Tradewinds Sailing Blog

I watched the storm fade about midday yesterday, and started checking all the weather sites, grab files, etc., and they all agreed that the winds and seas would be dying down in the evening, and by about 3am the wind would be 10 knots from the east- a nice beam reach. So I used the last bit of daylight to depart Salvador, and clear its busy shipping lanes and nearby reefs, and headed south.

As expected, the seas were still lumpy, but the winds were only 15, and things seemed to get better as time passed. I got those beam reaching winds before midnight, along with a bright half moon sparkling across the water, and it was lovely.

Then everything changed. The weather became  variable , or  changeable  or  what the heck now? Are you kidding me? , although that may not be the correct technical term. The wind started changing direction by 100 degrees every 15 minutes, and jumped from 10 knots to 30 knots without warning. And back again. And again. It made for kind of a long night, with not a moment to rest. And my good flashlight died (and was buried at sea), and then about 2:30am (of course) the jib car failed. Somehow the metal cheeks opened up enough to let the roller and pin out- but amazingly everything landed on deck, and I was able to retrieve them. It was far too heavy duty for me to repair aboard, but I was able to jury rig the wheel onto a loop, and shackle that to the car on the track.

This morning has been a bit more stable, but I am still seeing 15 knots SE, not 10 knots E, although I am making progress with it anyway. The updated weather says the better stuff is head of me. Yeah, sure, it is always just around the next corner.
I am happy to report warm sunshine, blue water, and no meteorite attacks. Happy Labor Day!

14.21S 38.53W 3545nm gone, 1760nm to go. 8am 9/5

It’s been nice having some down time here in Salvador. I’ve had a chance to get to a few maintenance items that are so much easier when not actually sailing, I’ve organized all the food stores so I know what I actually have to work with , and I slept all night long- the first time in a week.

Skies are partly cloudy here, and the wind is starting to come down, so it now looks like I may depart late this afternoon or evening, rather than tomorrow morning. I continue to watch the actual conditions as well as forecasts, and I think the next leg should be pretty good. I am expecting close reaching for up to a day, then lighter wind beam reaching for a day or two, then broad reaching and running down to Cabo Frio and the big right turn towards Rio.  If all goes as planned, I hope to make the next 750nm to Rio in one shot, and if the weather continues to cooperate when I get there, I’ll keep going. If not, it seems like a nice place to stop for a rest.

The temperature dropped a few degrees last night, and dipped into the upper 70’s for the first time- another indicator that I am making progress to the south.

Anchored at 12.58S  38.31W   3451nm gone,  1845nm to go.  9am  9/4

Yesterday was another remarkable day, both for variety and accomplishment. It started out like the previous day- warm, sunny, flat sea, nice beam reach. I was planning to go to Salvador and anchor to wait out a small storm, that should pass by late Sunday. The rain and wind was forecast to arrive about 9am Saturday, and I figured if I sailed fast I could beat it by a few hours.

It seems the storm sent a few advance scout bands of rain ahead, because yesterday afternoon I had several greet me. They would cause the wind to veer and accelerate for a while, then the rain would pass and the wind would veer again and get very quiet. Then it would go back to normal for an hour before doing it again. This meant I spent much of my day reefing, shaking out reefs, trimming, easing, and constantly adjusting things.  The evening brought more steady winds, but also increasing strength, and still a beam reach, which this beamy boat loves. I worked it all night, and started getting the first drops of storm rain and building seas as I turned in to the huge bay that is home to Salvador at 6am. For me,  all that effort paid off, as I logged 207 miles yesterday, for an average speed of 8.6 knots over 24 hours. I am pretty happy with that, and I got anchored before the storm could catch me.

I expect to relax and sleep here at least through Sunday evening, maybe Monday morning, depending as always on the weather.

12.58S  38.31W   3451nm gone,  1845nm to go.  8am  9/3

Yesterday was one of those days you write home about. Well, huh. I guess I write home about every day on this trip, but you know what I mean. It was clear, sunny and tropical warm. The water was turquoise blue like in Tahiti. There were beaches and palm trees along the shore.  In the morning I did a little work, like a few minor maintenance items (as always), but mostly I spent my day on the important tasks-  trying out a few fishing accessories I brought along, eating good food, reading a good book, working on my tan, and napping.

The day started with easy sailing under main and genoa, as the 10-knot wind was still a little forward of the beam. By early afternoon, the wind moved aft a bit, perked up to 12-15 knots, and the seas remained very flat, so up went my spinnaker. And I’ve been making better than 8 knots boat speed ever since.
I had forgotten how quickly the miles pass at that speed, and the lines of latitude click by as I pass over them.  Actually, according to my extensive calculations, sailing at 8 knots gets me to my destination approximately twice as fast as sailing at 4 knots. (See, I told you I did a little work).

Two things in particular caught my attention last night. The first was how incredibly long some fishing net setups are. I spotted a line of connected buoys that stretched over 2 miles from end to end. I was very glad to be sailing parallel to it, and not trying to cross it somewhere!  At night the buoys are lit, and with one every 100 meters or so, they look like airplane runways out in the middle of nowhere.

The second item was a meteorite that I thought was going to splash down right next to me. The whole event  didn’t last but maybe 3 seconds, but it was scary close. I was looking out towards a fishing boat in the distance when a very bright light suddenly appeared over my head.  It was as though a police helicopter turned a huge spotlight on me, as I was lit up with very bright white light. I immediately looked up at the light (just like all dumb animals)and saw the meteorite streaking almost straight down at me. I watched it burn out after 2 seconds, and held my breath listening for the splash! It really felt that close.  Well, I didn’t hear a splash nor see a cloud of steam,  but good god, great balls of fire, that was a moment of excitement.

Today looks to be another perfect day, but Saturday and Sunday may bring some strong southerly winds from a storm off Argentina, so I think I’m going to park somewhere along the way and watch that go by from a comfy anchorage. Salvador looks like the best candidate around latitude 13, and I should get there a few hours before the wind and rain.

10.52S  36.24W   3252nm gone,  1996nm to go.  8am  9/2

Happy 1st of September!  It’s a good day for me, as Cabo Branco, the eastern-most point of land in all of South America, is in my wake. That’s right, I made it around the corner. My maximum easterly reading was Longitude 34.45 West. Then there was another 60 miles of due south, and after passing Recife early this morning, I have a little westerly in my course, and it feels good.

The weather is better, too, with relatively calm seas (1-3 feet) and an easy 8-10 knots of wind. Its still a close reach, with the wind angle at about 45 degrees, but much better than beating into 25 knots. The boat is well-balanced doing 6 to 7 knots, but that includes another bonus- current going with me!  After all those miles of fighting it, the current is finally in my favor. Only about a half-knot right now, but I’ll take it!  Hopefully as I travel farther south the wind will move back into a beam, then broad reach, and the current may boost me by a full knot. It is another clear sunny day in the 80’s, I am cruising along over the warm turquoise waters of tropical Brazil, and its really hard to complain.

08.19S  34.53W  3064nm gone,  2169nm to go.  8am  9/1

Mostly south for me yesterday. Still a little bit of east to go, but not much. I think by tomorrow I will start putting the west back into things. Considering I started out around 64 degrees west, and am now at 34 degrees west (plus these lines of longitude were at the equator, where they are farthest apart), and must still get back to 58 degrees west, that’s a lot of back and forth just to get around Brazil.

It stayed pretty windy yesterday, mostly 25 knots, but at an angle that allowed me to sail lightning bolts- one long tack down the coast, then a short one out to sea, then repeat, making my track look like a lightning bolt. At night it eased a bit and I pointed offshore more, allowing me to rest.
I know I must be heading into the southern winter (or maybe spring by the time I get there), because last night it got so cold, I had to put on a T-shirt!  This tropical stuff is rough duty…

This morning has 15 knots of wind at a decent angle, but leftover larger seas for now, so I am continuing mostly south under conservative sail.

06.35S  34.54W   2936nm gone,  2283nm to go.  8am  8/31

I am just about done heading east. I rounded Cabo Calcanhar early this morning, and am now headed mostly south.  This “horn” of Brazil is a pretty interesting place. The far east corner of Brazil, it is not a point, but more like a bulbous nose. So I can’t really round it in a day- it will take a few days until I can start heading west with my south.  The tradewinds and currents come from South Africa, cross the entire south Atlantic ocean, and hit Brazil on the nose. Half of the current and winds keep going NE, along northern Brazil, the Guyanas, Trinidad and through the Caribbean, (you may remember we fought that current, like running on a treadmill, for many days). The other half bends around and heads south along Brazil and to Argentina. I hope to benefit from this in a few days. But the splitting up part makes the weather here quite variable.  It changes dramatically and frequently, sometimes every few hours, from cloudy and 5 knot winds from one direction, to 25 knots and sunny from another direction 15 minutes later.  Interesting sure, but I am glad to be leaving it behind.

Last night I made the decision to run along the shore in the rounding, and to stay there this morning. The offshore winds and seas were much larger, but the inshore route requires paying a lot more attention, as it is a winding path between the beach and reefs and sand bars and oil rigs a mile or two offshore. There was one pensive moment about midnight when the depth got down to just 8 feet crossing bar, and I need 7 for the keel. It was slow and go and hold my breath the whole time!

All is well, I am making progress, and looking forward to getting the wind behind me, hopefully around latitude 9.

05.13S 35.24W   2826nm gone, 2370nm to go.  8am  8/30

Well, the first day out had a little of everything. As expected, the first few hours of rounding the point at Fortaleza was slow going, with 25 knots on the nose and short steep seas due to the compression of the point, much like Point Sur. But I inched my way along, and eventually started to break free of the compression zone. By afternoon, the wind had veered and the seas had mellowed, and I was sailing along in 15 knots happy as can be right on the rhumb line, with clear skies, sunshine and 87 degrees.
The evening saw the winds increase again, and start to veer back onto my nose. But with no moon, the stars were fabulous in the clear sky. By midnight, the winds picked up to 25 again and the seas built to go with it, and I was running back to land for cover. About 4am a front came through bringing some clouds and 30 knots, but it only lasted about an hour.  This morning I am back along the coastline with winds of 15-20, the skies are clearing back up, and I am making progress.

04.42S  37.08W   2698nm gone,  2509nm to go.  8am  8/29

Hello again, and welcome back to my continuing adventure along the coast of Brazil. I last wrote in mid-July, after deciding to leave the boat in Fortaleza for a while, waiting for better weather, getting needed spares and making repairs. I returned to the boat last Thursday evening, and was happy to find everything just as we had left it. I spent Friday and Saturday making the repairs, fueling, handling exit paperwork with the local authorities, and generally getting ready to go again.
It is now Sunday morning, and I am on my way! The big difference this time is that I am going solo, as Steve and Marianne couldn’t get away again so soon after the last 17-day ride from the Virgin Islands to Fortaleza. On the plus side, I am not constrained by anyone else’s schedule, so if I want to stop and rest somewhere I can, I won’t be constantly worried about how they are feeling, whether they are having fun or not, and nobody is ever sitting in “my” spot.  But the down side is that I must rely only on myself for everything, which makes some tasks slower and harder, and I have only myself to complain to.

I’ve got about 2600 miles to go still, which could take anywhere from 17 days to 35 days or more, depending on weather and how long I decide to take breaks, either to rest or to avoid bad weather. And of course also depending on the reliability of the boat and its systems.
I expect the first 2 to 3 days will be with strong winds on my nose, until I get to the eastern corner of Brazil, and that is just unavoidable. I am hoping they will be the worst days, and everything will get better after that. It’s possible I will still have wind in the nose for another 2 or 3 days after that, but hopefully not as strong. Somewhere around 9 degrees south I should get reaching winds, which should last until I get to Rio. Then I need to pay more attention to weather forecasts to avoid any southerly storms kicked up from Antarctica, as they can bring very strong winds and seas. If I miss those, I should enjoy beam and broad reaching all the way to Argentina, with the last day or two in brown water going up the river, where the winds can do anything- but it’s a shallow river so it never gets that bad.

A very special Happy Birthday today to my Dad, who introduced me to sailing some 40 years ago. He’s 82 years old, today, and still sailing vicariously through my adventures.

So, wish me luck, and I’ll keep you posted on how everything goes…
-David