10:02S 035:30W

 

For the past two days we have been slogging up the coast from Salvador to Recife.  The downside of making landfall in Salvador after crossing the Atlantic is that you then have to sail northeast up the Brazilian coast, against the prevailing east-northeasterly winds, which means you are beating into waves.  The problem is aggravated because close inshore there is a danger of encountering small unlit fishing boats at night, so we need to keep tacking out to sea to get off the continental shelf and into the deep water where there are no little boats.

 

Heading into waves is not a great direction for Anastasia.  Because of our lightness and high freeboard we go over the top of waves, rather than diving into them, but if we are travelling at any speed them we tend to launch off the backside of the wave like a breaching whale, crashing into the trough beyond.  Everyone felt a bit queasy to start with but noone has actually been sick, which is quite remarkable given that the Brizo girls took the opportunity to hang out in their cabin and watch Andrea’s DVD box set of all the series of Friends.