Yesterday was Sunday, and as it was such a pleasant day it was perfect for cleaning and chores, both for myself and the boat. Good progress was made throughout the day, continuing to beam reach to the northeast.
For my Sunday dinner, I broke out a can of Brazilian stew, which was interesting and tasty. Sort of a Brazil Cassoulet, with sausage chunks and pig parts and beans in a thick sauce. A nice break from my regular fare.
So far, my route has been working out nearly perfectly, as there are now NW winds below me, while I have enjoyed SE winds. That luck may be changing a bit, as I look ahead to the next hurdle.
I should pass Cabo Frio Wednesday morning sometime, likely very close to shore, as a pesky low just offshore prohibits my going that way. That’s just north of Rio de Janeiro, and officially in the tropics.
The next leg is the quest to reach the SE Trade winds, a reliable breeze that starts at the bottom of South Africa and flows to the NW, passing the bog corner of Brazil, then merging with the Easterly trade winds that flow through the Caribbean. Basically, I will ride these “trades” for about 3000 miles, all the way to Panama. So I will be very happy to get to them.
And that’s the next hurdle, as they are still some 500-600 miles north from Cabo Frio. And the forecast for the next 7 days calls for north winds along the coast the whole time- right on my nose, and making things unpleasant.
So, I may do another end-around. Similar to this last leg, instead of taking 3 steps forward and one step right, I will take one step right, and then 3 steps forward. This would have me reaching East in the North winds for a few days, then tacking to the N-NW as winds allow, and reaching up the coast, as the offshore winds have more East in them.
Things can change, and the forecasts aren’t always right, so we’ll see what Wednesday brings, and make the call then.
3/19 8am 26.31S 43.04W 985nm gone, 4402nm to go.
/p