5 February 2011
Already I have an answer. In an email from Ingrid of Destiny she provides me with a whole history of the origin of the Brazilian flag and the names of the other two constellations. Tonight when I do my stargazing I will look for Canis Minor (the lesser dog) and Canis Major (the greater dog). They shouldn't be too difficult to spot. Sirius, the dog star, is part of Canis Major and the brightest star in all the universe.
If it hadn't been for the ballooner we would have motored twice as much. At least it allowed us to ghost along in the very light winds. As we closed the Brazilian coast AIS targets appeared for the very first time since leaving St. Helena, mostly ships plying their way to and from Argentina. Lady Ev IV, Thor IV, Destiny and Lady Lisa have now arrived in Salvador. Our ETA is sometime during Friday, our fourteenth day at sea. Would you believe but the wind is due to increase on Saturday! It is called sod's law. 36nm out from Salvador we had our first sighting of land. As I finished the last pages of my latest book I looked up to see a skyscraper skyline. It reminded us of our approach to Panama City. It was completely flat and it appeared as though the city was floating on top of the ocean but as we drew nearer we could see that much of the city was actually built on raised ground. It was so scorching hot we couldn't walk on deck in our bare feet. We ran the mouse up the third groove on the forestay and the ballooner came cascading down to the deck in seconds. It had been up for eight consecutive days. We motored the last remaining miles. We just wanted to get there. Tzigane are about 80nm behind and are due in tomorrow along with Ariane, Eowyn and Tucanon. A warm World ARC welcome awaited us at the Terminal Nautico Marina from Paul and Suzana. The pontoon was heaving up and down, my legs all wobbly from so long at sea, but perhaps it was the strong Caipirinha cocktail that was presented to us the minute we stepped ashore. As the sun went down David and I toasted the completion of our seventh ocean crossing with a bottle of bubbly. It may not have been the most exciting ocean crossing and it tested our patience to the limit but there were no issues with the boat except for the anemometer so we were very thankful for that. Salvador could not have been a more welcome landfall with all the hustle and bustle of a Latin American city, just what we were needed after nearly a month of solitary sailing. We dined that evening with Lisa, Sandro and Bernhard, delighted to have their convivial company, before finally collapsing into our bunks for a whole night of sound unbroken sleep.
Susan Mackay