Location: 23° 13S, 44° 42W
Tuesday, 02.26.08

The Schooner Maggie B is anchored in the harbor of Paraty, Brazil, 23° 13S, 44° 42W. We arrived the afternoon of 25 February after motoring up from Islabela. Salvador is 709 NM away and Antigua 2603.

Paraty was founded 397 years ago. Amerigo Vespucci, who gave his name to this continent, called it “as close to heaven as any place on earth.” It is just lovely — a colonial town at the edge of a clean bay with tall hills all around it. Access to Paraty was only by boat until 1954 when the road was brought in. It has been a UNESCO World Heratage Site since 1958. Paraty flourished in the 17th century when it was an important shipping port for the gold mined in Minas Gerais.

Paraty is the base for visiting the islands and beaches of the Bahia Ilha Grande. The piers are full of at least a hundred “schooners” to take tourists out. The boats are motor boats with two or three masts that have never felt a sail, but equipped with awnings, benches, cushions, and vast bars. They have huge, useless clipper bows and bowsprits. Three marinas scattered around the bay are full of hundreds of private boats, ready for their owners to fly or drive in from Rio, San Paulo, or Brazilia.

Thomas, Hannah and Curtis have taken a bus to visit Rio, which is just four hours away. Thomas is rendezvousing with his girlfriend Genevieve, who will join us for the leg to Salvador. Janet and the Captain will watch the boat, attempt to find the best restaurants in town, and sample local cachaca, a sugar cane liquor which is an essential ingredient in caipirinhas. This area is known for its excellent cachaca. Finding the best should have some of the fun of looking for scotch distilleries in the Highlands, the best Calvados in Normandy, or wine tasting in Oregon or Napa. We also plan to oil the deck, if we get a chance between the regular rain showers.

We could have spent a lot more time in Ilha Bela on Ilha Sao Sebastio. It is full of famous beaches but not very developed and still has 92% of its original Mata Atlantica ecosystem, which is unfortunately disappearing elsewhere.

All is well.

Location: 25° 30S, 48° 06W
Saturday 02.23.2008

At noon today the Schooner Maggie B was at 25° 30S, 48° 06W, motoring NE in just a whisper of a southerly wind. The day is nice, with a thin overcast diminishing somewhat the power of the sun, which is just about overhead. We are headed to Ilhabela on the Ilha do Sao Sebastiao, which is just 173 NM away. We have come 983 from Buenos Aires and have 2661 NM to go to Antigua.

We spent the last two nights at Ilha do Mel, Honey Island, at 25deg32S/48deg18W. We were off the lovely Praia (beach) da Fortaleza, guarded at one end by the Fortaleza de NS dos Prazeres (Fort of Our Lady of the Pleasures!) dating to 1760, and at the other end by the Farol das Concas, a lighthouse which was ordered up by King Dom Pedro II from Scotland and shipped out and assembled in 1872.

Ilha do Mel has marvelously remained undeveloped. No cars, motorcycles, street lights, horses or donkeys are allowed on the island. As the guidebooks say, accommodations on the island range from rustic to extremely rustic. We found it marvelous. The surf is quite good on two of the beaches and it is very much of a surfer/beach/shacks culture. We had a fabulous dinner last night at a restaurant called Mar & Sol (Sea & Sun). The dish was a “moqueca com tudo dentro” - moqueca with everything in it. The dish is a seafood casserole cooked in a big clay pot, with every sort of local fish and shell fish layered up with a layer of sliced tomatoes on top, all cooked in a broth. It comes to the table with the broth steaming away on the sides.

We ran aground getting into the anchorage. It was horrible. We arrived just at dark, having spent too much time in Sao Francisco do Sul, and the full moon was hidden behind a cloud and no help. We were trying to stay clear of a fishing boat which was motoring in the same direction with only one white light showing — no running lights. We were just coming up to the Farol das Concas point in what the chart showed as 22 feet of water. We went from 20 feet on the depth sounder to three feet and an awful crunch in less than a boat length. We spun around and after two more ugly crunches, were lifted off by a swell and returned to deep water. Amazingly, two other fishing boats were following close behind us and almost hit us when we were spun around. We anchored at the far edge of perhaps 40 small fishing boats, who probably talked and laughed about the gringo boat through the night.

This was our third time running aground (but who’s counting?). Mauritius in the main harbor and the Greville Harbor boulder bank in Marlborough Sound were one and two.

In the morning, a careful inspection of the hull and rudder using our “hookah” (air compressor with 20 meters of tubing to a diving mouthpiece), showed only missing paint and a slight crack in the very bottom flat piece of the keel, and no damage to the rudder. Whew!

We knew not to arrive at dark because we had had trouble, though less of it the previous night. After leaving our friends just north of Florianopolis, we made for the town of Sao Francisco do Sul to clear Customs. We didn’t want to arrive in a complicated port at night, so we stopped at Ilha da Paz, just offshore, which seemed to afford a nice protected anchorage. The chart showed a buoy for pilot ships, but we only saw a few plastic jugs floating as mooring markers. At about 0100 the wind shifted and we swung around and were hit by the mostly submerged mooring buoy, which was made of steel and about six feet in diameter. Only the ring was visible above water. The plastic jugs we had spotted were supporting the thick mooring pendant. We got only cosmetic damage, though it sounded at first as if a giant was using a battering ram to break through the hull. We moved our anchor to another spot and stood anchor watches through the rest of the night.

In the morning we motored into Sao Francisco do Sul, stunned to see a 500 foot coastal freighter partially sunk upside down just off a turn in the entrance channel. It was surrounded by perhaps 40 boats, all scampering at different tasks, mostly oil clear up. When we enquired in town, we were told that the wreck had taken place only two weeks previously - they had loaded a fairly heavy load relatively high. It was poorly secured and shifted as they made the corner in the channel and the ship turned turtle just like that.

The town of SF do Sul is interesting. The site was discovered by the Frenchman de Gonneville in 1504, and the Portuguese developed it in the early 1600’s. It is the third oldest city in Brazil. We were able to clear Customs quickly, pleasantly and with nice wishes for our travels. No one cared that we had been in Brazil for two weeks and could have unloaded Chinese stowaways, smuggled cigarettes or whatever long since. But now we have (I hope!) all the right papers and stamps!

All is well.

Location: 27° 15S, 48° 27W
Wednesday 02.20.2008

The Schooner Maggie B is finally moving again. At noon on February 20th, we were at 27° 15S, 48° 27W, about 65 NM from San Francisco do Sul, our next port. We are motoring north in about a 10 knot northerly, which is due to die out this afternoon. The weather is lovely. we are 390 NM south of Rio and 2750 from Antigua.

We spent last night anchored off the lovely Praia Magalhaes. We were visiting Alain and Fabienne. We were introduced to Alain by our friend Adrian from Nelson. Alain is the inventor of the Spade and Sword anchors, and is the author of the new book, The Complete Anchoring Handbook, (McGraw-Hill, 2008) which should not only be a part of every sailor’s library, they should actually read it! The book is subtitled “Stay put on any bottom in any weather,” which is a essential goal of every serious “traveling” sailor. It dispels many myths and replaces folklore with fact. Alain does not push “his” anchors (he has sold his interest in the Spade company) he pushes facts, logic and analysis in the face of fiction and misunderstood hearsay.

We were happy that we didn’t drag that night.

We had a perfect evening. The water was just right for swimming and we rowed in to Alain and Fabienne’s house for a round of excellent Caipirinhas, then off to a local restaurant for piles of local seafood — oysters, squid, little fish, big fish, washed down with some lovely white wine.

We hope tonight to anchor off Sao Francisco do Sul, which is at the mouth of the river of the same name. Some Canadian sailors we met said that they had an easy time clearing Customs there. Then on up the road towards Rio and the lovely bay around Ihla Grande.

Today was haircut day, with Hannah as barber. Curtis got about ten inches taken off, and Frank and Thomas got trims. Janet passed.

All is well.

Location: 25° 20S, 49° 10W
Saturday 02.16.2008

The Maggie B Away Team is now in Curitiba, Brazil, on our homeward leg from our trip to Puerto Iguazu, Argentina. Our position is about 25° 20S, 49° 10W. We are all still a bit punchy from a lot of time in our Toyota, but mostly we are stunned by the emotional impact of seeing a huge Wonder of the World. We are all happy to head back to the boat and get her sailing again.

We did achieve our basic goal - the Brazilian Vice Consul issued us our visas (but only 30 days worth) in a morning.

US$140 for Americans, US$80 for Canadians. We are now more or less legal, and now have to get back to Florianopolis and clear the Maggie B in, and then out. Probably another two days of paperwork. We have used up some of our “play time” for going north to Antigua for the Classic Race Week, which will have us adapt our plans a bit.

We had the great fortune to have two days to explore the Iguazu Falls. We spent the first day “up close” on the Argentinean side. While our visas were being processed, we walked many kilometers, climbing high and low around the closer Falls. We were accompanied by thousands and thousands of folks from bus tours. Up, down and around some of the most stunning views on the planet. The volume of the water is astonishing, but the variety of falls is the real romance of the place. When Eleanor Roosevelt saw the Falls, she said “Poor Niagara.” Poor Niagara, indeed. It makes other waterfalls just insignificant.

We have seen a lot of water in the Maggie B’s trip around the world. How to describe the Iguazu Falls? The remorseless power is stunning. A ten meter Southern Ocean wave has some of the same sense of total force. Same for the tides in the Straits of Le Maire. You know that not only you can’t resist, but also that you have to be lucky and skilled not to be hurt.

We had our timing right. We spent four hours in the morning climbing around, then went the 20 kilometers back into town to get our visas, and have a nice long lunch. We returned to the Argentine Falls at about 5 PM, watching the thousands of tourists staggering back to their busses like a defeated army, think France in 1939. We walked and took a lovely little train to the “Devil’s Throat” walkway, where we say the stunning inner falls with almost no one else around.

We went to a bird sanctuary the next day where the delight was to see lots of toucans. We had seen a pair flying free near the Falls, but it was thrilling to see them close. It was astonishing how graceful they were, the beautiful, lightweight bill being perfectly balanced.

Crossing back into Brazil was somewhat complicated. It was slow but uneventful to get out of Argentina. We were then seduced into a very flashy Duty Free Store placed in the “No Man’s Zone” between the countries. Curtis bought a new camera to replace the one that disappeared in Flor. The Captain spotted a huge bargain - Ballentine’s Scotch at US$8.25 a liter bottle. Perhaps not our most favorite brand, but very good and irresistible at the price to get a case of it. We worried about Customs going into Brazil, but there weren’t any. In fact we had to fight to get our passports properly stamped. We certainly didn’t want any more trouble from the Federales!

Somewhat exhausted, we found a beer garden (signs of the German influence) to recuperate. We called the helicopter tours to check on timing and price, reaching them at about 1710. They said they could take us if we could get there in 20 minutes. Could we? We could! We paid the bill, jumped in the car and arrived at the airport to jump on the helicopter as the blades were still turning from the last flight.

Off we went for the ten minute trip around the Falls for a truly stunning view. None of us were scarcely able to breathe for the ten minutes.

We then went and found a nice hotel and took a little break before driving into the Brazilian park to the famous Hotel das Cataratas. We weren’t allowed in until 2000 and had the 15 kilometer road to ourselves, where it is usually full of shuttle busses. The Brazilian side view of the Falls was stunning in the sunset and then illuminated by a half moon.

After a nice dinner buffet, we relaxed in the bar listening to a lovely Brazilian singer with her guitarist. That was marvelously followed by an older English tourist on the piano. We aided and abetted his playing by sending him glasses of Drambuie. After the Englishman was finally dragged off to bed by his wife, Curtis and Thomas led us down to the catwalk in the Devil’s Throat. It was a magical trip. It was about 0200. The moon had set and we only had the light of stars to find our way. The stars were our old friends - the Twins, Orion, Alpha and Beta Centuri, the Southern Cross. But most of the way we had to feel our way down the steps and along the walkways. We got soaked but all had the stunning experience of having the Falls totally to ourselves under the starlight.

Before leaving the Falls to return to Blue Water, we want to especially congratulate Argentina for the great work they have done to keep their area of the Falls healthy. Those who look at the satellite maps of the Iguazu area, will see how the Paraguay side has cut everything down, Brazil has cut a lot, and Argentina has saved most. Hurray for Argentina!

All is well.

Aground at Iguazu Falls

The Schooner Maggie B is in a “if you get a lemon, make lemonade” mode. As mentioned in a previous posting, Brazil ejected us (or at least all Norte Americanos) for not possessing visas before entry. Just as would happen to Brazilians showing up in the States. The Captain thought of either sailing back to Montevideo to pick up visas, or to the Caribbean, forgetting Brazil. Thomas suggested leaving the boat and flying to Montevideo or Buenos Aires. The Captain then spotted Iguazu Falls and thought of Paraguay. Curtis suggested that there would probably be a Consulate in Argentina at the border. And so here we are in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina, with an appointment to meet the Brazilian Vice Consul tomorrow morning at 8 AM. Our position is about (not having GPS is shocking for the Navigator).

The distance from Florianopolis to Foz de Iguazu (the Brazilian side) is almost exactly 1000 kilometers (625 miles). It is mostly across the state of Parana. We rented a nice Toyota Corola from Hertz (won’t they be sorry they threw in unlimited mileage!). We were going to do it all in a hard day, watch on and watch off, but Janet wisely suggested taking a bite out of the trip Sunday night, so we went to Curitiba, a nice, big town about 350 km along the way. Curitiba while not particularly exciting, is clean, prosperous, efficient and environmental. One cool item is the efficiency of the buses on the main routes. They come in three long pieces. Passengers enter and pay in a tubular “space lock” sort of waiting area. The bus pulls up and drops three “boarding ramps” which are about three feet above the grade. Everyone gets on and off quickly and off they go.

The State of Parana is mostly red dirt and soy beans. With hundreds of brick factories scattered along. Also some corn and tobacco. In the heat, the buildings with smoke stacks working are either kilns firing bricks or sheds drying the ingredients for future cigarettes. The highway to Foz de Iguazu is full of hills and trucks with the road being the awful 2 1/2 lanes where passing is always a lottery.

So after our interviews tomorrow — all clean, shaved, scrubbed and sober — we are going to do all the tourist things on the Argentinean side — walks, boat tours, bird land, museums, four wheel driving in the park, and the such. Then collapse back at our “villa.” Hopefully then use our fresh Brazilian visas and go to the Brazilian Hotel des Cataracts, a lovely, high-end, old hotel which is the only one inside the Park. Perhaps we will even treat ourselves to a helicopter ride! Then the 1000 km back to the Maggie B, and the rest of the Brazilian “arrival” paperwork.

As one friend said, we bet that we are the only “’round-the-world” sailors to see the Iguazu Falls. Marvelous.

All is well.

Schooner Maggie B Hits the Rocks in Brazil
Friday 02.08.2008

Yesterday did have its victories - our bar bill at the Yacht Club of Santa Catarina turned out to be only 12 reals, or about US$6 and the security guy at the gate of the marina let us back in. Otherwise it was not too great a day.

We knew that Canadians and US citizens needed visas for Brazil (EU citizens and Kiwis don’t). When we were in Buenos Aires, there was a huge crowd and weird requests (two months of bank statements to prove financial independence for example) at the Brazilian Consulate - so I had the good(?) idea to call the Federal Police in Florianopolis to see if a visa could be issued to yachties on arrival. No problem they said (to Thomas in Portuguese) - come on along to our lovely island and all will be well!

Yesterday we all trooped over to the lovely new Federal Police building to check in. All was well - we got to see a charming officer who spoke good English, we had the right documents, he filled out the right forms, we signed everything, then he looked at the passports. Where were our visas? We said the we were told that we should come on and they would be issued in Florianopolis. No, no, no, he says, against the law. America makes it hard for us Brazilians to enter the US, so we make it hard for Americans to enter Brazil. We have our pride, etc. Papers were taken back, and torn up and thrown away. we were issued a “Termo de Notificacao No. 34/2008″ ordering us to leave Brazil within eight days. We protested, he said that we were fortunate he had made it eight days that it was usually three days. He then added, chillingly, that if he were in the US like us, he would be arrested already.

His suggestion was that we should go to Uruguay or Paraguay and get our visa and come back, though there might be a problem since we had entered illegally. All of a sudden the thought of flying to Buenos Aires or Montevideo seemed less attractive. A real disaster would be to leave the country to get the visas and then not get them and have the boat stuck in Florianopolis and us being undesirable aliens.

So we have hired an immigration lawyer in Brasilia. The plan is that she will assure with the Consular Service that we will be issued visas, we will choose a Consulate in Paraguay or Uruguay, confirm with them that they are ready to issue the visas, and go and come back.

We also checked with the ghost of John Belushi as how to handle being on Double Secret Probation, and his response was “Road Trip!” Our plan is to rent a car and drive the 1000 kilometers to the Iguacu Falls on the border with Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil. Then get everything lined up in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, which is just across the border, spend 1/2 day there at the Consulate (it is supposed to be a real armpit), and return with our fresh visas. That’s the plan, anyway.

Florianopolis is a bit bigger and more commercial than we expected. A small, tropical, Manhattan was Thomas’s description. We definitely have to get a car and go over to the beaches. Downtown is interesting, but not compelling. All the stores seem to be selling shoes, TV’s or cell phones. The famous beaches should be a lot more fun place to wait out our visa problems.

In the midst of our boring bureaucratic problems, I wanted to take a moment to recognize and celebrate Francois Joyon’s huge success in breaking Ellen MacArthur’s solo around-the-world record. Francois did it in an astonishing 57 days, beating Ellen by a full two weeks!. His boat was IDEC 2, which was designed by Nigel Irens, like Ellen’s B&G and the Maggie B. Congratulations to Nigel and Francois! Three Cheers!

All is…..OK

Location: 27° 36.5S, 48° 33W
Wednesday 02.06.2008

The Schooner Maggie B is safely tied up at the marina in Florianopolis, Brazil at 27° 36.5, 48° 33.

More to follow.

All is well.

Location: 30° 50S, 50° 24W
Tuesday 02.05.2008

The Schooner Maggie B was at 30° 50S, 50° 24W at noon on February 5th. We are schoonering along the Brazilian coast, marvelously making 7.3 knots in 12 knots of wind on our beam. It is clear, bright and warm. The sun is getting higher every day. The sun is now heading north, like us. It is about 15 degrees south of the equator, and we are 15 degrees south of it.

We have come 548 NM from Buenos Aires and have 213 to go to Florianopolis and 2932 to Antigua. We still have about 1/3 of a knot of favorable current. We expect to be motoring again soon, as the wind is seeming to fade out, as forecast. We expect to arrive at Florianopolis at about sundown tomorrow.

I have mentioned all the wrecks in the Rio de la Plata. Probably the most famous is the Graf Spee, scuttled just outside Montevideo in 1939 by her crew. We passed quite close to the wreck when we went by from Colonia to Piriapolis. The Graf Spee, called a pocket battleship, was probably the most dangerous Nazi vessel, faster than any battleship, but stronger than any fast cruiser. She had sunk about a dozen merchant ships when she was set on by three English cruisers, possibly an even match, but the Graf Spee’s guns out-ranged the English ones and the Exeter was the first to be trashed. But the Graf Spee had taken a few minor hits, including one that temporarily knocked out the Captain. Rather than turn on the next two victims, the Captain decided that he needed to refit in Montevideo. The English then sunk her with a fuel order. Really. They had reinforcements on the way, but no way to stop the Graf Spee from escaping. So the clever English Admiral had his supply officer order a refueling rendezvous for two light cruisers (all that was nearby), two heavy cruisers, and an aircraft carrier. The information “leaked” to the Germans and the Captain felt that he was trapped, had his ship scuttled, wrapped himself in the battle flag, and shot himself.

All is well.

Location: 33° 04S, 52° 16W
Monday 02.04.2008

The Schooner Maggie B was at at noon on February 4th. We were under all plain sail, making 6.5 knots Northeastward in 12-15 knots of wind from the WNW. It is a lovely day. We are about 15 NM off the coast of Brazil, carrying about a know of favorable current, presumably the backwash of the Brazilian current.

We have come 381 NM from Buenos Aires and have 377 NM to go to Florianopolis and 3046 to go to Antigua.

This morning there was a beautiful astronomical sight just before dawn: the moon was on its last day, only a finger nail slice, and Venus and Jupiter were right next by. It was like silver and diamonds on a velvet cloth.

A part of our 110 AC electric system is a sensor that watches for the proper current and polarity coming in from the generator and from shore power. On the last day in Punte del Este I was sitting at the desk in the ship’s office and heard the sound of crackling and popping from behind the main switch panel. When I opened the panel, there was some smoke coming from the AC sensor panel. I turned off the power and disassembled the paneling to get at the main sensor. It had burnt out and melted one of the coils. It is all detached now and shouldn’t be any problem until we go to plug into 110 volt power, but that won’t be until Canada landfall, where it will be easy to fix.

One of the restaurants in Punte del Este had a charmingly fractured English-language menu. Fortunately their chef made better paella than their translator wrote menus. Some of our favorites were: Padded Codfish; Sprout her Special; Pan of mud, bound in her own sauce; Stewed lamb with blow, onion and potato; and Prawns to the Iron. (For those of you not familiar with US drug slang, blow=cocaine).

To our frustration, the Furuno autopilot is out again. I have emailed for help from their US HQ, where we have always gotten good support. Because we are handsteering, we now have a fairly complicated watch system as we are five and have decided to have one hour solo watches during the day and two person, three hour, overlapping “sociable” watches at night- sociable meaning that you spend part of your watch with one person and part with another.

There has been a lot of traffic. Perhaps one very large ship every four hours, generally not too far from our track, especially if Northbound. There are also groups of fishing boats around. Before noon today we got a squeeze play as on our starboard bow, we spotted two anchored fishing boats, clearly working together with a net between them. From behind us, on our port quarter, came a small coastal tanker, making good speed. Our eyeballs and the radar collision analysis showed that we would all come together at the same place. We skinned by the fishing boats by 100 yards, getting a few waves or fists and had at least 500 yards to spare from the tanker.

It is great to be sailing again in perfect schooner conditions.

All is well.

Location: 34° 57S, 54° 43W
Sunday 02.03.2008

At noon on February 3rd, the Schooner Maggie B was at 34° 57S, 54° 43W, about 12 NM out of Punte del Este, making 8.5 knots motorsailing more or less due East. We are only about 20 NM from the end of the Rio de la Plata estuary, when we will head NE for Florianopolis, Brazil. We have come 202 NM from Buenos Aires, Florianopolis is 539 NM and Antigua is 3131 NM.

The weather is overcast with rain showers marching past (and over) us. Right now the wind is light from the South, but we expect it to pick up to 15-20 from the SW as we get further along. We are all hoping for a nice sail. There is a big Southerly swell. We have about 1 1/2 knots of current with us, which is probably partially tide and partially a swirl of the usually SW bound (unfavorable Brazilian current. As we go northeast to Florianopolis, we will do our best to play the current, staying inshore enough to avoid the main current and perhaps catch a bit of a counter current, without getting tangled up in drilling platforms, inshore fisheries or other complications.

Punte del Este was a first for the Maggie B. It was the first time we have been solicited for a bribe by an official for doing his job. The Immigration Official claimed that we didn’t have the proper papers with our passports. We explained that when we checked in at Colonia the Immigration person didn’t issue them to us and said we didn’t need them. Oh, no says our man, it is a about US$100 fine for trying to check out without the proper paperwork. We said that we did everything that they told us. Well, says he, there might not be a fine, but he would have to check with Montevideo, which might take a few days. But if we paid the fine, he could clear us immediately. I said we would have to have a receipt. Oh, no says he, to give a receipt, he would have to check with Montevideo, which….would take a few days. And tomorrow his colleague was on duty and she was much tougher than he. I say - no receipt, no money. We go back and forth (this is all being translated by Thomas). Finally, when Thomas says I’m sorry but the Captain insists, he gives us our stamped passports (he had been waving them in his hand) and says get out of here. I shake his hand, which he almost refuses. He was wearing several gold chains around his neck and was obviously disgusted with us that we didn’t help add to his collection.

All is well.

Med moor in Punte del Este
Friday 02.01.2008

The Maggie B is tied up “Med moor” in Punte del Este, right next to the Prefectura Crash boat, which seems to have a nice, helpful crew. We are at 34° 58S, 54° 57W. We motored from Piriapolis in a 10-15 knot headwind.

Punte del Este is quite different. Lots of motorboats in the 40-60 foot range. Not seeing any Superyachts, but that is OK. They are probably already north for Carnival or the Caribbean. It is a well-protected harbor with perhaps 1000 boats tied up or at anchor. Ashore there is a mix of some lovely old buildings and then the super flashy condos and hotels. Most of the boats seem to be Argentinean.

We had a reception last night on the Maggie B, as we often do in harbors with a nice crowd of yachties. This was the first time we had done it when hauled out. I was concerned later in the evening that we might lose a guest overboard. Hard if it is concrete 15 feet down instead of water three feet away. Aboard were four French, one Irish, one Scandinavian, two Canadians, one Uruguayan, the crew of the Maggie B and probably some others.

I got the prices wrong in an earlier letter when I said it was US$25 to get hauled. We misunderstood. That was the Prefectura fee to allow us to get hauled. It turned out to be US$120 to get pulled out and the same to get dropped back in. Still a deal. More surprising, it was US$32 a day to be afloat in the marina, but only US$8 to sit out on the hard.

The Maggie B now has two coats of lovely expensive bottom paint that will make us fast the way home, as well as poisoning every barnacle within 100 feet.

Essentially everything on the Maggie B seems in top shape for this last leg, with the exception of the Onan generator. We are waiting for a new fuel pump to be shipped from Canada, which we hope will solve our problem. It is due here “any day.” We hope that our new connections with Uruguayan Customs will make it easier than the last package.

All is well.