Hi from Skipper Steve
It is good to be back with Kasuje and making our
way northwards along the Brazilian coast. The London boys are with me for this
leg to the Caribbean and after their first couple of days at sea they are
starting to settle nicely into boat life.
We left Salvador on Saturday after a boisterous
uncomfortable flight from Madrid, and after the usual hassle of
replenishing the stocks, cleaning and repairs to Kasuje and making our
preliminary plans, we are on our way.
Salvador itself was hot, bustling and vibrant, a
little dangerous and hugely entertaining. The street music was unbelievable with
bands playing every night well into the early hours and it seems the whole city
turns nocturnal around carnival time.
The diversity of wealth is extreme with all the
money being held in a few hands and we were therefore obvious targets for the
poor of the city..!! There were stories of muggings and even shootings, but
maybe fortunately we did not experience any trouble and fully enjoyed our stay
there.
Unfortunately our passage so far has been
difficult with head winds and a strong southerly Brazilian current, we have
been beating for 48 hrs with the obvious effect on body and soul, so we are
planning to make our first stop at a small town called Maceio, which we
should hit around 2pm today. We plan to stay for a day or so then onwards to
Recife and the Fernando Islands. Once we reach the islands hopefully the current
and wind angle will change and we will be able to run on a nice
downwind blow up to the Amazon estuary. We
will make our plans for this part of the passage once we are at anchor at the
islands. They are reputedly one of the best diving venues in the world and as we
have two experienced divers with us I can see them persuading me to don the
bottles and mask and venture below...!!! (I'm still a little scared of the
deep). I'll let you know if they are successful..!!!!
Please keep in touch and as it is my 35..!!
birthday today thanks to everyone who has sent their good wishes.
All the very best
Skipper Steve, Dennis,Kevin and
Colin.