On 10th May 2004, I sat drinking a beer in the cockpit of a Gibsea 44, anchored exactly where we have just anchored Sheer Tenacity, up the Paraiba river , at Jacare, Cabedelo. At the time, I told Malcolm,( my host, who was delivering the Gibsea to Cape Town, on what was to be his 53rd Atlantic crossing), "'One day I am going to come back here and show Mary this place! " Well, here we are, and it is still rather special, although very much more development has taken place during the last 5 years. There are many more riverside restaurants and bars, all competing to play the loudest music in Brazil. There is a new private marina owned by a Frenchman, Captain Phillipe,and he has taken over the bulk of the yachting trade previously done by Brian Stevens, of Cabedelo Nautica.
On my last visit, I had been crewing for Chris Sutton, to sail Enigma, a Compass 47 from Fortaleza to Gibraltar. I had drawn the short straw, and was required to take a 900km bus trip down to Cabedelo, with only the mainsail as luggage, in order to have it repaired prior to our departure. The recommended sailmaker, was Claudio, a windsurfer sail maker in Cabo Branco. He did a fine job, and Brian Stevens was fantastically kind and helpful to me at the time, asking his wife Sylvia to feed me, and his daughter Pamela to take me and the sail back to the Rodovario in Joao Pessoa, in time to catch the bus back to Fortaleza, with seconds to spare!! Yesterday, I was able to visit Brian again, and give him 4 Pugs T-shirts for Sylvia and Pamela , by way of saying thank you for all he did for me in 2004! I also took the liberty of passing on Roy McBrides best wishes, as I know he would have expected this of me. Brian has got to be one of the best preserved 72 year olds around, and still looks as strong as an ox ! He is now building huge tourist River catamarans, and has by his reckoning now built over 100 of them during the last 6 years. There are about 6 of them in service here, and they are partly the reason why the Riverfront restauant businesses have grown so much.
But, getting to Cabedelo from Salvador, at this time of the year , can be tricky, as the prevailing winds are on the nose, as is a 1.5 to 2.0 knot current ! We first tried to leave Itaparica on Wednesday 28th October.We had just received an sms from Kate, saying that my Mom had been admitted to hospital with a gastric infection. At the time it did not seem too serious, and there was a rare easterly wind affording us a chance to leave. There are however bigger plans afoot, and for reasons best known to Fred ( The Autopilot), he went on strike again , with an entirely new set of symptoms. We were forced to turn back. When we got back, it was to learn, that Moms condition had deteriorated rapidly. Sadly she passed away in the early hours of the 2nd November. At least we were able to stay in touch with the family through these difficult days, and be "there" for each other.
That day too, the wind again went Easterly, and we took the gap, and beat our way up the 290nm to Maceio, arriving after of 65hours of tough motor sailing in pretty uncomfortable conditions. Once again, Sheer Tenacity proved her mettle, arriving a couple of hours ahead of our fellow cruisers who took the same gap. En route, the diesel transfer pump died, and I was forced to syphon my deck jerry's into the day tank. We were all very pleased to arrive safely in Maceio. When Estrella arrived on the Monday, they knew it was Moms funeral day, and they knew too how we were battling with all forms of communication to RSA. They arrived at our boat to deliver a special "Wake Cake",in her honour, which was delicious, and greatly appreciated. We then all rested, and waited for the next window ,which came on Saturday the 7th. We refilled the jerry cans with diesel, rigged up a manual transfer pump using a spare manual bilge pump, and left at 4.am.
The first 6 or so hours were quite tough, but as the coast turns Northwards, the wind angle improved to the point where we could sail very efficiently into the current. The 214 nm took 35 hours, with Sheer Tenacity once again took pole position ( Not that we are racing of course!!)
As we entered the river mouth, we saw for the first time, signs that the dreaded current was diminishing. The point of sail from here on , together with the reduced current, should enable us to get around the Bulge ok. Mary and I are not sure whether we feel like going to Fortaleza, where we would have to pay $1 per foot per day ( R360per day!), for mooring. We are inclined to rest up here, and then prepare for the long haul straight to the Caribean, stopping perhaps at Illle de Salut, and Surinam, before making for Tobago. Whatever we decide, this could be the last stop over where Constante , Estrella, and Sheer Tenacity will be together, before heading our different ways. We have decided therefore to have a Battle of the Bulge Party shortly, to celebrate our voyage up from Ilha Grande, where we all met up in the first place!
A new fuel transfer pump is on order, and should be here in a few days. Brian is quoting on a bit of stainless steel work we want done, to beef up our bimini, and Yes Chris, it will make the boat a bit heavier, but we think she can handle it!
We decided to brave the loud music, and visit one of the riverside restaurants for a beer, and to watch the sun go down from land, for a change! We rowed down the frontage, to select the venue with the least offensive volume of music. Each of the restuarants has it own live music, and dance area. While we were commenting on how much like similar the music in our venue was to the "Boom -Chick" Boeremusik back home, a sudden hush came over all the restaurants, as one by one, they stopped the music. We then noticed a gondola, drifting down the river, transporting a Demis Roussos type figure, dressed in a white Kaftan, with an orange sash, and a saxaphone held to his mouth. It was about 10 minutes before sunset, and slowly one became aware of the haunting, rythmic melody of Ravel's Bolero, emanating from all the restaurants sound systems. I was first introduced to Bolero. in Musical Appreciation at school, but I must confess, that my lasting impression of the piece was indelibly etched in my brain, by Bo Derek, in the movie "Perfect 10", as she achieves orgasmic ecstacy , as Bolero ends with the grand crescendo! Now there's nothing wrong with holding on to that image all these years, and I'm sure I'm not alone ! But the simple beauty of hearing it being played live, over the water, as the sun went down, was very, very special.! The last notes coincided with the sun dropping below the horizon, and the hundreds of patrons emerging from their trance like state, to burst into raptuous applause. We saw it as a fitting requiem for Mom.
