A 7 day trip from Ascension with twin head sails at night and the spinnaker up every day, averaging 7 knots and up to 11 knots on occasion. The most impressive thing I have seen to date happened on our 5^th night just after I came on watch at 1:00am. The phosphorescent plankton had always kept me occupied but I kept seeing larger and even brighter patches in the black water. They got bigger and bigger, my excitement mounting as patches 6m X 4m, and endlessly deep were passing right next to the boat. Thankfully I had the sense to harness myself on as I scuttled from one side to the other and watched this with fascination, particularly when we went over a section bigger than Katlyn and we were lit up like an eerie soccer stadium. Well, I couldn’t resist, I belted downstairs and woke everyone up. According to Dad they were probably phosphorescent jellyfish. Think ‘Life of Pi’ when the whale is feeding – Surreal.

We arrived to pristine blue waters and picturesque beaches, and spent a lazy afternoon catching up on sleep and swimming under the boat with the resident barracuda. As surprising as it may sound, this was the first time that a real sense of cruising set in, with a emphasize on enjoying life and the surrounding culture and forgetting the pressures of what should be done (fixing, washing, seeing) and just doing whatever we came upon. I’m sure you all laughing this outlook of mine!

We headed to the ‘Capitania dos Portos’ for customs and immigration and spent an interesting morning playing charades with the extremely hospitable port office officials. We were shocked to discover the $125 daily charge and the numerous restrictions of where you may go on this small island, but being the holiday Mecca for all wealthy Brazilians, it was to be expected. After being drilled about the punishable offense of touching the dolphins and swimming without payment in the protected areas, we were unfortunately disappointed in the snorkeling and reefs. This is perhaps from being spoilt with incredible underwater gardens from a young age that my expectations were too high, but nonetheless the water was warm, clean and fun. There were endless tourist boats back and forth accommodating first time divers and the never ending parties and booze cruising. The most interesting contraption was a cross between a hover craft and what we could only imagine was a glass bottom boat.

The island itself is breathtakingly dramatic with smaller surrounding islands, inlets and beaches stretched along the coast. Its tiny airport does not stop, with planes in and out and beach buggies piled high with beach clad tourists. The shabby chic houses are painted in a multitude of colours, 50% of which are restaurants offering a host of island style cocktails, with a main meal ranging anything from R250 and up. There is only one main tarred road that covers the basic 7 km length of the island, the rest are sand, dirt or more commonly cobbled in a rough, higgle dee piggle dee way. Hammocks are strung up, locals run on a leisurely island time and if you don’t have a beach buggy, a scooter or a horse is a peachy alternative.

The ‘Policia Federal’, Walter and his team took us under their wing, giving us lifts and showing us the local market, before inviting us to ‘Jingas’. This resident open air restaurant/club treated us to a slice of Brazilian life, with live Portuguese music, local cervejas (beer), general joviality and ‘Felicidade’ a toast to happiness!

Check out the rest of the pics.

– Kate

Fernando de Nora
(Sun, Music, Siestas)
Bargain: Never having to worry about what you look like, or wear, if you in fact choose to wear anything at all.
Irritation/Quirk: Ridiculously expensive, with an average main meal costing R300 and a beer costing R50.
Cost of a coke: R$5.00 (Reals)