POSITION REPORT ON SUNDAY 11 MARCH 2018 AT 0700

07:02S 34:51W

We’re safely anchored in Jacaré, Brazil. Here's what we did yesterday and overnight.

10 March 2018   St Helena to Brazil (Day 15)

At 0700, we had 55 miles to go, so we felt confident of making it to Jacaré before dark.  The wind deserted us at 09:30, so we motored for a couple of hours until we were able to sail again.  The wind was veering about and we had to gybe a few times.

Just before lunch, while we were still 30 miles away from land, Glenys spotted the skyscrapers of Joao Pessoa - so exciting.  I had a quick kip for an hour before we approached the entrance to the river.  Large buoys mark a deep channel, which is used by commercial ships coming into the port of Cabedelo.  We rolled away the main sail and sailed up the channel with just the genoa, but we had ½ knot of tide against us, so we soon turned on the engine.

There were quite a few jet skis and speedboats whizzing about off the beaches on the seaward side of the peninsula.

Cabedelo is a scruffy looking town on the end of a long peninsula and had one large ship alongside the dock.   We were soon past the built up area and the shoreline turned into mangroves with the occasional break for a house or two.  The river is 4-5 metres deep in the middle, but we could see herons strutting around only 50 metres away, so it’s shallow a long way from shore.

After an hour motoring up the peaceful river, we turned a corner and saw the busy waterfront of Jacaré.  There are five little marinas all packed together along a ½ kilometre section of the shore.  I would estimate that there are over 100 yachts and power boats moored at the docks, with half a dozen yachts on moorings or at anchor.  We dropped our anchor at 07°02.13S 34°51.46W in 6 metres on excellent holding mud.

The area around Jacaré is a holiday destination for Brazilians and tourists flock to the waterfront to watch the sun go down over the river.  Loud music was pumping out from an area at the south end of the waterfront and we could see hundreds of people enjoying themselves.  Several large tourist boats were motoring about packed with people dancing to their own loud music.  It’s a party town. 

By the time we were settled it was 18:00, so we cracked open a beer and settled down to watch the tourists.  Stefan and Anna from “Zanzibar” were going past in their dinghy, so I waved them over and invited them on board for a beer.  They’ve sailed here from Europe via the Cape Verde Islands and have been here for six weeks.  They gave us the run down on the local area.

After dinner and a celebratory bottle of red wine, we collapsed into bed.