Buenos Aires to Plymouth Massachusetts, Part 2

Buenos Aires to Angra

Here we go!

 Memo met us at our boat at 5:30am to depart the Argentina Yacht Club. We had undergone a $900 oil change thanks to the Volvo Dealer Buenos Aires in order to maintain our warrantee. One that the owner's manual does not mention. If you have any questions about that one email me for an ear full. Anyway minutes after that oil change that included a generator oil change, the impeller on the gen set ripped up and we had to change that out before leaving the next day. The impeller blades were swallowed by the heat exchanger so we had to take it all apart to retrieve all the blades. Needless to say we were a bit tired, but still very excited to be on our way. We headed for Montevideo, Uruguay where our water maker parts had been shipped by Sea Recovery.

Sunrise leaving Buenos Aires

We were able to sail much of our first day, but the wind died by afternoon so we had to motor. The wind came back at sunset and we sailed the rest of the way with main, screecher and genoa.  Memo made an effort to get our current water maker to work, but it was no use, so into Montevideo we went. We reached Montevideo late in the evening the first night and motored into the marina the next morning. Memo did the surgery and I was the first assist. Within a few hours we had an operational water maker. Maite and I had the opportunity to go ashore and walk around the city and shop. Montevideo is a modern city not too different in many ways to Buenos Aires although much smaller.

Calypso in Punta del Este Marina waiting out the bad weather
and closed harbor.

Our next stop was Punta del Este to wait for a weather wind and pick up a bit of fuel. Memo also had a good friend he wanted to catch up with and so he did the first night in the marina. I awoke about 2am to the two of them sweating our bow line and Memo jumping over and hanging on to our bow sprit. Welcome home!?

We arrived at night and anchored across the bay off an large uninhabited island Isla Gobritti. The town sits in a bay facing south with a breakwater to the east and the island to the south which creates a beautiful picturesque water front. Memo had a good sailing friend (Santiago Martinez) he had known for years that took us for a tour of the town after we had gone to immigration and customs. The marinas were not so beautiful but the outdoor restaurants were very nice. The next morning we cleared out of Uruguayan Customs but the harbor had been closed by the Uruguayan Prefectura due to bad weather and we were unable to leave until nearly midnight. 

We then took up our trip in earnest. Around the corner and north we went. Very little wind so we mostly motored. For the first time we noticed that the freezer was turning on and off and heating up during passage. We had some rainy weather, and we had our first run in with a school of dolphins. All told there were four separate occasions when large schools of dolphin came to play in our wake between Buenos Aires and Tortola. There is no doubt in my mind they could see us looking down at them, as they would feed off the pressure waves created by the hulls, then turn sideways and look up at us. There were usually four or five in front of each hull and they would take turns jumping from hull to hull. Each time the dolphin party would last about 5-7 minutes before they got bored with us and went on their way. 24 hours later we passed from Uruguay into Brazilian waters. 

A Tuna! I am not too comfortable with this yet
but I'm still doing better than the tuna!

I think I've got something!

We caught two medium size tunas which made for fine eating. Luckily, my brother and given me a book that explained everything you needed to know about catching fish while cruising. Unluckily, I had not read the preparation chapter until after we caught the first one. Knowing what to do with your catch is as important as catching it. We watched the video of Neil Sullivan's talk given at the Antares University in Newport News Virginia several times before putting our hooks in the water which was a great help. Rum for the gills, check, headache stick, check. What I didn't know was how to dress the fish. It turned out to be very important to pith the fish and bleed it before its heart stops if at all possible. This required a quick severing of the spinal cord at the base of the head, and several quick cuts of the carotid arteries and arteries behind the gills, then secure a line through the fishes gills through the mouth and throw it back in the water to bleed out. Didn't do this with the first tuna, and it was reddish and fishy tasting. With the second catch we did better and the flavor was awesome. Grilled fillets, fresh with a bit of garlic, lemon and butter. Whoa!

Isla de Campeche

Maite and I taking a dip at Isla de Campeche

We stopped briefly east of Florinopolis behind a small island called Isla de Campeche to allow the wind to shift then on we motored. The beach was apparently a real hang out for Brazilians from Florinopolis. The water was a beautiful deep green and clear compared to the muddy Rio Plata and awesomely warm. This was getting pretty incredible!

The last 18 hours or so we were able to turn east and sail into Angra. Again we reached Angra at night and motored in, anchored north of Angra near a small island, then on to Pirates Mall Marina the next morning. Angra is a beautiful place with scores of places to explore. I would not stay at the Pirates Mall Marina however. The slip fees were higher than even Manhattan and New England, and the water was very polluted and full of trash. Many of the other cruisers had far better experiences. The days we spent exploring and hiking in the area were fantastic and we will share these in the next episode !

Maite and Memo at the Pirates Mall Marina

A final story while clearing customs in Angra. We had read in several of the cruising guides that one must be respectful and wear long pants and a nice shirt when visiting Brazilian Immigration. Memo insisted that was ridiculous and out of date. The office opened at 8am but the immigration officer did not swagger in until 10:30am. I really do not speak Spanish well so I paid a great deal of 

attention to body language while I was in South America. I could tell right away this guy had an attitude. Once he was settled, before anything else, he told Memo to leave the office and stay off premises until he was properly attired. Uttering expletives in Spanish and something about pantalones Memo stalked off. He returned a half hour later sporting a "very niczzz" pair of Brazilian skinny jeans. No photos were allowed. Memo do you still have those jeans? 

Calypso in Angra dos Reis. Smooth and beautiful!

Seriously we need to say a formal thank you to Memo for sailing with us to Angra, for fixing our water maker, for sharing his love of sailing, for dealing with our inexperience, our sea sickness and our endless questions, and mostly for making Maite and me comfortable the first days at sea on our new home. Thanks also to Carolina for letting him go.