a day in bed with bronchitis and Arnold has been battling a bad cold for a couple of days, but fortunately it appears that I've been spared.
I'll be traveling heavier than I prefer, with a backpack, a large wheeled computer case containing three machines, and two US navy duffel bags. I'll have rely heavily on taxi cabs during the trip. Fortunately I've got plenty of Brazilian currency for the long ride from Angra to Bracui after my 3-day stay in Rio.
The blog reports that I arrived in the USA on 30 August, making this a visit of over 9 weeks. I've enjoyed it all immensely and I can't say enough about the hospitality of Arnold and Sandra, my wonderful friends spanning three countries, and even the cooperative Northwest weather. But that all has to end for now and I've got to deal with the completely different life waiting for me.
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