April 26th 2012

Even though this was our first (but hopefully not the last!) visit to Buenos Aires, we had a circle of friends waiting for us here. Actually, they are the friends of my cousin but I like to think that now they are also our friends. They made us feel at home right from the beginning. They wined and dined us at their homes (that succulent asado prepared by Mabel and Joaquin, and Cami's wonderful embanadas!!!), they introduced us to Tango Argentino, took us sightseeing, to a boat ride in the waterways of Tigre, to the Ferias de Mataderos..... and when they had no time to entertain us, they recommended us things to see and places to go. And we followed their advice and enjoyed Buenos Aires to the full!

But now the time has come to leave Argentina, make a U-turn, and return to Europe. There are several reasons for heading back home, for one thing the boat is in dire need of a facelift and for another, her captain and crew are longing for a proper break in sailing. But the real reason behind this decision is that we have changed our minds about the route we should take to get back to Alaska.

This is not the first time we have changed our plans. In 2006, instead of continuing to the west from Tahiti as we had originally planned, we decided to sail up north to Kodiak, Alaska and that was by far the best idea we have come up with so far. We hope that our latest change of plan is another one of those great ideas!

When leaving Argentina, we will take a piece of it with us. On the expert advice of Pertti and Antonio, we bought a total of twenty CDs, all Tango Argentino. Although we know that we'll never learn even its most elementary steps properly, we have decided to give it a go and, in the spirit of Argentina, we will tango all the way back to Portugal!

April 13th 2012

Puerto de Madero, Buenos Aires

34° 36,204' S, 58°21,909' W


On the 10th of April, we checked out of Uruguay as the winds had finally died down, and also because we were running short of days to spend in South America. After about one and half days of motoring in the muddy waters of the Rio de la Plata, we and about a zillion mosquitoes arrived in Argentina. We first went to the Yacht Club Argentino but as they didn't have space for our boat, we contacted the neighbouring Yacht Club Puerto de Madero who agreed to accommodate us.


We had to wait for an hour in the harbour basin for a bridge to open and let us through to one of the most protected marinas we have ever been in. And the best part is that Puerto de Madero is located in the very centre of Buenos Aires within walking distance of just about any place, Plaza de Mayo, Avenida de Corrientes, San Telmo, La Boca...


We will stay here a little longer than anticipated because of technical problems (this time it's the gearbox!) but it is hard to imagine a more interesting place than Buenos Aires to pass the time.

April 10th 2012

A Short Visit to Uruguay


Punta del Este, Maldonado
34° 57,486’ S, 54° 56,904’ W


Eventually, we got tired of motoring on the windless Atlantic and decided to pay a short visit to Uruguay. We spent the first day trying to locate a place where we could take photocopies because, according to the Uruguayan authorities, the Brazilian authorities had not given us enough copies of the documents. We kept walking up and down the streets in the town centre and when we finally found a kiosk advertising Fotocopias, it turned out that their copying machine had broken down already some days ago and would be fixed in the near future.


That left us with a much more laborious alternative to obtain the copies, namely using our own scanner and printer aboard. Hence, we returned to the boat, and while installing the copying equipment in place, the thus far pleasant weather turned into a nasty gale in just a few minutes. 50+ knot winds blew right into the Maldonado Bay and we were soon bouncing up and down on the white crowned waves. The violent movements of the boat snapped both our anchor chain securing lines, and during the night, we shifted about 40 metres from our original anchoring site towards the shore due to a combination of dragging the anchor and involuntarily letting out anchor chain after the securing lines had broken.


On the second day, we had ample time to take copies as the winds were still strong and the waves high and breaking. On the third day, the weather had improved enough for us to go ashore to report our arrival to the authorities, this time accompanied with the appropriate number of copies. When we returned to the boat, the wind and the waves were still harassing us so much that we decided to weigh anchor and seek shelter in the marina.
It appeared that the marina was a safe haven also for a group of South American Sea Lions. Both cows and bulls were huge but the bulls had a lion-like rusty-brown mane which made it easy to distinguish between the sexes. They slept on the concrete docks or on some unfortunate boat owner's deck, and were fed daily by local fishermen cleaning their catch in the marina. What an easy life!

April 2nd 2012

Southward Bound


We got to use our newly repaired foresail for only two days. In the evening of our second day at sea, the inner forestay T-terminal broke and left the sail swinging uncontrollably on its halyard. Because it was already dark, we decided not to take the sail down until the following morning, and tied it as best we could to the pulpit for the time being. A few hours later, we were hit by a strong front with headwinds gusting to 40+ knots and had no alternative but to heave to. We stayed hove to for the next 17 hours and when the front had passed, we took the sail down and stored it inside to wait for its resurrection.


As usual, we had been fishing uninterruptedly day and night. During the first day, we caught a piece of plastic and, on the second day, another piece of plastic, only bigger. But the thought of fried fish was so tempting that we continued fishing persistently and, on the third day, we caught … a shearwater or a Greater Shearwater (Puffinus gravis) - to be exact! The strange thing about this was that just a few hours prior to this incident we had been discussing how to prepare a seabird before cooking it in order to get rid of the strong, unpleasant taste of bird fat. According to Pekka, who as an ex-islander is more knowledgeable about the subject, the bird should be kept submerged in milk for at least a day.


Anyway, we had no intention of eating the poor thing splashing about in our wake. As there was practically no wind at all (thank god for that!), it was easy to reel the bird in and as soon as Pekka got it in the fish net, the hook came off its bill. When we lifted the bird out of the water, its wing got entangled in the net. I don't know about the rest of the shearwaters but this particular individual was extremely co-operative. In less than a minute, we had managed to get it free, and returned it to its own element unharmed as far as we could judge. Although the story had a happy ending, it meant no more fishing for us, at least for as long as there are any birds flying around. We are more than happy not to eat fish at all for the rest of our journey rather than risk catching another one of those beautiful shearwaters!

March 25th 2012

In the Wild


Ilha Grande, a remnant of the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest is the home of several threatened species, including the brown howler monkey, maned sloth, broad-snouted caiman, and red-browed Amazon parrots. Although, during our short visit, we didn't manage to see any of these endangered animals, it was still good to know that they were there, and that they have a chance to survive on this beautiful, protected island.


At sunset, we listened to the silence surrounding us and, after dark, to the enchanting sounds of the jungle, the shrieks, the shrills, and the squeaks of, maybe, frogs or insects or... we couldn't guess what. They were so different from the monotonous buzzing of big cities where we had stayed far too long, and we enjoyed them so!


From Ilha Grande, we sailed to Paraty, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the oldest towns in Brazil, mainly for provisioning purposes but also to see the only town in the world we know of that makes use of the tide to clean its streets.


After Paraty, we sailed via Ilha da Cotia to Ilha da Anchieta, where we arrived late in the evening of March 22nd and dropped anchor just before a thunder storm hit the island. The next morning, we went ashore to see the island and its wildlife. More than anything else, we wanted to see the Capybara which is the biggest rodent in the world, the top recorded weight being 91 kg for a wild female from Brazil, and a close relative to chinchillas and guinea pigs. Right on the beach, there was a small family of capybaras, consisting of a huge dominant male, three smaller males, four females, and a group of young ones who gathered into a group as we neared them. In some areas, capybaras are hunted for their meat and pelts, and also killed by farmers who consider their grazing to compete with their livestock. But, not on this protected island, where they are free to roam anywhere they like.


Before going on a hike across the island, we returned to the boat to change our flip-flops to hiking boots after learning that the island's fauna also includes a number of poisonous snakes and spiders.


While in the forest, we tried to walk as quietly as possible so as not to disturb the animals but, since we are no Indians, we could hear them retreating before us as we came closer. During the hike, we managed to see one panicky capybara, a surprised marmoset, a lone hummingbird, and a few magnificent butterflies, all much bigger than the hummingbird. On the way back, it started to rain and, within minutes, we were soaked to the skin. At first, we tried to find shelter underneath the foliage of big trees but soon realized that it was of no use. As we continued walking along the winding trail, it dawned on us that, actually, there is no better way to experience a rainforest than to be there when it is raining.

March 18th 2012

Ilha Grande

From Rio de Janeiro we sailed to Ilha Grande, approximately 60 nautical miles further south. Since 60 miles normally means about half a day's sailing, we anchored in Enseada do Botafogo near the Sugar Loaf for the day and set sail around 9 pm in order to be in Enseada do Abraão early next morning. As luck would have it (actually, why wasn't I surprised at all!), we had headwind and counter-current all the way to Ilha Grande so that, after about 20 hours of motoring, we arrived at Abraão the following day around 5 pm.
The next morning, we went ashore to explore the tiny village. We tied our dinghy to a tree near a small building which, to our amazement, advertised


On a Brazilian jungle island, an ice cream parlour selling Finnish ice cream which is, as everybody knows, the best in the world! Who could resist that? Well, at least we couldn't, and Pekka had a scoopful of Finnish Chocolate and I took Creme Finlandês which turned out to be my all-time favourite, rum and raisin with an additional ingredient, cashew nuts, which made it even better. What a wonderful way to start our explorations in the wild!

March 16th 2012

Guanabara Bay

When sailing in Enseada de Jurujuba, we saw something strange floating in the water, something that, looking from afar, we could not quite comprehend at first. As we came closer, it turned out that there were hundreds and hundreds of oil canisters and thousands of water bottles tied up in bundles, all anchored to submerged lines. It looked like an artistic installation but, of course, it served a more practical purpose: it was a Poor Man's Breakwater. What an ingenious way of reusing plastic bottles!


Baia da Guanabara appeared to be excellent fishing grounds. Even in the small basin of Marina da Gloria practically in the heart of the city, big silvery fish were jumping about in abundance, bringing to mind our summers in Alaska. In the bay, there were small boats anchored all around with one or two fishing enthusiasts aboard. As there are no marked shipping lanes, big cargo vessels and cruise liners had to carefully manoeuvre around them. It was nice to see that it is not always the small that must give way to the big!