Anchored Off Itaparica

We’ve been anchored off the town of Itaparica, on the island of Itaparica across the Bay (Bahia de Todos os Santos) from the City of Salvador. The beaches on the island can be very crowded with tourist from Salvador but the  small bay where we are anchored is away from the crowds and very pleasant. There are several cruising boats here and we’ve enjoyed meeting cruisers, all from Europe. Most of them have been cruising Brazil for several years.

It’s been nice getting out of the big city and enjoying the more rural life. Unfortunately we must continue moving south and will go to Salvador on Monday to check-out and head for Camamu, a pleasant river about 60 miles south that we can get into and anchor. I will try and send photos and more detailed stories next opportunity I get but that might not be until we reach Vitoria in about 10 days.

Arrive In Salvador With Gale Storm Winds

Arrived Salvador, Brazil yesterday afternoon in gale storm winds. We had been motoring through the night when the winds began to pick up out of the SSW (on our bow) at about 20k. At about 10:30 am the winds picked up to 35K with gusts over 40K. We thought it was just a squall but after two hours figured it was more. Having a 90 hp engine helps in that kind of situation. We pounded into the wind as we approached the entrance to Bahia Todos Santos and the deeper channel in the middle. Finally we were able to turn down wind and enter the bay. By the time we had finally reached the large ship harbor the winds has begun to abate. We safely anchored among a few other cruisers in the harbor and cleaned up the mess below.

Got through all the entry formalities this morning and will try and enjoy some of the big city. We plan on going across the bay to Itaparica, located in a smaller bay to the south and a nice place to hang for a week. Next weekend there is a street car race in Salvador that Mark would like to see. We can take the ferry over for the day.

More later Nancy