We left Salvador after refuelling at the fuel barge where we took on 770 litres of diesel, giving us approximately 1000 litres. The wind was of course quite light from the south east, so we decided to motor out to sea in order to avoid the fishing boats and oil and gas rigs. It took us ages to creep away from the coast until we felt we were far enough to set a course for the island group, Fernando de Noronha, off the north east coast of Brazil. We had lots of squalls, most of which we managed to dodge. Lots of rain, at least its washing down the boat. Plenty fishing boats. They are quite small and seemed to fish with a net strung between them, just steering into the swell and drifting.

After an amazing 48 hour run under sail, where we were doing 8-8,5kts, missing most of the huge squalls, we arrived at the island. We were greeted with an amazing show of dolphins and birds. We anchored in the only area designated for boats, on the north east side. The pilot book indicates that this anchorage can become untenable when a northerly swell sets in. We were fortunate that the swell was slight and we would be able to spend some time exploring the island. We spoiled ourselves by having a traditional South African Braai ( BBQ) onboard with Aunty Joans butchers magnificient thick lamb chops.

This volcanically formed archipelago is made up of about 20 islands, with Fernando de Noronha being the largest. It is an important ecological centre and Brazilian tourist destination. The 3000 islanders depend entirely on tourism so the balance between the number of tourists and managing the the ecology is crucial. Its numerous bays and inlets are home to a wide variety of fish, sea turtles and dolphins. The dolphins swim around the boats most mornings if you are up early enough to see them.

Although we had cleared out of Brazil in Salvador, we still had to clear in and out here. This was done using the local public omnibus for the princely sum of 3 real. As almost no English is spoken on the island it was quite a challenge to get dropped off at the Immigration office of the Federal Police. A fellow passenger came to our rescue and together with the drivers help they transferred us onto another bus which took us there.

We tried to have a buffet lunch at one of the local restaurants called Flamboyant  but it was such a popular venue we had to seek sustenance elsewhere.  We tried eating local which was delicious. We shared a shrimp lasagne type dish, BT’s usual chicken pieces, and a local spicy sausage dish.

That evening we had dinner at what must be the top restaurant on the island. It is semi open air overlooking the tiny fishing harbour and Shaya Moya anchored in the bay. This was excellent, the service and food really good. We had lobster, cars fish with spicy sauce, and chicken. We had the most delicious coffee individually filtered and poured right at your table.

We made a mistake tying up the tender for the night next to the boat as we were planning on going diving and snorkelling the next day. Much to our dismay the next morning was very different with 4-5 metre swell from the north throwing us all over the place. The line holding the aft of the tender unfortunately damaged it, pulling the port pontoon away from the hull. This meant that the tender was full of water and with the swell we were not able to go onto the island. To add to our misfortune the starboard davit motor packed up when we were lifting the tender. This meant we had to hand crank that side. Amazing this IS not difficult at all, just tedious.

With the swell and a broken tender we decided to push on. As getting diesel at the island was a no go, one needed jerry cans and a bus ride- too daunting a prospect, we decided to head for Fortaleza, some 400nm away on Brazil’s north coast.