Crazy Horse, Jeannius, Chessie, and OJ are all here stationed off the island of Sao Paulo. We are all having such a wonderful time here meeting the friendly people, watching all the action on the beautiful beaches, and generally having a relaxing time. Of course, Bill has been working on the boat but has managed to take a day and walk around the resort part of the island with us and have some wonderful Brazilian food. Mike on Jeannius has been working hard on his boat to maintain and clean some of the systems as well. I just wish that the rest of the fleet had come here to experience this island, these people, and rejuvenate themselves here before embarking on the rest of their journey.
Yesterday we went over to the cliff where they have the mineral mud that one rolls in or rubs all over your body. It must have minerals of salt, iron, and sulfur. It feels rather odd but then I was always into the mud as a child so it felt delicious to me. You must let it dry on the skin and then wash it off after that. The skin feels soft and refreshed. Many of the people do this and you can see them walking down the beach with the mud drying on their skin. We all laugh at each other and feel like kids doing something quite naughty. It is quite fun.
They have many beach bars and restaurants around the island and when you tire of walking it is easy to find a place to relax and refresh ones self in a hammock or chair in the sun or shade. This is what many of you think this is our life on this rally. This is what we WISH our lives were like every day on this rally. But we will all come down to earth when all the challenges of the boat, the breakdowns, the weather, etc. hit us. But this is a wonderful paradise while it lasts.
Today some of the group want to do some zip lining off the cliff and into the water. I will NOT do that. I am trying to talk Matt and Bill out of it. We will see.
By the way, many of you have asked about Matt. He is fine and recovered quite nicely and back to his charming self. He has been making friends in his usual style with the people, dogs, and cats on the island. I asked him to write about this island so I hope he will soon. I decided I should do that now before I lose my thoughts and feelings about this place. Who knows when Matt will actually sit down and write a piece for the blog?
So today we will walk around this island one more day and soak up the sun, the friendly atmosphere, the shops, the food, and the view. Tomorrow we venture out once again on the ocean to go north to Recife. The members of the fleet have written that there are many fishermen off the coast at night without lights at times. We will be on our usual watches throughout the night and stay alert to all the challenges. Yes, I think we will get a good dose of reality again! But just one more day ......
Rosemary, Bill, and Matt