Rio to Vitória
Saturday, March 12th, 2011
Sunday, 6 March 2011
Leaving Rio in the rain
I left Rio yesterday morning in the pouring rain. There was enough wind to sail out of the bay. I turned east keeping close inshore to have a look at a possible overnight anchorage at Itaipu. The rain made it rather miserable in the cockpit and it might have been an idea to stop and wait for the sun to come out. When I reached Itaipu, just 7 miles from Rio, it was disappointing. One or two fishing boats anchored close in to the looming grey cliff in the pouring rain. I decided to press on and turned out to pass behind a little island and head for the open sea and Cabo Frio. As soon as I was a safe distance away from the shore I went below to put on my proper foul weather gear as the rain had obviously set in for the day. The wind had dropped and I got the engine going and rigged up the electric autopilot. Now I could get some shelter from the rain and just stick my head out every few minutes to scan for ships and fishing boats. Sinbad was curled up snugly below. He must think I’m very stupid letting myself get so wet. A short way out one of the big red ships that tend the oil rigs approached very close and gave me a friendly toot on his horn. Maybe one that remembered seeing me sailing under the bridge at Niteroi. They all look the same to me. I waved.
Approaching Cabo Frio
Cabo Frio was about 70 miles away and the wind had died. I removed my hearing aid so that the noise of the engine was not so bothersome and made a cup of coffee. It was going to be a slow overnight trip with lots of traffic and I’d need to stay awake. And so it was. The engine faithfully grinding away. Topping up the day tank every now and then. No moon. Steady rain. I was chugging along at 3 knots planning to arrive at Cabo Frio at about 10 am when I’d have the tide in my favour. Each time I looked out I could see 2 or 3 ships passing in either direction. Thankfully never too close to need avoiding action. Disregarding the rules, I switched on all my lights to be as visible as possible and hoped that my radar reflector was effective.
At about 10pm I cooked up a delicious fried egg and tomato sandwich. No moon. No stars. Still raining. At last the sky started to lighten. No dramatic sunrise but soon I could discern the hazy outline of Cabo Frio. I had thought of having a look at the anchorage at Praia do Farol at the south end of the island but it appeared so gloomy that I chose to rather go outside and stop at Arraial do Cabo. As I passed under the lighthouse a school of dolphins were playing about. A happy sight. There was a big lazy swell but a bit of favourable current was pushing us along. As I turned the corner heading in to the bay a whale surfaced gently almost right in my path. Water streaming off Its broad gleaming back. I slowed right down but it disappeared just leaving some smooth eddies on the surface of the water. What a reception! Now I was wide awake. Some whale-watching boats filled with whale-watchers were floating about. I moved on to the anchorage and found a likely spot. As I was about to drop the anchor a Marinha do Brasil inflatable approached with two uniformed officials. They were friendly enough. Said it was OK to anchor there. Did I have all my papers? I said yes and they motored happily away not wanting to actually check them once I had told them I’d just come up from Rio.
It was still pouring with rain so I quickly got the cockpit awning up and fed the cat then slept for a few hours.
Monday, 7 March 2011
Arraial do Cabo
Rowed ashore this morning to have a look around. It seems to be a public holiday. Must be something to do with carnival. Hordes of people waiting to go out on the schooners and dive boats. It seemed a nice little town and I found a Café/bar with wifi where I picked up the latest weather forecast while I sipped my cafezinho. It looks like a small cold front will be moving up the coast. With a bit of luck I should be able to get away and head for Vitória tomorrow. I had thought of waiting in Buzios, but if it’s so crowded here it would probably be unbearable there. In fact right now it’s quite peaceful where I am as the schooners have taken everyone away for the day. The quiet anchorage on the island which I had thought of going to yesterday must be rather busy right now.
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
I was watching two or three turtles swimming around the boat. They were mainly just below the surface but the water was very clear and they were easy to see. Every now and then a head would come up for a look around and a breath of air. I was just getting the camera ready to try for a picture when a speedboat came roaring up to pass close by towing a long inflated plastic cylinder with about 20 screaming Brasileiros clinging to it. The turtles disappeared. I realised that a gentle breeze had started up. It was coming from the south west. What was I doing here?
Hauled the dinghy up on deck and made ready to go. No need for the engine. I was able to sail (slowly) out to sea. Once out of the sheltered waters of the bay it was not so easy. The wind was dead aft and only just strong enough to fill the sail but there was a big swell running and each lurch stopped us and had the sail with it’s miles of loose sheet swinging madly about. Very frustrating. But by carefully handsteering (neither the Navik nor the electric autohelm could cope) we were slowly creeping along. Eventually at about 8pm we came under a big black rain cloud with stronger wind. A quick gybe and we were moving along beautifully. But only for a while. Then back to what it was before. I was beginning to doubt the wisdom of leaving peaceful Cabo Frio. But at last the promised westerly breeze set in and we started moving steadily along at about 4 knots. Getting there at last!
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Just sailing along
There is an enormous field of oil rigs a short way off the coast stretching all the way from off Buzios to Cabo São Tomé where the coast turns north. A distance of about 60nm. It’s a busy stretch of water with all the shipping channeled into a fairly narrow passage between the rigs and the shore. Also lots of service vessels back and forth. Helicopters overhead. To complicate issues shallow sand banks stretch far out to sea from São Tomé. It was going to be a sleepless night again. But the wind was pushing me along nicely and the Navik was steering. The shipping wasn’t really a problem until just before Cabo São Tomé when there seemed to be lights moving in all directions. Ships big and small. The wind had died again and while I was wallowing about putting off starting the engine once more, a big ship approached and circled around me shining a blindingly bright light. They must have thought I needed help. I waved and let them know there was no problem and they left me alone. Decided to motor off to quieter parts. Sadly the electric autohelm seemed to have expired so I hand steered in the pitch dark for a few hours. The phosphorescence stirred up by our wake was brilliant. At last the wind picked up again quite strongly from the west and soon we were racing along over a smooth sea at 5 – 6 knots.
Thursday, 10 March 2011
Dawn approaching Vitória
Wonderful sailing all day yesterday has placed us at the entrance to Vitoria at 4am. It’s still pitch dark and I have decided to heave to and wait for the dawn. About 20 big ships are anchored outside also waiting to go in.
At last soon after 5am it was light enough to get moving again. Looming black clouds all around so I donned my rainwear and stuck in the contact lenses. I kept the sail reefed down to three panels as the aft end of one of the lower battens had come adrift when it’s lashing chafed through. With reduced sail we were still managing 4 knots. Wind on the beam. Only 10 miles to the anchorage. Then the rain started. It reduced visibility to one boat length and really tested my oilskins. I wrapped the tiny Garmin GPS in a plastic bag and pressed on putting all my faith in the waypoints I had entered. Things cleared up just as I turned into the small bay where the yacht club is situated and anchored in 2.4m. I felt really pleased that I had managed to take advantage of the first southerly wind of the season. The rain had not been a problem as it kept things cool and there was no danger of sunburn!
