Location: 3° 06N, 41° 43W
Monday 03.31.2008

At Noon on the last day of March, the Schooner Maggie B was at 3° 06N, 41° 43W. We were making 9.6 knots (including one knot of favorable current) in 14 knots of wind on our beam. It is still overcast with occasional rain showers and up to 28 knots of breeze in the showers.

We have come 1386 NM from Salvador and have 1442 to go to Antigua. What is strange for me is that this is the first time that we have been going West in the last two years.

We have reefed the main down to the first reef, which doesn’t slow us , but makes her a bit better balanced in the stronger winds. One of the many advantages of a loose-footed gaff rig is that a reefed sail can still be adjusted into perfect shape. “Jiffy reefing” systems on Bermuda rigs often leave ugly-shaped reefed sails.

We seem to be in a Flying Fish nursery. We have been seeing Flying Fish regularly since Fernando de Noronha, but largish ones, up to a foot long, and mostly solo. Here we see whole schools (coveys?) get up – perhaps 20 fish at a time – but they are all only 5-6 inches long.

A few days ago I incorrectly called the Inner Tropical Convergence Zone the “Horse Latitudes.” I should have said “Doldrums.” Bill Wickett wrote with the clear clarification:

“…the Horse Latitudes are generally acknowledged to be at 30N and 30S. (+/-). This is where some the air flow lifting from the equator, (and creating the low pressure in the ITCZ,) returns to the surface. This is an area of higher pressure, and low wind speeds. This circulation is known as a Hadley cell. The northern part of this loop is where the [Northeast] trades originate from and they flow back towards the equator.”

The reason why the Trades are Northeast between the Equator and 30N, rather than straight North, is the rotation of the earth, or the Coriolis effect. For the same reason, they are Southeast between the Equator and 30S. Think toilet flushing in the Northern or Southern hemisphere.

At this speed we will be in the Caribbean in a week.

All is well.

Location: 1° 15N, 39 13W
Sunday, 03.30.2008

The Schooner Maggie B was at 1° 15N, 39° 13W at noon on 30 March. It continues to be ITCZ weather – regular rain showers with a little wind, then a wind hole, then another rain shower. We are getting good at sealing the boat up in a hurry and then opening up afterwards. One choice for the Watch is to decide on foulies or a shower. Most take a shower.

We have come 1199 NM from Salvador and have 1609 to go to Antigua. We are still being promised a decent NE Trade “tomorrow.”

The visit of King Neptune and Queen Iemanja was climatic. They arrived at about sundown between rain squalls. Fearsome! The pollywogs, Thomas and Curtis were roused up from the hold and immediately forced to walk the plank, encouraged in by sword and trident. Frank and Hannah had thoughtfully supplied their shipmates with a line to hang onto as they were dragged across The Line. They were eventually allowed out of the water only after buckets of mouldy seaweed were thrown on them, as well as startling imprecations. In the process, they were lashed by a poisonous jellyfish which left them suitably stung and marked (really!). They then had their bellies shaved by a rusty razor, forced to eat a Shellback Pill (which was like a marshmallow Peep covered in Vegemite, but worse), kissed Neputune’s disgusting green-slimed belly, and were tested and accepted as Shellbacks. They were then given Shellback Names, Thomas as Moses, which is traditional for the youngest, and Curtis as Albatross. Neptune and Iemanja departed to their realms in peace as the next rain squall closed in.

It is strange to be back in “The Pond,” though we have a ways to go. We now have our Danforth Northern Hemisphere steering compass back in place, and the Southern Hemisphere Plath stowed away for next time. The Danforth has a lot of brass, which will probably take the whole way to Antigua to get shiny again.

All is well.

Location: 0° 22S, 36° 52W
Saturday, 03.29.2008

At Noon on March 29th we were at 0° 22S, 36° 52W We have come 1025 NM from Salvador and have 1810 NM to go to Antigua. We are just a few miles short of the Equator, which we expect to cross at about sunset today.

It is typical ITCZ weather: rainy and no wind. Thomas maximized his 9 AM to Noon watch by taking a shower on deck in moderate rain. Can’t get cleaner!. Our GRIB files and Commanders, our weather router, say that we should get into steady NE trades tomorrow. We are ready for it!

The Shellbacks on board, Frank and Hannah, are feverishly preparing for the visit of King Neptune, Iemanja, and their courts. The pollywogs are hoping to be Passed without too many complications. Little do they know….

Long Blue Water passages ar great for reading and the Maggie B’s library is rich and eclectic. I have been recently through: Jorge Amado’s “Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon;” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows;” Carl Hiaasen’s “Stormy Weather;” and now started on Fagles’s translation of Virgil’s “Aeneid.” Thomas has just started “1421;” Curtis is reading Helprin’s short story collection, “The Pacific;” and Hannah is reading “Thirteen Moons” by Charles Frazier.

All is well.

Location: 2° 09S, 34° 34W
Friday, 03.28.2008

At noon on March 28th, the Schooner Maggie B was at 2° 09S, 34° 34W. The wind is calm, there are only gentle, long rollers and the sky partially cloudy with small cumulus. The barometer is steady at 1003. We have come 850 NM from Salvador and have 1974 NM to go to Antigua.

It is easy to see how, in the old days, men must have gone crazy when they were caught in these calms. This area, the Inner Tropical Convergence Zone, ITCZ, was known as the Horse Latitudes. Some books say that the expression refers to when ships got caught here and ran short on supplies and threw their horses overboard to save drinking water. We think that this is ridiculous. Why would any sailor waste fresh horse meat, given their usual rations. A much more likely explanation is that this was the area by when sailors from Europe had worked off their advance pay. That point was called “finishing the dead horse,” and sometimes was attended with a ritual which included throwing over a horse effigy.

We are used to having porpoise, dolphin and pilot whales play in our bow wave. Today Thomas spotted a small school (10-20 fish) of young tuna working our bow in the clear, calm water. Each was about two feet long and had a bright green/yellow iridescent spot just at the top base of the tail. The side and top fins were yellow. They stuck with us for at least an hour. We guess that they were chasing the smaller fish that we push up, like flying fish, but perhaps they were just hanging out.

We are doing our laundry “Blue Water” style – salt water soaping and three salt water rinses, then a final, long, fresh water rinse. We are also starting on varnishing and oiling the deck. All to make us presentable in Antigua!

We should “Cross the Line” at about noon tomorrow, and be in the Caribbean around April 9th. The weather forecast is promising us some good sailing once we are north of 2-4 degrees north.

All is well.

12 Days to Antigua
Thursday, 03.27.2008

The Schooner Maggie B hoisted anchor, set sail and headed for the Caribbean at 1250 on March 27th. We have about 2143 NM to go to Antigua, which should take us about 12 days. The sky is mostly clear with occasional rain showers about. The wind is 5-7 knots from the Southeast. There is a gentle remaining swell from the Northeast. We are motorsailing at our “efficiency cruise” rpm, for max range.

With a few Reep trips, we added 280 liters of diesel to our tanks, which should give us plenty of steaming range. We should hit the NE Trades in a few days as we pass north of about 2degN. In the Caribbean, we will probably land first at Martinique, to clear in with the French before heading to Isle des Saintes, to see if it really is as pretty as Fernendo de Noronha. Certainly, F de N, Isle des Saintes and Bora Bora are all in very much the same category, right up there with La Digue in the Seychelles.

We all quite fell in love with F de N. We rented a buggy, which is a Volkswagen chassis with two bucket seats under a small roof, and two raised seats in back which are unprotected in the open air. We called ours “June Bug.” It was the perfect way to explore the island. The main road along the island is paved, Brazil route #304, all five miles of it. The way to the dozen beaches are all dirt tracks of greater or lesser disrepair. Pretty much every beach has its own little bar/restaurant, ready with an icy cold bottle of beer for fluid replacement therapy.

One one side of the island the beaches had lovely surf, on the other – great snorkeling. After our boat jobs, we would share the rest of the day between the two sides. One marvelous beach on the quiet side was full of sea turtle nests, all carefully staked out and managed by Project TAMAR, a Brazilian sea turtle rescue, recovery and education group. Even this late in the season, we were thrilled to see fresh track of mother turtles making their way up the beach to lay their eggs. The beaches are closed to the public from 6 PM to dawn to allow Tamar to follow, research, record and assist the hatchlings. They say that they assist 600,000 hatchlings a year.

The island is nicely understated. Only 500 visitors are allowed in a day. It costs about US$30 per person per day in fees to visit. For all of us, with boat charges but after discounts, it was about US$100 per day. We were happy to pay it, especially when we were assured that all the money stays on the island and isn’t shipped to Brasilia to disappear in the budget.

There are no serious hotels on the island, almost all the places to stay are small posadas, mostly peoples houses with a few rooms for rent. There are scattered good restaurants and bars. Our favorite was the Shark Museum, which had a lovely view, great caiparinas, and served delicious shark cake appetizers.

All is well.

Location 3° 50S, 32° 24W
Sunday, 03.23.2008

The Schooner Maggie B is safely anchored off of Fernando de Noronha at 3° 50S, 32° 24W. It is March 23nd, Easter Sunday. The prevailing wind here is from the SE and we are tucked in a broad cove with another 70-80 working boats on the NW corner. Most of the island is a Marine Park and we are anchored in the only legal area. The breeze is light and the skies mostly clear.

The sail here last night was as nice as any of the whole trip. We were doing six knots in a 10-12 knot close reach with a full moon out and little wave chop with long swells and mostly clear skies. It all would be perfect except for a gale about 3000 NM away, off the coast of Newfoundland. It has sent a reminder of “home” in the form of 7-8 meter swells. The effect is enormous. There is a very hefty 20 foot high breakwater sheltering a small boat harbor. The waves are breaking over the top and full across the entrance. Trying the passage in the Reep or any other boat would be death. The Maritime Police have closed the port. Some moored fishing boats closer in regularly do the “Perfect Storm” kind of wave riding. “Tomorrow maybe better.”

The surf hitting the shore is spectacular. We have seen a few surfers outside. No one has taken a second ride. We are relatively comfortable outside the surf line, in 50 feet of water with 200 feet of chain out. Just after we set the anchor, one of the swells jumped us and tore the pawl off the capstan. One more thing to fix when we get back to Nova Scotia.

We are going to hang out here off the harbor until tomorrow, and hope to get ashore then, probably in a high speed “water taxi” with a local with his local knowledge. We are swimming around the boat, which is delicious, though the seas have stirred up the water and we don’t have the 30-40 meter visibility often seen here. If the harbor stays closed, we are off for the Caribbean, which is about 2135 NM or two weeks. We will be in Antigua April 12th for Registration in any case.

Happy Easter.

All is well.

Location: 08° 41S, 34° 46W
Friday, 03.21.2008

The Schooner Maggie B was at 8° 41S, 34° 46W at noon on March 21st. We have come 357 NM from Salvador and have 318 to go to Fernando de Noronha. Antigua is 2217 NM away. We are motor sailing in a light sou’easterly. The skies are mostly clear with scattered rain showers all around in the distance.

We have been catching a series of little tuna. About the size of a big trout. Each enough for a nice lunch for two. They go from the hook to be “introduced to the fire” with a little garlic, butter and lime juice — all within ten minutes! Delicious! We think that perhaps we have a school of juvenile tuna following us for the flying fish and whatever that our passage kicks up. The predators become the prey.

One of the high points of our visit to Salvador was when Thomas and I went to see the Bale Folclorico da Bahia. It was a marvelous intimate evening watching world-class dancers interpreting the folklore and popular dances of Brazil. One big part was dances of the Candomble, an African religion with a touch of Catholic window-dressing. In a dance representing the pantheon of their Gods (who seemed rather Greek), Iansa, Goddess of Winds and Storms, had a double “wardrobe malfunction.” We remained properly respectful lest she send us a storm.

There was also a “Fisherman’s Dance” which is still seen on the beaches of Bahia, in which Iemanja, Goddess of the Sea, is greeted by fishermen and their wives, who ask for protection and good catches. Iemanja has been added to those we toast when we set out, including grey-eyed Athena and Poseidon. Perhaps Iemanja brought us these lovely little tuna?

Finally at the Bale Folclorico was an extended set of Capoeira. It is a fighting dance brought to Bahia by Angolian slaves. Visitors to Bahia will see Capoeira everywhere in market places and plazas, though none I have seen come close to the flashing brilliance we watched at the Bale Folclorico.
Alert watchers of the numbers in the first line will note that we are almost out of the Southern Hemisphere for the North Atlantic. Soon after we leave Fernando de Noronha, we will cross the equator northbound. One minor ritual will be switching our steering compass to the northern hemisphere one. A major ritual will be the two Shellbacks on board (Frank and Hannah) introducing the two pollywogs (Curtis and Thomas) to King Neptune and His Court, and suitably initiating them to the Mysteries of the Equator.

All is well.

Location: 10° 57S, 36° 30W
Thursday, 03.20.2008

The Schooner Maggie B was at 10° 57S, 36° 30W at noon on March 20th. We were under full sail, making 8.2 knots for Fernando de Noronha. We have come 183 NM in 23 hours from Salvador and have 487 to go to F de N. Antigua is 2243 NM away. We have a nice 15-25 SE’erly that lets us just make rhumb line for F de N as we slip along about 20 NM off the Brazilian coast. It seems to us as if it has been a long, long time since we had a full day’s sail under a fair wind.

The weather is somewhat overcast with occasional rain showers marching past, messing with our wind. We should continue to have a more or less favorable wind to F de N, possibly dying out tonight.

All systems are working well, with almost nothing for the crew to do other than getting everything back in place after an extended shore period.
Back on the subject of how much we had to motor from Puerto Montt, Chile to Salvador: From Halifax to Puerto Montt was 28,833 NM. We used the engine 1527 hours (includes some before we left Nova Scotia). That is, we traveled 18.9 miles for each hour the engine was run (12 miles sailed, 6.9 miles powered?). From Puerto Montt to Salvador is 4977 NM and we used the engine 615 hours, or 8.1 miles traveled for each engine hour (6.9 miles powered, 1.1 miles sailed?). We hope to sail much of the rest of the way home.

We were saddened to hear today of the death of Capt Svend Friis Hansen, skipper The Eye Of The Wind, the tall ship which was home to Hannah and Thomas at one time. I am sure we will see him again as an albatross in our wake.

All is well.

En route to Fernando de Noronha
Wednesday, 03.19.2008

At 1300 today, the Schooner Maggie B cast off from the fuel dock in Salvador. We are headed first to Fernando de Noronha, which is 664 NM and then on to Antigua, which is 2295. Finally, we have a decent breeze and should be sailing. We really haven’t had a good, long sail since before Buenos Aires.

When we start out on long legs I usually read a poem or quote to set our minds to the task ahead. Today I read “The Sea Gypsy” by Richard Hovey:

I am fevered with the sunset,
I am fretful with the bay,
For the wonder-thirst is on me
And my soul is in Cathay.

There’s a schooner in the offing
With her topsails shot with fire
And my heart has gone aboard her
For the Islands of Desire’

I must forth again to-morrow!
With the sunset I must be
Hull down on the trail of rapture
In the wonder of the sea.

Right now the Maggie B and her systems are in great shape. The long-standing problem with the genset appears to have been a fuel clog in the switch panel, which Marcello’s boys found. The autopilot is now working and its problem seems to have been the electric motor in the hydraulic steering pump, which just needed to be disassembled and cleaned. The Yanmar main engine was not charging after our trip to Itaparica, and that turned out to be a blown 200 amp fuse, which apparently blew because the electric capstan was somewhat abused when we pulled the anchor up after it was well set in deep mud.

The amazing story here is not how tricky we were in fixing all these problems, it is how much great support we were able to get. Marcello at Centro Nautico is a wizard who also has lots of practical experience and can sniff out solutions like a police dog going after doughnuts. More amazing, though, is how well we were able to tap into expertise around the planet. Only a phone call away was the technical support at the alternator regulator company, the hydraulic steering manufacturer, Furuno USA, and, always, John Steele at Covey Island. I am not a plumbing/hydraulic/electrical/diesel whiz. I am a patient plodder who keeps all the technical manuals handy and doesn’t hesitate to call for advice. It is often very cool to work with a skilled diagnostician who is sitting at their desk 10,000 miles away.

One lovely thing happened last night in the Centro Nautico. Just opposite us was a newly arrived French boat with a husband and wife and three girls on board. The girls were about 11, 9 and 4. Polite and nautical. I lent them our copy of the Maggie B book to have read to them at bedtime. It was a great success and I was very flattered that this morning the two older girls brought back the Maggie B book and then lent me THEIR favorite two books for me to read. It was charming. I told them that if they worked hard and learned all the nautical skills, they could come and crew on the Maggie B when they got big.

We are full of water, food and diesel. We have a fair wind, a strong, fast boat and good experienced crew. We will be in Antigua on April 12th for Antigua Classic registration, and we’ll do our best to have fun getting there.

All is well.

Location: 12° 53S, 38° 41W
Sunday, 03.16.08

The Maggie B is anchored in the well-protected bay at Ilha de Itaparica, at 12° 53S, 38° 41W. Thomas and I took Maggie B here yesterday from Salvador via a lap part way around the beautiful Baia de Todos Santos. Hannah and Curtis have gone inland to hike in the Parque Nacional da Chapada Diamantia.

On our way to Ilha de Itaparica, we motored past the Ilha dos Frades, named for two monks who were killed and cannibalized by local indians. The island brought to mind the terrible joke when two cannibals are talking after a feast. Both have bad indigestion. One asks the other, the cook, how the missionaries were prepared. “Boiled,” he replies. “You idiot!” the other says, “They were fryers [friars]!” OK, not too great a joke, but we’ve been at sea for almost two years.

One marvelous thing about Salvador and Itaparica is that there are lots of traveling boats. Walking down the pier at Centro Nautico do Bahia is like a maritime United Nations: lots of French, Dutch, German, Argentinean, Belgian, Swiss(!). Even an American. Most days there is at least one boat with the yellow “Q” (request clearance from abroad) flag flying. And the boats are very salty and sea-tested. Here in Itaparica, we are anchored with Segue of Felixstowe, Speedwell of Hong Kong, Nanoq of Sweden, Helisara of Douglas, and a very hot trimaran called Menisco Roto whose stern is too small to list a home port.

A “traveling boat” stands out in any harbor. It isn’t, necessarily, beat up or loaded with gear. But it somehow has the air of being burnished by sun, salt, wind and long passages. Often there are a few dings. Solar panels and wind generators are generally present. Self-steering gear on smaller boats. Jerry cans of extra diesel or water lashed on deck are a pretty good clue. But the essence is more subtle: gear is stowed just right – handy but secure. It is perhaps like the vision of a mounted cavalryman of the 19th Century – lots of gear and buttons and some flash, but you know that everything would still be exactly in place and ready-to-hand after a 20 mile gallop.

Trying to be ready for things that hopefully will never happen, we regularly renew our emergency water, which is stored next to our life raft and “go bag.” Today the water was filled in the famous Fonte da Bica, a mineral water fountain first tapped in 1842. It supposed has all sorts of medicinal and restorative powers. Just what you would want in a life boat!

The weather seems to be changing. For the last week it has been clear, very humid and hot. Today there have been huge thunderstorms marching through every few hours, with some serious wind and rain in Biblical proportions. I hope that it will bring in a nice SW’erly to blow us up the coast!

All is well.