From Pollywogs to Shellbacks

Crossing the Equator on a boat is a privilege that I am proud to have experienced. "Crossing the Line" is a ritual that has been carried out for centuries and used to be quite a brutal affair where many pollywogs (slime - uninitiated sailors) were killed in the process. However, between us four on the "Temptress", it was an exciting, memorable and relatively tame experience:

00. 00'.00 S - The Equator

Pat and I were all a-buzz the night before the Equator Crossing, not knowing exactly at what time or on whose watch we would reach the Equator. However, as my 2-4am watch came to an end it was clear that the Crossing would take place near the end of Pat's watch. I went to bed and was woken just after 5 by Pat's excited antics that the time was nigh. He made us some coffee while I dug out our special nutty chocolate, reserved for this moment, and got my camera ready. 

The countdown began: at exactly 5:29am we crossed over 00. 00'.00 S into the Northern Hemisphere. The sun was just rising and we were at the helm to experience the moment. Yet, beyond the chart plotter telling us the Crossing had just occurred, there was really no other significance to this particular spot/line in the ocean. Nevertheless, we were the ones to whom this moment was special; an imaginary line had been crossed that, to us, signified a huge milestone and achievement which is deemed an honour amongst sailors. We were no longer pollywogs, according to the centuries old tradition, but had now earned the title of shellbacks. 

We sipped our coffees and nibbled on some delectable chocolate, with giant grins on our faces knowing that a momentous occasion in our lives had just taken place. Patrick's watch came to an end and it was time to wash away our pollywog status by hanging off the end of the sugar scoops (end part of the catamaran hulls) and be dragged along in the waters of the Northern Hemisphere ~ so refreshing and fun! But, getting back on board while cruising at 7-8 knots can get a little tricky... 

Entering as a Pollywog; Emerging as a Shellback

Each of us paid tribute to King Neptune by pouring beer/wine into his thirsty ocean. Pat and I were a tad more generous and cast the King a whole beer each; after which a morning of beers, cocktails (with Pat's Brazilian rum and juice mix) and jolliness ensued! 

Paying tribute 

 Equator Day Celebrations ensued

 A little nap after lunch was well needed after the morning's excitement. Pat made us an amazing meal of Rare Steaks, Braatkartoffel & peas with caramelized  onions and bacon - scrumptious with the Skipper's wine to top it off :) 

The sun set on what was a truly memorable once-in-a-lifetime experience - our Equator Day. 

Fortaleza, Brazil

Day 28 - 30

Entering Fortaleza

We docked stern-to just before 7am on 21 September at the Marina Park Hotel, a massive, square structure with a private marina. With the "Temptress' secured, Pat and I set foot on Brazilian soil for the first time. We didn't think that we'd go to S America at all when we left SA - even St Helena. What a surprise! Along with docking at the hotel, we had free use of their facilities incl. the swimming pool area, showers, WiFi, and pool tables. The first thing I wanted to do was take an unlimited fresh water shower - which was so refreshing! There wasn't any warm water but it was so hot that early in the morning already that you'd only want cold water.

After freshening up, we got all our relevant documents together and headed out to the customs and immigration offices. What a mission that turned out to be!
We all got into a Taxi from the Hotel and got a guided tour from our captain (the driver couldn't speak english) who has been there a few times before. Fortaleza is a city of northeast Brazil northwest of Natal on the Atlantic Ocean. Founded in 1609, it is a thriving port and industrial center with a population of 2,370,000 ppl. Brazil's poverty became evident as a lot of the areas we drove through were dirty and badly maintained: rubbish on the sreets, dirty cars and houses, and large run-down buildings. Yet, all the people that we saw were well dressed, presentable and walked with pride. Over the next few days we'd see that continuously.

Arriving at the Immigrations office at the Harbour, we headed directly to the man in charge. The Captain did all the talking and took care of the paperwork. However, the relevant men in charge made us run up and down btw the customs and Immigration offices for about three hours! I think they had some bet going as to how often we'd walk back and forth for them...

Eventually we decided we had enough stamps and proceeded to avoid any official looking person by heading to Croco Beach. It's a resort-style beach overrun with tourists - local and int'l. There were hundreds of ppl lounging under palm tree umbrellas set up like a restaurant, with waiters and peddlers (selling all sorts of trinkets, food, drinks and clothes) combing every row, hoping for a sale.

Our main interest was getting some shade from the intense heat and a refreshingly cool Caiperoska/Caiperhina. The difference btw the two drinks is in the alcohol used - either the local rum/vodka. Both of them are good! Most of the ladies on the beach were showing off their bronzed bodies in skimpy g-string bikins. The men were'nt wearing much more - we'd arrived in Brazil! I felt a little odd being so pale and wearing so much - only my bikini. Nevertheless, we all sat back and enjoyed the ice-cold drinks and sights. Brazilians are really beautiful - no matter what shape their bodies take, every person walks around with glowing pride and self-assurance.

By now, a few hours had passed and the bellies were rumbling. Normally, onboard "The Temptress", we eat whenever we're hungry and food is always close at hand. However, we were on land and the captain and mate were craving pizza. So we headed back towards the Hotel along the main beach strip to find the restaurant that's been tried and tested as having excellent pizza. It was midday and super hot! No-one else was walking or even in the vicinity of the vast beach and paved Miami-style beach strip. We walked for a long time and no restaurant along the way was serving pizza - only from 7pm when the ppl start going to dinner. Eventually we got to the desired restaurant - no pizza, but great caiperhinas! After a quick drink we headed out once more. I didn't really want pizza as I wanted to try what Brazilian food is like and finally, convinced that there was no pizza to be found, the cptn and mate agreed to try a local place. 

Enjoying "Antart-ch-ica" (phonetic) Beers and the prospect of great food!

The restaurant was one of many situated in a large piazza, with a fountain, art museum and university/college in the area. There were only 2 patrons and their food smelt and looked so good that Pat and I ordered exactly what they had (also, we couldn't read the menu - only guess). It turned out to be a large platter of prawns and veg on a bed of rice, all covered in molten cheese! The cptn and mate had a Trinchada type dish with chips. All of it was tasty and filling, with the setting providing a great way to wind down the day.

I did however notice the heavy police and armed guard presence - perhaps the reason I was taking so few photos is because I didn't want to look too touristy. The police/guards were wearing almost full riot gear all the time; they were particularly present around banks, ATMs, shopping malls, McDonald's, Subways and other more affluent areas. A scary thought considering such heavy presence was needed to deter potential criminals.

 At the main fortress (no details) near the marina 

On a lighter note, we wandered back to the hotel, bellies full and stopped off at a petrol station to get some extra beers (expensive hotel). Back at the hotel's pool, we swam, chilled and connected with the world that the internet gives us easy access to: back home. Yet, I was tired from a long, active and successful day, perusing around a big Brazilian city, and eventually joined Pat for an early night. Also, being up the whole day and into the night was weird for us, as on the yacht, we'd go to sleep not long after the sun set so that we'd be alert for our night watches. It felt good to stay out til around 10pm!

I woke up around 6am the following morning feeling refreshed and ready to do.... not much besides laze around the pool and do some serious catching up with mails, photos, friends and family. Pat was up at 4am already (body clock goes nuts on land) checking mails etc. Needless to say, we spent almost the entire day skyping, mailing, and checking out FB! It was great! The Cptn went shopping in town for fresh supplies and we filled up with water that morning. We then set up camp around the pool with our laptops and were almost glued to them. The other guests at the hotel probably came all the way to this part of the world to get away from technology and being connected, whilst we're out of touch 24/7. A bizarre sight we must have been. 

View from the pool area



View of the pool area and Hotel

Just chilling Mon

As the heat of the day started to subside, Pat and I headed into town for a walk to see what Fortaleza was like at night. We headed back the way we'd come the night before and went to the Central Market; a four storey, round complex with hundreds of stalls, all selling the same thing! Loads of trinkets, jewellry, nuts, clothes and flea market items. I got a pair of small studs and 1kg of cashew nuts - sooo delicious! We continued on to the piazza from the day before and meandered around.

           

Evening lights over Fortaleza

The full moon was rising on the one side and the sun setting on the other - a gorgeous end to a relaxing day. the piazza was slowly filling up with ppl - many of them young students and teenagers. We found the cptn and mate enjoying another Antartchica (half price special) at one of the restaurants and joined them. A long discussion of history and poilitics followed. It was fascinating to hear the history of Macedonia first hand as our cptn is from that part of the world.

Making  a plan

The discussion continued as we proceeded towards the beach strip, which, during the day was devoid of any life, was now filled with hundreds of excercising locals. I have never seen so many ppl exercising together in one place, at night. Rollerblading, cycling, running, yoga, beach volleybal and soccer, various stretching and many more! It was impressive. Again, it shows the pride that Brazilians take in their appearance which makes them so confident and, well, Brazilian.

We were hoping to find loads of vendors selling various food stuffs on a stick but there was only popcorn, boiled milies and coconuts available. Still delicious! We wandered along towards the big open air flea market which stretched along a large portion of the strip. Our windowshopping satisfied we headed back towards a massive pier with restaurants - all empty! A Wednesday night, though great for excercise, apparently wasn't the "happening" night for a party. Still, we got some drinks at a restaurant down the road and while the cptn and mate ordered a meal, Pat and I decided to see if there was more partying to be done along the beach.

Taking a break after much walking

By the time we got there, just after 10pm, it was nearly empty. Oh well, we tried. A small beach side, open air restaurant lured us in with giant Antartchica Beers and a good menu. The meal we got was a mixed seafood platter, all grilled, with chips and a curry sauce. Njum! It was fun to see that after ten, the family oriented ppl with kids had gone and were replaced with older men and prostitutes. They were all mingling at the various restaurants, ours included. When it became evident that we were not customers it got a little awkward, and both customers and prostitues were starting to leave around 1am. Also,the police presence increased so we got a taxi back to the marina and observed almost every street corner we'd walked on that day, occupied by a lady of the night.

At 2am it felt good to be rocked to sleep on our yacht. The following day we all sent out our last mails, Pat went to the store to stock up on cookies, chocolate, som beers and a mini rum for the upcoming equator crossing. With the last money, I indulged in an ice cream with Pat and lounged by the pool til it was time to set sail once more.

We'd restocked as much as was needed on fresh fruit, veg and bread and were ready to get to our next destination: St Lucia. Having cast off our lines, we manoeuvred out of the bay and set our course. The weather reports predicted clear weather little wind, increasing as we get nearer to St Lucia. Let's see.

Second Leg - St Helena to Brazil

Day 14 - 28                                                                 

One of the many pelagic birds swooping down to investigate our yacht and snatch up any fishes disturbed by our wake. We saw at least one bird every single day of our trip.

We left St Helena feeling recouperated and ready for the next 2 weeks ahead, crossing the Atlantic Ocean. This was to be the longest stretch across open ocean where we would'nt see any land; an exciting prospect!

As soon as we headed out past the Northern tip of the island the wind picked up to about 20knots (1knot = 1 nautical mile = 1.852km) and remained btw 12-20knots for the following week. This meant that we could finally sail continuously without using the engines at all; sailing across open water in absolute silence except the water rushing past the hull. Being under sail makes every watch more exciting as you're constantly monitoring the weather patterns, wind, sails, and adjusting the vessel to make the most use of the wind in its current direction and strength, whilst staying on course.

The chart plotter that told us where in the world we were and all other info that guided us along.

Throughout those 2 weeks we had periodic squalls almost every day. They would only last about 5-15 mins and we'd track them coming towards us across the horizon. They brought even stronger winds (up to 35knots) and fairly heavy rain, so we'd have to adjust the sails accordingly by reefing or taking them down entirely and running the engines if the wind became too gusty.  The sails and rigging could have handled the stronger winds, yet we had to minimize any potential damage i.o.t. deliver the yacht in excellent condition.

A double rainbow after one of many squalls.

Every day faded into the next as we established a routine of keeping watch, cooking, cleaning, and in our spare time (which is most of the time) reading, writing in our diaries and sleeping when we felt tired. Our bodies adjusted to the watch schedule rather than the sun, and our watches changed every day. Therefore, your sleeping pattern gets interrupted and we learnt to sleep whenever we felt tired. There was always a person on watch 24/7 with our shifts rotating daily, so there were always a pair of eyes looking out for any other vessels, flotsam or jetsum. The yacht was also on autopilot 95% of the time (whether sailing or motoring) and we'd manually set the course taking into account a number of factors: current, wind (speed & direction), desired heading (land) etc.  

The food was delicious, varied and when we caught a tuna/fish it was even better!

Around 3-4pm we would all come together from our corners of the yacht, as the person who had the day off from watches, would start cooking. Our meals were amazing! I spent a lot of my time pondering about what to make for dinner as it made up a big portion of the day. Lunch would consist of provits, bread, cheese and cans of milies, beans, lettuce, tomatoes etc, all cold. With a well-stocked boat the options were broad and we tried to change it up. Some days I'd make pancakes - burrito style - with loads of condaments: spiced up mince, guacamole, cheese, salsa, beans etc etc. It was quite a spread and took some time but we all loved the change from meals cooked on the only two stove tops. Hence, every meal was prepared with cooking sequence and timing in mind. Also, every person had their own style of cooking and we got a different meal every night which kept our bellies full and our appetites growing.

So, as each day passed we got closer to the S American coastline. Our skipper initially planned to head directly to St Lucia, one of the E Caribbean islands. Yet, 2 days from the coastline he decided he needs more of a holiday, and seeing as there's no date where we're expected to arrive in Fort Lauderdale, we adjusted course and headed towards Fortaleza, Brazil. Fortaleza is a popular stop-over for delivery skippers as it  marks the end of the Atlantic crossing and provides a good 2 days to recouperate, relax, and get fresh fruit etc for the next leg.  

Patrick filming our first view of Fortaleza, Brazil.

I woke up early for my watch on 21 September, to relieve our Skipper at the helm at 5am. The wind was strong with the sail riefed to be tiny - we were still doing about 5knots. It was exciting to see land again just after the sunrise and I was amazed at how big the city skyline was. We were all on deck by now to keep an eye out for the small fishing skiffs and buoys, while constantly monitoring the depth, as we approached our second stop of the trip. As we drew nearer we could make out the various aspects of the city: slums, beaches, hundreds of sky scrapers and various vessels enetring and leaving the harbour.

We headed towards the Marina Park Hotel where we docked stern-to just before 7am.

Continued in the next post: Fortaleza, Brazil.

First Leg: Cape Town to St Helena

Finally I can upload this entry that has been saved on the laptop for ages! Many more entries have been written in the meantime and will be posted as and when we get the chance…



Day 1 - 11

I am sitting in the saloon of our yacht, which Pat and I have decided to call “The Temptress”, and reminiscing about the past 11 days that we have spent sailing from Cape Town to our first pit stop in St Helena. We’ll be arriving on the small island on our 12th day and are excited to take a tour of the famous island in the Atlantic Ocean.

The day of our departure (24th August) got really exciting once we were leaving the Elliot Basin to fill up with diesel and a last beer at the refuelling dock. We headed out to sea with Table Mountain fading slowly behind us; it was a magnificent sight and as we passed Robben Island I took my first of many watches at the helm.

After our skipper explained exactly which instruments to monitor and what to keep an eye out for, especially other vessels, it was only Pat and I on deck as the others went below to take a nap. Not long after, we started spotting dolphins and in pairs, they were cruising at the tips of our bow! We leaned over to play with them and they responded to Pat making clicking noises with his fingers. They kept coming and going throughout the rest of the day and later we briefly spotted one whale directly ahead of us that disappeared soon after. It was the best start we could have hoped for and we were keen to see what lay ahead of us.

As yet, I’d only felt a slight queasiness when sailing previously, and only if I was below deck for an extended period of time; nothing serious. Now that we were living on board a boat that was constantly in motion, and it got particularly bumpy with relatively high swells in the first two days, I was definitely getting seasick. I took a nap in the afternoon and Pat woke me for our first meal. I ate, knowing that it wasn’t going to end well. I tried sucking it up and stared out at the horizon as much as possible but my body was not happy with me and I had to run to the heads. Amazingly, as soon as I heaved, I felt 100% better. The next day however it returned quickly and by the third day my body got over it and since then it’s been perfect.

By the first night we’d sailed to Saldhana Bay and on to Cape Columbine, at which point we headed North West towards St Helena, leaving the last sight of land and lights behind us. It was full moon, so we could barely see more stars than we would in a bright city; however as the moon cycle continued the most incredible night skies have been illuminated to us (barring heavy cloud cover on most nights). These have made every night watch more rewarding, along with the phosphorescence in the water as it passes along the bow.

Another exciting fact is that we passed the 0 degree Meridian (Greenwich Mean Line) and crossed over into the Western half of the globe – my first time ever to pass into that part of the world! Also, as we steadily headed further North West, the water temperature noticably increased to all of our delight. Along with the warmer water came, a wide range of interesting and weird creatures: The weird creatures that have been sighted so far include flying fish that crash-land on our boat on a regular basis. “Flocks” of 10 – 60 of the fishes come jumping out of the water as they get near the boat or other bigger fish hunt them. They remain airborne for long distances, barely touching the water, and some head the wrong way – into our boat. Also, we find dried out squid the have been washed onto the foredeck, hundreds of unidentified red eyes at night (possibly more squid that come to the surface to feed?) and many different kinds of pelagic birds that swoop and swerve around our boat with the utmost efficiency – highly entertaining!

Entertainment onboard hasn’t been hard to find either. Between keeping watch, adjusting sails, checking for changes in the weather, reading, cooking, staring out at the vast ocean which is so captivating, fishing (2 tunas so far!), chatting, sleeping and, and, and, we haven’t been bored once. Also, every activity takes time and is done carefully which makes for a very relaxing and interesting experience. We have to live conservatively with water, so our showers consist of hauling buckets of sea water onboard and scrubbing down. The guys do this on deck – a windy place – and need to hold on so they don’t fall off the back. For me, being a girl and having long hair, “showering” is quite a long process. Pat hauls buckets of water for me and passes them down the hatch in our bathroom, where I fill buckets for my wash. It’s quite a balancing act as the yacht is permanently lifting up and down over the swells, even small ones! It feels so good though to wash with salt water as it cleanses the skin and leaves it smooth and fresh.

Every day so much happens that it would be too much detail to relate to you. Even the smallest nuances of living on a boat are new to us, such as walking without falling over as the boat moves, boiling water, having watches in shifts 24/7, and living in a confined space with 2 new people. We’re enjoying it immensely so far and have plenty more to learn before this trip comes to an end – 4 weeks, more or less... We’re taking notes as we go and look fwd to the next leg of our trip after a short break on St Helena. Ciao for now