Towards Maceió ?
Author: Shirlz
Tuesday 17 January 2012
The 5-day weather forecast looked reasonable for an attempt at moving on to Maceió about 300nm further north. I had been warned that the contrary current that runs down the coast at this time of year could be a major problem. But I felt like getting out on the open sea again and decided to give it a try. There was a good chance that I would be doing some motoring so the first job was to fill up with diesel. I carried my jerry cans to the nearest garage which was quite a long walk along the cobbled streets. Deceptively easy getting there with the empties but quite a sweat on the way back. I also filled up all my water containers with the
good Itaparica mineral water from Fonte da Bica.
By lunch time we were ready to go and slipped out through the north-east end of the Itaparica channel with a light easterly breeze and the tide helping us along. Unfortunately the next leg took us dead to windward, but it was a nice day and it was good to be sailing in deep water again so I gamely tacked on. Using the engine to help us past the busy ferry track and through the big ships anchorage, we were soon out of the bay. I stayed on an offshore tack for nearly 10nm. The best course I could manage was almost exactly due South. Hmmm. Not so good. Decided to try the other tack. Oops. Almost exactly due north. The track displayed on my tiny GPS showed that we were, in fact, on a precise reciprocal course. Frustratingly, the compass showed us pointing in the right direction. I thought the problem might be due to strong currents at the entrance to the bay so gave up and started the engine again to get around the headland. Once safely offshore, with open sea to the north-east, I tried sailing once more. Same result. It was dark now so I decided to carry on motor-sailing till daybreak and see if things improved. The wind was still blowing about 8 knots E and the Navik was able to steer the boat even with the engine going. I had a bite to eat and admired the stars. At about 10 pm the crescent moon came up through low clouds on the horizon. Madly enlarged and a startling orange until it rose higher and became its usual silvery self.
For a while a tern came to join us, hitching a free ride on the solar panel. He soon gave up in disgust when he realised how slowly we were moving and resumed on his own powered way. Adding injury to insult by leaving an enormous deposit of guano over a large area of the panel. There were quite a few fishing boats inside the 40m line so I stayed in the deeper water.
Our progress was not encouraging. With the sail and engine both doing their best and a clean and slippery hull, unencumbered by barnacles, we were able to lay the course but only managing 2 knots. With 300 miles to go that meant 150 hours or just over 6 days. Of motoring. No no no. Not enough fuel anyway. Had another look at the weather forecast. Stable conditions for the foreseeable future. Sinbad was looking dubious. I pressed on for a bit longer, strangely reluctant to give up. I thought of heading well off shore and just going direct to Trinidad but I hadn’t provisioned for such a long passage. By the time it started getting light we had managed the grand total of 28 miles. Motoring. I gave up, switched off the engine and had a wonderful fast sail back to Salvador. By lunch time we were anchored in the comfortable spot between the harbour and the marina and I passed out for a few hours of much needed sleep.
The place where I was anchored is marvellously convenient and close to the city. Only problem is finding a safe place to leave the dinghy when going ashore. The scruffy little beach would have been ideal but it was rather thickly populated with rough-sleepers and didn’t seem such a good idea. Too far and too much big traffic for me to row around the breakwater and into the harbour in my little dinghy. I decided that I didn’t really need to get ashore and opted for a good night’s sleep before heading to Aratú, a cozy, sheltered area in the NE corner of the bay.
Tags: cruising