Natal to Îles du Salut
Author: Shirlz
Monday, 18 June 2012
I was up at first light (5am) to start raising the anchors. The tide would be in my favour until 8 am. After a bit of sweating and swearing I managed to raise the kedge. A quick coffee break and check around to make sure everything was ready – dinghy on deck and cleaned, sun awning down, Navik connected, engine started just to be safe, and all the other little odds and ends that I ought to have a checklist for. Main anchor up and we just made it before the tide turned. A cool, cloudy day with a useful 5-10 knot SE breeze. We were on our way.
Passing Redinha on the way out
As soon as I was out of the channel and in open water I set up the Navik MkII, twiddled it for the desired course, and with some trepidation, sat back to see how it behaved. Perfect! Better than MkI. Soon we were in calmer water beyond the reef and I was able to relax a little. Some small adjustments to the sail. The repaired boom looking fine.
We are doing a steady 5-6 knots and the sun is shining. Sinbad caught a big flying fish that crash-landed on the deck last night, so that’s his food for the day taken care of.
Friday, 22 June 2012
Cruising along
We crossed the equator at dawn this morning. Still racing along with just three panels up. I decided to hold the champagne till we arrived at Îles du Salut and settled for a celebratory toasted cheese and tomato sandwich for breakfast.
Sunday, 24 June 2012
For five days we rushed along doing an exhilarating 6-7 knots. I suspect that at least 2 of those knots were due to the current that runs up the coast, so it was reasonably comfortable. To add to my ease and peace of mind the AIS was working at last which meant I was able to get a bit more sleep than usual. I had the zoom set at 32nm and each time a ship crossed the 16nm radius circle the alarm would go off. Loud enough to wake me, even minus hearing aids. Very reassuring. ‘Thanks’ to those who encouraged me to persevere with it.
Sinbad's comfort zone
Apart from the occasional flying fish there had been very little evidence of life around us until Friday night when a small flock of about 8 or 10 birds decided to use us as an overnight stop. They were roughly pigeon-sized but with the long sharp beak and pointy wings of a tern. Not white but an all over charcoal grey. I wasn’t too keen to put them up for the night as there was already evidence that they had not been house trained. But they were determined and no amount of shouting or hand clapping could scare them off. Sinbad was on the alert but wary of those business like beaks. One chancer settled himself on top of the compass. The only way I could move him was to carefully pick him up and carry him to a more suitable berth. Where he stayed, after an indignant squawk. The rest were distributed about on the lifelines, solar panel, dinghy and dodger. All pointing accurately into the wind. All contentedly settling down for a good night’s sleep. Sinbad looked disgusted and retreated below to his hammock. Just before sunrise there was a concentrated half hour of preening and stirring about and one by one they soon took off, heading SE, on the road again.
Monday, 25 June 2012
The last two to leave
Last night another group of the black terns arrived. According to my ‘Birds of North America’, they are Black Noddies. This bunch were more troublesome than the previous lot, as for some reason they targetted the Navik vane and the solar panel as the most desirable perches. After much squabbling, three of them settled down on the solar panel but another was doggedly determined to roost on the windvane which would have had us going around in confused circles with sail gybing and sheets getting tangled around everything. (I know all about this, it’s happened before. ) I had to discourage the idiot at all costs. Waving the boat hook around to scare him off had hardly any effect. Eventually I found that copying their loud squawking cries with some swear words thrown in was the best deterrant. At last he retreated to the spraydodger. I like birds, but really, this lot are just too pushy. When all had quietened down, Sinbad sneaked out on deck and joined them peaceably on the coach roof, in the moonlight, nose to windward. An eerie sight.
As it had been cloudy most of the day I decided to run the engine for a while to give the battery a boost. to my disgust I found that water had come in the exhaust again – I hadn’t bothered to put the bung in and I suppose the following seas for the first few wild days must have worked their way in. Nothing for it but to drain the sump and replace with clean oil. What a pain. Luckily I had spare oil. It’s still a bit of a mystery why this is happening as I haven’t changed anything to do with the exhaust and it never happened for the first eight years after installing the new engine. Something will have to be done. Well, after the oil change the engine ran quite happily again and I took the opportunity to test the dried out Tillerpilot which seems to have made a complete recovery after its soaking.
Today we are about 100nm offshore from the mouth of the Amazon with about 340 nm to go. The sun is shining, a gentle breeze is keeping us moving steadily along, it doesn’t get much better.
Tuesday, 26 June 2012
A ketch passing in the distance
I saw three ships today. The first was a big ketch which I spotted coming up from astern early in the morning. It passed too far off for me to recognise, but it didn’t look familiar. I might see them again when I stop. Next was a small fishing boat which chugged up and passed quite close by giving me a bit of a start as I was engrossed in my book, sitting in the altogether in the cockpit. They gave me a cheerful wave. Later I was woken from a little snooze by the AIS alarm. A big ship had just entered the 16 nm circle. So much action! I tracked it as it approached and it eventually passed about a mile to starboard.
Weatherwise it’s been a slow day, hot with a flukey wind only barely enough to fill the sail. But we have been able to keep moving. Only 200 miles to go now and the colour of the water has changed from a brilliantly clear dark sapphire blue to a murkier shade, probably due to mud from the Amazon delta.
Thursday, 28 June 2012
Iles du Salut at dawn
Two frustratingly slow days with the wind alternately dying completely or hammering us with a quick and dirty squall. The poor Navik is battling to hold any sort of course and we are effectively just drifting at 2 knots with the current. I have been trying to edge in closer to the coast whenever there is a bit of usable wind. At about 10pm I started motoring. There was a helpful half moon and the sea was flat calm. Brilliant phosphorescence in our wake.
Towering rainclouds
We were still surrounded by towering rainclouds but they seemed to be keeping out of our path. At last I could see the loom of the lights of Cayenne and Kourou which gave me something positive to steer by. I had resorted to hand steering to be sure of staying awake as we approached the coast.
Friday, 29 June 2012
At first light this morning the little Îles du Salut archipelago formed a dark silhouette on the horizon. Two lights flashing their bright beams. The air was filled with the rich tropical smell of the jungle. Sinbad popped up to check it out. I passed round the southern end of Île Saint Joseph and anchored in 4m in the Baie des Cocotiers in the lee of Île Royale.
Tags: AIS, Black Noddies, cruising, sailing
July 12th, 2012 at 22:51
Congratulations, Shirley! A great passage and your determination and drive in Natal paid off. It will be strange to be away from Brazil after so long. Good luck with the rest of your voyage.