Brazil - Recife, Brasilia, Forteleza

We sailed north along the coast of Brazil, stopping in Recife & Forteleza (both very BIG cities).  We were fortunate to have connnections with people in both places who kindly entertained us and showed us their cities.

We left the boat in Recife for a week, and flew to Brasilia for a land trip. Click here to view a web album of our land trip (in higher and cooler areas of Brazil, which was nice) Land trip in Brazil

Look. NO HANDS!

Our autopilot is fixed.

After some hard work by Rob, and a quick trip to Boston by Natalie to pick up parts, we can take our hands off the wheel again.
We are ready to head offshore - We will sail north and update the blog next time we find the internet.

(Thanks to Nils on Kairos for great photos of Wilhelm underway.)

Taking a local ferry to Valencia

We left Wilhelm at anchor in Cairu, and took a local ferry up the Rio Una to Valencia, the largest city in the region, where we bought fruit and vegetables at the Saturday market. The bottom photo shows Rob getting back on the ferry with our purchases.

Cairu, Brazil

Cairu is one of the oldest cities in Brazil.  We visited a Franciscan convent (for males), first built in 1500's when the Portuguese sent settlers to this area of Brazil. Thousands of handpainted tiles were shipped from Portugal in the 1700's. Our local guide and companion, Flavio, joined us for lunch and then invited us to his drum practice where we listened to the distinctive rhythms of Brazil.

Sailing in the Archipelago de Tinhare, South of Salvador, Brazil

One of the first areas of Brazil settled by the Portuguese in the 1500's. Towns are built on islands with few or no cars, narrow streets, and bright colored houses. Boats carry people and  supplies from one to another.

We are in Brazil.

Click here to see Wihelm's Route across the South Atlantic.   (Please give the map a few moments to come up on the screen, and the waypoints a few more minutes to show on the map, and zoom in for details of where we are now as well as St Helena, our only stop along the way.)

We are at anchor in Salvador, behind an old Portuguese fort.
We arrived on the first day of Carnaval.  The city shuts down and people dance in the streets for 5 days.  Here are some examples. 

Click the following link to see more  Carnaval photos