Our position is 12 53.246S 38 41.266W
Yesterday was Valentine's Day and we spent a nice day in the town of Itaparica. The crew and passengers aboard Chessie and Brown Eyed Girl shared a nice waterfront meal with us. Later we walked to the Chocolate Factory which was also a bed and breakfast. Daniel and Natalie run the place. Daniel is a native of Brazil and the house is owned by his grandfather. Natalie is his wife who is a native of South Africa. They grow the cocoa and make their own dark chocolate. It was good and not too sweet. We also tasted the raw seeds of the cocoa which was quite good but a little slimy. Natalie explained the whole process of drying and making the chocolate. They have a wonderful plot of land along the water with avocado plants, cocoa trees, and various other tropical trees and fruit. It was like their own tropical
paradise and in the distance from the kitchen you could see the water. They shared some of the fruit which is supposed to take rust off the boat. I can't remember the name of that now. They had a wonderful dog with a Portuguese name who was fluent in Portuguese. He looked scary but snuggled up to Matt like a puppy.
Before our trip to town Matt and I washed and cleaned the sides of Crazy Horse. She was in need of a good scrubbing. She looks oh so much better now. Bill worked on the watermaker again and it seems to be working again with somewhat of a leak that will be repaired today. As I write this blog he is again working on the watermaker. Matt is polishing the Crazy Horse and I am to clean the heads. Hopefully we will make it over to the sandbar one more time before we leave to go back to Salvador tomorrow. Chessie left for the city this morning and Brown Eyed Girl left as well, after a trip up the river. This is such a nice anchorage that it is hard for us to leave.
We have plans for our trip to Cachoeira on Thurs. That should be a nice trip a little further inland to see the countryside. It is still hot here but they say that Rio is even hotter than here. Many of the people who live here have lived in Rio first and like it better here. It is still very crowded in Salvador but not so much on this island of Itaparica.
Rosemary, Bill and Matt