Leg4 – Salvador to Rio de Janeiro

When we headed out at the 22nd of November we were in good spirits and particularly happy to be sailing again. And we had fair winds, blowing at about 16kn, just fine for sailing.
Unfortunately we did not make the best of them, sailing out as far as possible as straight as possible. The original plan was to sail out 50 miles before the coast, since the weather files had indicated that the wind would be weak just before the coast. And since we sailed at a steep angle only getting us away from the coast very slowly we got to figure out that this forecast was true first hand. At first we were still making some progress, achieving etmals of around 70 miles. We learned to our excitement that good old Maverick managed to squeeze out 2kn of speed out of 4kn of wind in calm waters. And in some ways it was also nice and relaxing. An uneventful nightwatch with air temperature of 27°C and hardly any wind to chill you can be a treat. I set outside, facing astern looking at the silver trace the moonlight left on the calm sea right behind Maverick. Just as well that the sailing was easy, my cold had turned really nasty and together with the antibiotics I had to take it knocked me well out most of the day. But then, there was nothing to do anyway.
On day five, however we hit the core of the low pressure system as forecast which gave us three days of basically no progress. We did only between 20 and 37 miles per day in the days to come, giving us a chance for another swim around the boat. Since our engine was a water guzzler we did not have the option to motor through the calm but just had to wait and make the best of the little wind we had.
After that we were hit by the southern wind clearing out behind the low, but our course gave us 70° on the wind to sail which is way within comfort limits. However, sailing against a wind of up to 30kn gave us the most spectacular sailing we had so far with some of the waves washing up to the wheelhouse. And down our dorade vents which we had pointing forward for cooling. A bad idea in strong weather, it turned out.
Going on watch reminded me of our times in the English channel. We were wearing all our foul wather gear, and this time got soaked properly. The wheelhouse did not help as much as it could have in more stable winds. With the wind strength and also direction constantly changing we were practically forced to stay at the tiller to make adjustments.
The waether kept being interesting. We turned west towards Rio and ended up having winds up to 30kn in the back and broke all our standing records. The boat speed peaked at 10,4kn, which I had thought is absolutely impossible, and for more than two hours the boat speed averaged at 7,5kn. We also figured it makes a great difference when the water tanks are approaching empty.
The other interesting part was to avoid the drilling platforms near Cabo Frio. We had bought our charts just before departure, but non the less the area marked for drilling platforms was not up to date. So despite the fact that we intended to keep well clear going around on the outside, rather than through the 30 mile stretch towards the coast, we ended up sailing right between platforms. Just doesn´t feel good if you thunder along in a 30kn wind, not being sure whether you will be clear off the platform ahead of you. In the end it was no trouble at all, but sure kept us well alert for some time.
After a last night with flapping sails and a wind that finally disappeared completely we opted for the engine and finally arrived in the bay of Rio, in the nice Marina “Caritas” in Niteroi.
This trip goes in the books as our slowest ever. For the 780nm we sailed 260 hours, resulting in an average speed of only 3kn. Surely the most challenging sailing we had done so far, and we certainly had never had to change sail position as frequently as on this trip.
But now we are enjoying the creature comforts of a well run Club, and the memories of the inconveniances of the trip are allready fading away.

So long!
Andreas