Towards Ilhabela
Author: Shirlz
Paranaguá towards Ilhabela
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
Yesterday I changed the fuel filter. Some of the diesel I’d been using was a bit dubious and the old filter looked very black. The day before I had already bravely tackled the horribly messy job of changing the engine oil. After topping up the diesel and water tanks I left the Centro Historico anchorage at about 3pm. A local club member, Sergio, advised me against using the North Channel. Said he’d experienced enormous breaking waves there on an otherwise calm day. So quick change of plan. Decided to spend the night at Puntal do Poço and go out tomorrow when the tide is slack for 2 hours at about 11.
Motoring along the Canal da Cotinga it was threatening to rain at any moment. The calm water looked silvery grey in the dull light. Now and then a shoal of tiny ‘pescadinhas’ would ruffle the surface as they changed direction in unison. A friendly dolphin came up for a breath. Just made it to the anchorage before there was a major cloudburst. It was a comfortable place to spend the night.
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Sinbad woke me up as usual at first light. I made the first cup of coffee and looked outside. The tide was running out strongly. Decided to make a move and if the channel looked OK, to leave earlier than planned. Reached the entrance to the channel really quickly. Big ships were moving in and out. A bit daunting to think that I’d probably have at least one passing me in the narrow channel. Reminded myself that I’d been able to cope with the Staten Island Ferries and masses of other traffic in New York harbour to give my morale a boost.
As I reached the island at the start of the channel I could see lots of waves breaking. Couldn’t believe that they were actually breaking across the channel but grabbed the binoculars just to make sure. What a sight! I definitely didn’t want to attempt getting through that lot. Made a 180 deg turn and clawed my way back against the current to find a place to anchor and wait for conditions to improve. I’d thought of going in to the Ilha do Mel anchorage but it’s tucked away behind a rocky point and I wanted to be able to keep an eye on the proceedings. Found a place outside of the marked channel and not too close to the breakers. Made a second cup of coffee. At about 10 the outgoing tide slackened off and things looked more benign. I waited for a ship to pass and then followed behind it. No more actual breaking seas but still awfully rough. And I thought it was a calm day. No wind to speak of. I’m glad I didn’t attempt the dodgy north channel. Sinbad let me know that he wasn’t happy. Well we just had to keep going and get it over with. The rough and narrow part of the channel through the sand bar extends for about 4nm. It took us about an hour to reach the open sea. What a relief. There were 15 ships waiting outside and many fishing boats around. Found a clear area to regroup and get the sail up. I’d had the boom lashed down to stop the sail bundle swinging about in the rough stuff. I had also left a porthole open which wasn’t such a great idea. The cutlery drawer had slid open but hadn’t actually fallen on the floor. So not too much to complain about.
Once in deeper water the sea was beautifully calm. Unfortunately so was the air. It was too hot to roll around waiting for the wind. I just carried on motoring. And on and on. So noisy.
Around sunset, (which turned the sky red – a good sign) there was a truly spectacular build-up of cumulo nimbus cloud and a terrifying display of lightning. I hoped that the ‘lightning diffuser’ stuck up at the top of the mast like a little witch’s broomstick was working its magic. By 10pm the fireworks were over and it was a pitchy black night. An enormous 12cm wingspan moth had joined us and was comfortably settled inside the spray dodger.
Thursday, 9 December 2010
At last just after midnight I noticed that I could smell the exhaust from the engine. A sure sign that we had a following wind. What a relief to let the sail take over. Soon we were skimming happily along at 4 knots. I started taking 15 minute catnaps.
After a while the wind picked up a bit and I needed to gybe and drop two panels. At last we were really moving. The stars were out now and quite spectacular on such a dark night. Phosphorescence made a sparkling trail of our wake.
Soon after sunrise I watched as a big container ship appeared in the distance behind us. I kept a wary eye on it not sure if avoidance tactics would be needed. Before things started to get tense it made an obvious change of course and passed us a safe distance off. It always amazes me when this happens. Not something that I ever take for granted.
All day Thursday we raced along with the wind abaft the beam and only three panels up doing 5 knots. The sea got progressively rougher but much easier to bear than the noise of the engine. At last as the sun went down the wind dropped and turned more northerly. Still making fair progress. Approaching Santos I saw my way blocked by what seemed to be hundreds of bright lights in the distance. Oil rigs? Fishing fleet? Wish I had good binoculars. Soon we were among the lights which turned out to be 40 or 50 big ships anchored in the roadstead waiting to go in. Three dazzlingly brightly lit cruise ships. We sailed slowly through the fleet. It took 5 hours before we were clear of them. The wind had dropped and we were creeping along at 2 knots. I was getting really tired as it was the second night with no sleep. At one point I came the closest I have ever been to hallucinating when I glanced up to look out and mistook the black space between the lights of two ships for a looming dark hull right on top of us.
The wind was easterly now but I was still able to lay the course. Trying to convince myself anyway that we weren’t falling off too much. Once again I was impressed at how much better the new sail performs in these conditions. The sea was still quite lumpy after the strong wind. Nevertheless, we weren’t managing more than 3 knots and with about 30 miles still to go it didn’t look as though we’d get to Ilhabela before dark. I didn’t think I could manage another night without sleep so checked the chart and my notes for a possible place to stop for the night. As Ilhas, which
looked nice, was only 5 miles away and I could get there easily on a beam-reach. Decision made. Soon we were anchoring in 7m off a classic tropical rainforest island. Lush greenery, pink-flowering trees, an artful sprinkling of tall palms gently swaying in the breeze. The perfect little white sandy beach. Only one not-so-perfect jetski parked in the shallows. It’s owner seemed more preoccupied with his girlfriend on the sands than roaring around on the water, so no problem.
A quick swim. Feed the cat. Crack open a can of beer, something to eat and a full night’s sleep.
Saturday, 11 December 2010
It was tempting to stay and enjoy the little island but the weather looked good for the last 25nm to Ilhabela, so I toasted some bread that hadn’t yet gone mouldy and mashed up a super-ripe banana with cinnamon for breakfast and set off on the last leg of the trip. The wind was very light southerly to start with and I crept slowly away from the lovely anchorage looking forward to having the wind behind me when I turned away from the island. It was not to be. As I turned so did the wind. A quick calculation. Sailing with this wind we were managing a grand 0.5 knots at which rate the 24nm would take 2 days. Engine on. Now and then there would be a little flurry of wind to tease me. From the East for 10 minutes. Then a little burst of north. Just got going with that when it stopped again before returning from the west. All rather frustrating. I worked my way along fairly close to
the coast. The little cove opposite Toque-Toque looked as though it would also have been a good overnight anchorage in northerly winds. I wondered if the small beetle-shaped island got it’s name from a similar creature to the South African Tok-tokkie which wanders about hopefully tapping the ground in hope of an answering tok from a potential mate.
Now the wind came at last. Not southerly as forecast but fresh NE. A good chance to put the baggy sail to the test again. It didn’t let me down and for a while it was brilliant sailing. Quite a few other sailing boats out enjoying the day. Rather too many insolently opulent mega-motor yachts ripping up the water with their enormous powerful wakes. For a while the wind really picked up and I quickly dropped 2 panels to ease the strain. Passing the area where the car ferry crosses to Pereque it was really slow going as I think that must be the point where the incoming tide from either end of the island converges. The ferry slowed down for me and waved when we had successfully avoided each other. Quite a lot of excitement today.
Now I could see the enormous cruise boat, which I’d noticed entering the channel earlier, anchored off the village of Ilhabela. It’s attendant launches ferrying the passengers ashore. The wind had completely disappeared again which was fine as now I was more interested in finding a place to anchor. The water is really deep (22m) almost right up to the shore and all the shallow areas where anchoring might be possible have been filled with mooring buoys. Most of them vacant but making anchoring impossible. There are also lots of underwater power cables. After my experience in Rio Grande I didn’t feel like taking a chance with them. The area close to the village was very crowded and busy so I carried on to the Ilhabela Yacht Club which is were I spent Christmas day with Luigi and Paula on Santa Vacanza in 2007. Decided that I’d just have to pick up a buoy and play by the rules. The one that I eventually managed to capture was closer to a different yacht club. The binoculars revealed a sign that said ‘Iate Clube de Santos’. It looked very posh. Nice floating dinghy dock. No club launch roared over to chase me away. Too late to go ashore now. I’ll report to management mañana.
Tags: Brazil, cruising, The High Seas
December 24th, 2010 at 20:48
Hi Shirlz — your trip sounds incredible & free spirited ! The images are so beautiful. I only heard about your trip because i met your brother at a christmas gathering at a friends house im st austell this week!
December 25th, 2010 at 02:34
Your photo “before the thunderstorm” is quite beautiful.
I have been enjoying your blog these last few weeks. Have a merry Christmas from Victoria, Canada.
Miles