A few pictures

Now that I have a connection where I am able to upload a few picures...

 

 

The size of the logs and water hyacinth we had to avoid

Really big logs!

Our location in French Guiana

High tide at the local boat pier

Low tide, tough to get out at this time of day :)

Rick & Suza at the Guiana Space Center

Afua

We are spending a few days in the quaint town of Afua which is at the crossroads of several rivers. It is great to have access to internet, provisions, fuel and restaurants. There are no cars here, everyone walks or rides bicycles. The town is built above the water on stilts and pilings.There is a fair amount of traffic, boats bringing provisions and supplies in to the stores and families and village boats picking up supplies for local communities.

We will leave here soon and spend another week or so in Brazil (we check out of the country in Macapa) and then make the crossing to French Guiana.

Amazon

We have been exploring the Rios (rivers) and Furos (small waterways that branch off from the Rios) of the Amazon for the last couple of weeks.  The electronic charts are not the most accurate (according to them we are motoring on land at times). We tried to find paper charts, but apparently they have not made paper charts of many areas for quite a while. Between the electronic charts and images from Google Earth that Rick had downloaded while we still had internet connection, we have been able to navigate into many interesting places. The water is deeper than you would expect and the biggest hazards have been floating logs and large clumps of water hyacinth. There have been a few troubles raising the anchor in the mornings, but only one that required Rick to get in the water and cut something off the prop. The water is so brown that you cannot see a few inches into it.

The weather has been comfortable in the mornings, quite hot in the middle of the day and usually cools off nicely in the evening. We have had very little rain, only once have we been able to fill the water tanks with rain water. Before that we had started bathing in the river like the locals. We are all a little nervous about what may be in there that we can't see but all the locals bathe in it so we assume it is safe.

As we travel, frequently the residents paddle out to us in canoes and little boats. They are curious about the boat which is so different than the local boats and hope for something to be given to them (this seems to be in the areas where a yacht has been before). We have handed out candy, cookies, headbands and  balloons. In some places it is the first time a yacht traveled past. The people are very friendly waving to us and greeting us with Bom Dia (Good Day). There are so many different and beautiful faces in Brazil.  We have enjoyed our visits to communities and the visits on Voyager. We have stopped at two communities, Santa Monica and Bueussu do Rio Jacarezinho. At Santa Monica we saw the school which was not in session and the local saw mill. At Bueussu the local pastor and his family came out to greet us and invite to his home. We spent four days at Bueussu getting to know the local people and attending the evening service at the church on June 3. Suza even sang at the service. It was a big deal to have foreign guests and they made us feel like celebrities.

We have seen wonderful wildlife as we have traveled. The famous Amazon pink dophins, small black monkeys, parrots, a few toucans and numerous other birds. The beautiful iridescent blue butterflies and others with less exotic coloring. We have tried the local açai, goiaba (guava), coconut, caju (a type of cashew fruit) and brazil nuts. There are more biting insects than one can imagine and of course it seems I am their favorite course. Rick and Suza get very few bites without much effect, while I have many all over. I will not miss the smallest creatures of the Amazon.

The local industry is lumber. There are little saw mills all along the rios and furos. From what we have read there is concern about the deforestation, but from what we see it is still the primary way for people in this area of the Amazon to make a living.

We are popular with the local people

This could be your dinner

lumber .....

We have not met anyone in the Amazon who speaks English and we do not speak Portuguese, but we seem to be getting by with our phrasebook and Portuguese/English dictionary. We are expanding our vocabulary daily. We are now in Afua and plan to provision for the balance of our time in Brazil and the journey to French Guiana. Time to start working on French!

The Ramos family



We are a little taller than most of the people we meet



Visiting the local school in Bueussu do Rio Jacarezinho

We had fun taking pictures with some of the local girls - they loved the camera!

Suza & Janet in Amazon motoring mode

Breves

As we go further into the Amazon Basin, we have been motoring during the day (watching for logs and large clumps of water hyacinth) and anchoring in the late afternoon to enjoy our evening meal and get set for the night. The afternoon is hot and we look forward to the sunset. It is the rainy season, but we have seen very little rain. Last night we have a great lightning show, but again, very little rain.  Yesterday afternoon when we anchored, we had a number of Amazon pink dolphins around the boat. It was exciting to see such an animal. They were still around the boat when we departed this morning.

Today we turned off the Rio Para onto the Estreito de Breves. We passed the town of Breves where there are a number of lumber mills. It is sad to know that all that lumber comes from the deforestation of the rain forest.

The local people are very interested to see a sailboat pass by and are very friendly, waving and greeting us. Children in canoes come out to see the boat. We are definitely an unusual sight.

Belem

We spent a few days moored off Belem at the B & B Marina. We have explored parts of Belem going through all the formalities of checking in with the Port Captain, looking for shops with charts and boats items and sightseeing.

We rise early as the small river boats with their very loud engines start at 5:30 am.
We have toured the Teatro da Paz. A beautiful old  neoclassical theater built around 1869 with the goal to rival the theatres of Europe. The marble columns, parquet floors and ceilings paintings and were impressive.
Fresh produce provisioning was done at the Mercado Ver-o-Peso, a large waterfront market that sells just about anything you would want. Fish, produce, medicinal products, animals, clothing and more. One end of the market is covered by a structure called the Mercado do Ferro. It is an iron structure that was brought here from Britain and assembled in 1901. Part of it is currently under restoration. We had a good local lunch at one of the stalls in the market.
The Basilica Santuario de Nazaré is beautiful and is the focal point of Brazil's largest religious festival, Cirio de Nazaré, which takes place in October each year. It involves a small image of Nossa Senhora de Nazaré, which is believed to have been sculpted in Nazareth and to have performed miracles in Portugal before being lost in Brazil. It was rediscovered in 1700 on the site of the Basilica. In October it is brought out of the Basilica to a location 23 km away and carried in a river procession back to Belem, to the Cathedral da Sé and then returned to the Basilica. Up to 2 million people participate in the festival. The Basilica is beautiful with mosaics, stained glass, sculptures, and marble columns.
Our stay in Belem took an unfortunate turn. On Sunday the 20th, as Suza and I walked from the restaurant where we had lunch toward the Estação das Doca, two guys came toward us and mugged Suza. Why they did not grab my bag, I don't know. We are both okay, there were no injuries and we lost very little since we had been warned about crime. The camera was the only item of value. We will be even more cautious now and will not go anywhere without Rick.
We have left Belem and are now heading down the Rio Para to go further into the Amazon River Basin.

I will post pictures when I have a better connection. 

Fortaleza and on the move

After 24+ hours of travel I arrived in Fortaleza on May 8 and took a taxi to the Marina Park Hotel where Voyager was docked. It was great to see Rick & Suza and relax over a nice dinner. On the 9th Suza and I spent a little time in Fortaleza visiting St. Joseph's Cathedral, the Mercado Central and trying to see Dragão do Mar, a cultural art center,  which unfortunately was closed. Fortaleza is one of Brazil's largest cities and is popular for their beaches and nightlife (though we did not explore either of those). It was back to the boat to get ready to leave the next morning for the Amazon Basin, our next port is Belem on the Rio Para.

The 10th through the 15th was a downwind sail along the coast of Brazil. Rather rolly and not the most conducive to sleeping. I have the 2 am to 6 am watch. Very early on the 15th we entered the Amazon Basin on the Rio Para (Para River).  After 659nmi, we anchored on the 15th off Ilha de Colores (Colores Island) a little way from the city of Vigia. It was a beautiful calm night and we watched brilliant scarlet Ibis and parrots fly by while we had dinner on deck.

On the river we are motoring and our progress is influenced by detours around fishing nets and the currents. Due to the fishing nets and floating logs that we need to avoid, we will only travel during the daylight while in the Amazon Basin.  On the 16th we anchored off the Ilha do Mosqueiro, 38 nmi from our last anchorage. There was a light rain the last few miles, just enough to wash the salt off the boat. It is the rainy season here, but so far we have had very little rain.

St. Joseph's Cathdral

Interior of Cathedral

Need to buy a hammock?

Colorful buildings at Dragao do Mar

Marina Park Hotel

Voyager (see Rick's feet?) at Marina Park Hotel

Next stop is Belem, reported to be one of the rainiest cities in the world. We plan to be there about a week, hopefully having  some sail repairs completed, provisioning and sightseeing. Once we leave Belem the plan is to explore the Amazon Basin by motoring around the Ilha de Marajó, stopping at Macapá and exit via the Rio Amazonas.

Brazil!

I am off to meet my friends Suza & Rick in Brazil. We will meet in Fortaleza and sail from there up the coast. We hope to explore a little of the Amazon and continue north along the coast of South America. I am looking forward to spending time with them and seeing new places. I will update my blog as internet access permits.