You can’t check out any time you like, but you can always leave. . .

Brazil is a lovely country, but bureaucratic beyond comprehension. To clear into Natal, we had to visit 1) the Federal Police (Immigration), 2) Customs, 3) the Health Ministry (”Are you bringing Yellow Fever?”), and 4) the Captainerie (Harbor Control). It only took us four hours, filling the similar information in each spot. We were told that when we left Natal, all we had to do was check out with the Captainerie, which we did.

On arriving in Salvador, we went at once to the Captainerie, and checked in. No problem. Soon the Federal Police showed up and wanted to know why we hadn’t checked out of Natal. We said we were told we didn’t need to, they showed a line on one of our forms which said we had to. We asked why we had to check out with the Federal Police when we weren’t leaving the country and they said because we went to another Federal State. So they wouldn’t check us into Salvador because we were still officially in Rio Grande del Norde. But they would check us out when we were ready to leave for Cape Town. Which they did promptly. It made perfect sense to them. At least they didn’t send us back to Natal to check out. And, no, nobody asked for or hinted about “special fines” or “processing costs” or anything.

Location: 17° 20.7 S 036° 38 W
Thursday 12:00, 08.03.2006

The Schooner Maggie B was at 17° 20.7 S 036° 38.0 W on August 3rd. We are about 150 NM off the Brazil coast, 306 miles out of Salvador. It is 1750 NM to Tristan da Cunha and 3137 to Cape Town.

We are motorsailing at 7 knots on a course of 156, which is “direct” Tristan da Cunha. the wind is from about 100 degrees at 5 knots. It is a lovely day with rain showers off to our south. We are working our way east to stay clear of the Brazil coast and south to pick up the promised westerlies. The barometric pressure is at 1019, down very little from the 1021 when we left Salvador.

Max has proven himself to be an efficient fisherman. We had our lines out for only two hours yesterday and he got a lovely Jack (?) that was fishcakes for lunch today and a 30 pound Yellow Fin Tuna that was sashimi and dinner (garlic and oil, lightly warmed in the frying pan, served with fresh lime) last night. We’ll eat our way across in luxury!

It is great having a crew of efficient, experienced Blue Water sailors. Everything is kept clean and put away. Nobody is sick. Confusing systems are subdued, watches are easy and the boat is well kept.

Our new J-Prop propeller doesn’t seem to like to feather the way it should (see photos of it open and feathered when we were hauled out). We have tried the usual tricks (put into reverse before shut down) to no avail. Last night we “roped” the shaft to stop it from turning (our transmission is hydralic, so putting it into gear does nothing). Today at noon I went diving to check to see if there was anything caught in it and if it were still flexible and free. We stopped the boat and I hopped in (water temperature a lovely 78 degrees). The sun was bright and I was immediately struck with vertigo as I looked down the light shafts through the incredibly clear water towards the bottom 10,000 feet away. Fortunately there were no predators higher on the food chain around. The prop turned out to be perfectly clear and smoothly flexible, so we will have to try something else.

All is well.