20:45

So we have dinner a la fresco with Wahoo a la Spink which hasn’t suffered much by being frozen.  Shortly after clearing the table it begins to look really ominous so we furl the laundry, rig the spray hood with minutes to spare before, after 27 hours of no wind, we are hit by a 40 knot squall.  So now we have wind but surprise, surprise, it’s on the nose. There is lots of sheet lightening: Cue Steve to go to bed.  The radar shows the squall to go on for at least another 20 miles. After an hour or so the wind drops back to 3-5 knots.  Ho hum.

ETA to the long buoyed harbour approach 3:45 AM.  My watch. But I’ll bet I’m not the only one up.   We will have to follow the channel to a certain point and then drop anchor to wait for light and a favourable tide. And oh yeah I’ve just read that customs is not open on weekends, so if that’s true we won’t be able to check out from Paranagua until Monday which will lead to some creative itinerary rethinking. Fortunately there are options.

5/1/08 4AM

We’re just a 10 miles from the waypoint for the buoyed channel approach to Paranagua.  It’s been raining continuously and there is only about 12 knots of wind on the nose. 

We actually sailed for 5 hours last night. The mainsail was jammed on Nik’s watch and will have to be cleared before entering the channel.  This means anchoring and going aloft in daylight to clear the jam so we’re currently ghosting along at 4 knots and will anchor off at daybreak.  We had originally planned to go a few miles up the channel before anchoring but obviously won’t with most of the mainsail still up. Fortunately the breeze is from the land. This is a fairly protected area and there is no sea running.

7:30 AM

We anchor in the lee of a small island part way up the channel as the original spot from too rolly to go up the mast.  It takes about 20 minutes to clear the jam, and after a cup of tea we carry on for another hour and a half up the estuary to the town.

3:00 PM

Around 10 Nik and I set off for the Customs office although it is Saturday and the book says it will be closed.  The Commercial port is about a 45 minute walk and we are told the main customs office is in fact closed but maybe there’s another smaller one at another terminal.  Another 10 minute walk and much to my surprise we find one and it’s open.  The official has one disconcerting glass eye and it takes him about 45 minutes to produce the necessary forms.  By this time we’ve got someone to call a taxi for us who turns out to speak a bit of English. He takes us to the Federal Police (Immigration), a surly by the book young man with a SWAT team T-shirt.  He gives me a lot of grief because the other two passports don’t have an exit card.   I only have one because I went home for Christmas and was given one on my return.  Many many telephone calls discussing our fate.  Someone tells him to forget it.  The next problem is that we need an exit permit. He can’t find a blank one.  In the end he gives me someone else's used one and tells me to make a blank out of it. By now it’s 1PM and he’s going for lunch.  I take the filled in form back to the boat and Photoshop it into pristine emptiness.  When I return at 2:30, seconds behind him, he completes the formalities very quickly and informs me we’ve got 48 hours to get out of Brazil.  I promise to abide by his dictate.

I’ve walked around town for a bit and I’m afraid I am under whelmed by Paranagua.

Tomorrow we’re off to Punta Del Este in Uruguay which wasn’t on the original plan but seems a good idea. We may give Mar Del Plata a miss and go straight to the Malvinas.