We take our quarters for the winter in Piriapolis, it’s quiet here and we have all we need, the harbor is well protected, we will be able to take some rest and prepare our following trip. We can already smell the Great South here. Many boats come from Antarctica, or are going to and Patagonia is nearly a place for wandering for Argentinians or other sailors. Spanish and italian cultures mix, complete and it’s hard to make the choice between the fabric of raviolis and fresh pastas , the asado or the paella. Everybody wander with his mate, old and youg ones, a thermos of hot water under the arm, the”calabaza” in hand.

Autumn is here, winter is coming. First big storm, first fire in the stove, polar suits are out and the animals down the quilt.

And so, we left Brazil. With regret, as 2 months are realy too short, but we must be in Uruguay in time to try to escape the bad weather. We would want to stay a year in this country , so wide and varied. and I could master portugues before going back to spanish. With the foreign policy of our dear country this will not occur soon….We escaped from Rio and his carnival and prefered the calm of Ilha Grande. Here, in spite of herds of tourists we are quietly at anchor, take the water and the shower on the beach, directly from the montain water. The decibels come from the birds at sunrise, when it’s not from monkeys who express their anger when disturbed. A few miles away it’s Paraty, top site of tourism, artists and millionnaires who replaced the slaves, them too arriving by full ships…The town is really nice, invaded by sea at each big tide, we loved it and thrive of the last coconuts. Rio Grande do Sul, our last brazilian call, hiden at the end of a long channel. Another Brazil, you could think you are in Europe, we reenconter green grass, the air is cooler. Real gauchos wander in town, proud of their suits, horses are the kings.  the fishermen stay at dock, they fished all, there is not much less, here as everywhere….The Oceanografic Museum take care of some lost Magellan penguins and the old sea lion do lengths in his pool. At sea our first black browed albatross, then arctic terns who came back for the South pole to nest in the Arctic, our first pampero entering Uruguay, no doubt, autumn is here, it’s time to stop. Here in Piriapolis we will be well, after one year  of sailing, 8862 miles since Paimpol. I reinstall the stove chimney, we set out polar suit, we renew with “movie” evenings and the cat goes back under the kilt.

Midway of Salvador and Ilha Grande, lost at sea, a small archipelago of five islands : the Abrolhos. natural reserve, military area, it’s forbiden to land without permit, except in one of the islands … 8 families, militaries, live here for 2 years, for one time only, you can imagine why. Humpback whales come here to give birth and feed their calves (  at the right season), turtles lay at full moon, masked bobies, brown bobies, frigatebirds, tropic birds, terns nest. For divers it’s coral and all its marvels. We were welcomed by militaries, invited to land, we walked with Dick in the reserve….and we had to escape to the caïpirinha before going back to the boat…We would not complain staying in this paradise.

Dificult Brazil. Here all is big, all is far, buildings border the shores, we didn’t had understood that we were entering a very big country, heavily populated, at the same time modern and archaic. Pick-up meet horses, donkeys and mules, the mangrove front tourists hotels, the most sordid poverty insolent richness. Here in Salvador de Bahia the beach of the “cracked” face luxurious houses, bunkers guarded day and night. We eat in the streets or in cheap restaurants, mondanities are not for us. Music, never mean in decibels, fill our nights, we have not to go to concerts, we can enjoy it in our bunks !

Quite  near of Salvador the Itaparica anchorage is more quiet and by going up the rio Paraguaçu the Maragojipe market in worth the detour. Poverty is still here but without the violence of the big cities. Peasants come to the market on horses and we load us of so much friuts and vegies that we must take the services of a taxi (a wheelbarrow) to come back on board. There is still some saveiros, dugouts who stay the best mean of transportation to cross the rio.

Bahia Marina, “ultra chic” but very efficient, welcome us to clean our poor Skøiern, she was more of in need and we wonder how she could still move with all what was stuck to the hull. The tropical and ecologic antifouling is still to be discovered ! In spite that we can’t no more hear RFI radio, which we are really longing for, we have some news of our country, we know that we have 40°c of temperature more than you….we know that the election times are at top. As for the news, here it’s more funny : the army has taken the place of the policemen, in strike, in the streets, it’s true that the population took the advantage to loot shops, jewelries, banks…To morrow we sail for Ilha Grande, west of Rio that we will skip as the Carnival is coming.