Downeaster Yachts.com

#gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-1 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-1 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */ The passage from Saint Helena to Salvador, Brazil is 1,914 nautical miles. As Blue Sky sailed away from the island a pod of dolphins bade us farewell. Fourteen days later we arrived in Baia de Salvador, Brazil! The voyage was calm and we rarely had to touch the sails. Everyday we put the trolling line out so we could enjoy a fresh fish for dinner, but had no luck, not even a bite. Becalmed for a couple of days we were forced to motor. This delighted the children as they had all the electricity they needed for DVD’s and Game Boys. Left is a photograph of a typical South Atlantic squall, fortunately they did not produce much wind, unlike the ones we encountered in the Pacific Ocean. The tall buildings dot the skyline of Salvador. This historic town was once the capital of Brazil. Begining in 1549 until the role was transferred to Rio de Janeiro in 1763. Until then the city was the second most important Portugese capitol second only to Lisbon. This was due to its huge trade in sugar and gold. There are two sections of the city, the upper or Pelourinho, which is a Unesco World Heritage sight. The historic colonial architecture dates back to the 17th and 18th centuries, built atop a cliff. You can access this area either by an elevator, built in the 1930’s or a cable car on an inclined plane. The children prefered going up on the train, but both are spectacular! Anchoring Blue Sky behind the circular Forte de Santo Antonio in the small craft harbor. The fuel dock was right next door and the men in charge lived aboard the barge. We had read that there could be petty crime in the anchorage but possibly because of our friends on the fuel barge we experienced nothing of the kind. Instead we were greeted only with kindness from everyone we met. I think our little “ambassadors” have a great deal to do with our good luck!

Exploring town there is a church on every corner, we read that there are over 365, one for each day of the year

the Greja de Sao Francisco, built in the Baroque Style in 1723, and is one of the richest temples in Salvador. The gold plated wood carvings on the altar and the fine Portuguese glazed tiles surrounding the walls are dramatic. We were lucky to arrive on a day when there were guides. It was a fantastic tour.

Above we are at the top of the elevator on the upper section of the city, looking at the circular fort and small boat harbor. Blue Sky is anchored behind the fort out-of -view.

The San Antonio light, is the first light house in the Americas. In 1839 the roatating kerosen lamp was located in a wooden tower.. In 1890 the structure you see today was installed with a 3.5m lens, this mechanism is still in use. The light was electrified in1932 and can be seen 38 miles off shore. Above: Phoebe and Drake pose at the light’s base.

For our first visit to Brazil this was a very good choice.  Checking into the country was realitivly easy.  Thankfully the dock master had all the paper work we needed and provided it to us in advance!  To do this he charged a small fee.  In my opinion it was worth every Reais!   There are small luncheonettes all around town and we managed to sample most of what Brazil could offer.  The buses were very efficient and it was easy to get to the shopping to re-load our provisions.  The people were very friendly, it was sometimes confusing to communicate, as our Spanish, although close to Portugese does not quite match up.  Even so with the patience of the some of the nicest people we have had the great fortune to meet we were able to get by.  We did get lucky at a book store and found a copy of a Portugese/English dictionary.  Each night we would work on the words that we had needed that day.  Little by little our vocabulary increased with the children being best able to absorb our new language.  Many of the children we met loved to practice their english with us and assisted us in learning new phrases and translating menus.  There is a big push for this generation of students to learn english having one hour of the school day devoted to studying english.

To see more of Blue Sky’s adventures go to http://www.thevoyageofbluesky.com

The day Ruth and Ed were leaving we visited the Spier Cheetah Outreach program. We had the opportunity to get up and personal with these beautiful beasts.  They ensure the safety of free range cheetah’s, by educating the public.  Cheetah’s tend to kill the live stock on farms, so the outreach program will rescue them.  They also breed Turkish Anatolian Shepherd dogs to protect the live stock, thus scaring the cheetah’s away.  There are approximately 1000 Cheetah’s left in South Africa.  Next to the outreach program is the Eagle Encounter, a bird of prey rehabilitation and education facility.  Arriving just in time to see the falconer feed a secretary bird, photo right.  They like snakes, so he ties food to the end of a plastic snake and teases the bird.  Using his legs and talons, the secretary bird kicks and stomps on the snake until it is dead.  Another treat was watching him train and feed the Harris hawks, mentioning they are one of the smartest birds and he can train them in less than a week.  The children had the opportunity to pet a barn owl, top right and huddled in a protective crate were four baby barn owls.  After our encounters we headed to Moyo for a refreshing drink and the children were excited to get their faces painted.  Before dropping granny and grandpa off at the airport, we stopped for some tea at Vredenheim winery, where they had the Cape Town Lion encounter, featuring white lions.  In one day the children had the opportunity to pet a cheetah, lion and owl, not to bad

Granny and Grandpa had a long and safe trip home.  Phoebe and Drake recovered after only a few hours […]

Our “free time” had expired in Simons Town and we were scheduled to be hauled out in Hout Bay on January 4th.  That morning of the third the weather was fair and the seas were settling so we ran out of False Bay and rounded The Cape of Good Hope.  On land it is known as Cape Point. The photograph above left is The Cape of Good Hope.  We rounded it south of Bellows Rock while a local catamaran took the short cut inside and very near the Cape.  The commercial shipping was another couple of miles beyond us to sea, giving the Cape an even wider berth.

If you see the table cloth over the mountains in Cape Town, it means the wind will be strong from the SE. Above the clouds cascading over the peaks and below a blue sky day.

Clear day & flat seas at Hout Bay. Protection is good here but if it blows from the east it can be quite a challenge.

Phoebe & Drake on the cannons at the northern entrance to Hout Bay. Great fish & chips place is just out of the picture to the left. It's called "Fish On The Rocks."

When we were in Redondo Beach our good friend Chad Thomas was always willing to let me tag along.  Chad has been involved in the commercial shipping business nearly all his life.  He has been the Captain of survey vessels, tugs that tow huge ocean going barges & crew vessels that support the light oil tankers that moor off the Chevron refinery in El Segundo.  Chad always opted for sea room and saftey rather than taking the short cut.  I think he burned this into my mind!  I always think of Chad […]