Cabedelo
Fleck
Sat 18 May 2013 18:02
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Saturday May 18th 2013
Position Off the 'Marina village Jacare' six
miles upriver from Cabedelo
7:02.1S
34:51.4W
Made it, then, and got the anchor down at the top
of the tide, bang on time, at 12:30 UT, 9:30 local time. Quite a night though,
with a mounting force 7 breeze constantly blowing me towards the reefs
which line this whole coast. I needed to be at the river entrance at dawn, in
order to get up here in daylight, and with the remains of the favourable tide.
But the entrance, in the dark, is no place to be hanging about for several
hours, hence the planned 'run in': arrive just at the right place, and at the
right time. Because of the rising wind I spent the whole night trying to slow
'Fleck' down. Taking all the sails off was only the first step: she was still
surfing along under bare poles at 6 knots. Finally we had to lie 'ahull', beam
to the seas; and very rolly it was, with the odd sea breaking down onto the
deck. But at least this slowed us down to 2 knots of drift.
There were many large ships: my AIS is fine
now, I have adjusted its 'threshold' (?!), and there were several tadpoles
(it is what they look like) on the radar screen at any one time last night:
there are clearly established shipping lanes, north and south, around Cabo
Branco (Brazil's most easterly projection). I have also learnt how to use the
alarm, so if one of these little tadpoles comes within a chosen distance, say 4
miles, I get a nice sound signal. It would be very nice if you could
navigate in this way alone: and indeed I have already thought about an
extension cable so that the display can be at my bunkside. Fact is though that
everything still has to be confirmed by sighting, and then there are the fishing
boats. Just like in Indonesia, they suddenly light up just in front of you with
their fish attracting floodlights, then off they go, no visible lights at all,
and then on goes the floodlight again a few miles distant. It is not even
possible to say how many of them there are, and of course they do not carry an
AIS transmitter, and neither do I. Just before I leave the subject, the AIS
carries a mine of information: click on a tadpole, and you get a screen showing
the boats name and flag, and a description eg a bulk carrier. You even get the
Captain' name and a list of his girlfriends for each port visited. The lovely
phrase 'like ships that pass in the night' will have to be consigned to
history.
The great thing about travelling is that whatever
you try to learn about things beforehand, reality is always a surprise. The
scenary here is flat and the river lined with mangroves: what else! Ashore
though there is a unique feel to the village, Jacare. The Marina, nicely run
down, fits its neighbourhood well. The mostly unmade roads are lined by single
roomed single story houses, mostly constructed from concrete blocks. Even so
there seems to be a colour TV in every one, and if there are young people in the
house a sound system as well, on and loud. There has been rain and the potholes
are full of water. Sounds typically 'third world', but there is not that
oppressive feel: this does not seem a downtrodden community, and
people are cheerful and vibrant. The area is apparently popular with city folk,
who throng the riverside cafes at weekends (yes, that is tonight!). The village
is actually on a peninsula: I am parked on the river side, and on the other side
is the ocean: a big white sandy bay. This reminds me that Geoff has asked
if I would bring him back a beach volley ball player. So, scouting for
girls tomorrow perhaps. Already I am glad that I stopped off here, but
I shall not stay for long, it is still a very long way to Trinidad.
The boat has survived this leg well, the hull has
picked up the usual tarnish marks that go with long passages, but below the
waterline there still very little weed (another reason not to stay in this muddy
river for too long!). The forsails have done two oceans now, and are looking
their age, but the mainsail has hardly been used since South Africa, although
all that will change soon. We like to say that the wind is free, but catching
some of it, that is not cheap!
PS As suspected, there is in theory internet here,
but fellow sailors report that no one has been able to secure a connection since
last Tuesday. I am haowever charging my mobile phone in the hope that there may
be coverage.
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