Location: 12° 42.0 S, 37° 59.4 W
Friday 12:00, 07.07.2006

The Schooner Maggie B’s noon position on July 7th was 12° 42.0S 37° 59.4W. We are about five miles off the coast and 37 miles from turning the corner into Baia de Todos os Santos (All Saints Bay). We should be tucked into the Bahia Marina by about sundown.

Today has been a perfect sail.

We are doing 7-8 knots with one reef in the main and the fore, on a broad reach with only moderate swell and waves. We were head to head with a fast moving empty coastal tanker at dawn, but since then haven’t seen a single boat, large or small. The sun is out and the temperature is perfect for just a t-shirt and shorts.

We have been reading up on Salvador and are quite excited to arrive. The Bahia Marina seems to be a safe base for us to do the boat work while being close to things. The town sounds interestingly historic but somewhat wild. The Lonely Planet Guide clearly likes the city, but is fully of cautions (”don’t go to this or that area, take a taxi, don’t fight back when you are pickpocketed, don’t carry a bag, etc., etc.).

Max showed his dingy-sailing background and put together a bunch of “tweakers” to improve the trim of the sails and he got at least another half a knot out of her. I didn’t do my homework well enough on what was where when I went on for the Midnight to 0300 watch. When the usual rain squall came through about 0100 with 25-30 knots of wind, I got rather tangled in various ropes and we went for a bit of a sleigh ride before all was settled. Dinner ashore tonight!

All is well.

Salvador Bahia Brazil | 07.07.2006

The Schooner Maggie B docked safely at Bahia Marina, Salvador Brazil at approximately 1900 on July 7th. The GPS location is 12° 58.7464S, 38° 31.1903W.

All is well.