Lat N 36 42 / W 002 48

Arrived.
Now we are in Puerto Deportivo Almerimar. A soulless place on the Costa del Sol. We've been treated well and here is space. When we got in last night, we got help with the mooring. It was the last gale we will be sailing in for a while and it tore in properly when we rounded the piers. This morning, we have cleared up, arranged to get lifted out of the water on Wednesday and then we are packing our bags, to leave the boat for a period.

There is much that has become worn - now even the camera cable is getting verdigris. The trip has worn more on the boat and equipment than on the crew. We get home, rested and fresh, confident that everyone should take a similar voyage in life.

Anna Karin

Lat N 36 15 / long W 004 42

This is probably the last mid-day positioning blog-via-satellite on this
journey. After catching our breath in Gibraltar and cleaning the propeller,
we are on our way to a marina on the Costa del Sol, which we have received feedback from. We are estimated to arrive late tonight or in the night. We hope that there is room for Anastasia for some months, for now we begin to long for home.

Anna Karin

The Barber again

This time I went along to supervise. The result was splendid.

Tomorrow we sail for Spain.

Anna Karin

Gibraltar

A rock projecting out in the sea, that's all, the city is wedged in behind an old wall. The shops are targeted at tourists, cheap liquor, tobacco and chocolate. It is a mix of English, Spanish and Moorish style. The cars are crowding, if you want to get on you go by scooter. The town has expanded seawards, large landfills and lots of high-rise buildings. Most look empty. Despite this slight oddness, it is very pleasant here in Gibraltar.

Anna Karin

Catch of the day

The water in the port of Gibraltar is very clear and inviting, and therefore in the morning Th pulled on the wetsuit and mask to check out what's up under the surface. After a minute he came up and said: - "I think I have found the solution to the problem". A diver team were working across the harbor to construct a new floating pier, we got one of the divers to help us, he carried on for one hour with his great diver's knife, and here is the harvest from around the propeller.


After this catch, we started our Yanmar, still moored, tried both forward and back and it sounded quite normal. Guess if we are happy.

Anna Karin

Marina Bay, Gibraltar

The night was a real setback, what should have been an easy end to a long voyage turned to sour looks, blues and nooo, motorpaj is not fun. But with some good phone numbers, a working telephone, and an English speaking country the problem was resolved quite well. We fought against the wind and tacked our way through the strait, where traffic is so heavy and arrived in the afternoon.
Now we are berthed in Marina Bay where there are repairers available. There will come a Trevor on Monday, so suddenly we have a great weekend for us to just sleep and check out Gibraltar.
We shall do some compilations, evaluations and reflections on why you make a long trip like this, what it gives and what it takes. But now we say CHEERS for a fantastic sailing we've done, from San Francisco to Gibraltar.

Anna Karin

Lat n35 56 / long W 005 36

Day 32
Everything was ready last night, we headed towards Gibraltar, got in the way
for a lot of fishermen - they thought, and started a pretty aggressive game
with us. We started the engine and got away from them. Continued by engine, then again
what must not happen did happen. The reversing gear broke. So now we
are tacking in the Gibraltar Strait, the ships swooshing past and we can
not use the engine. The Blues is on board, understandably. We
have contacted a Marina and the Port Authority and explained our situation,
so we will come to berth iallfall. Need Assistance .....

Anna Karin

Lat N 35 17 / long W 008 11

Day 31
Tonight the thing happened that you do not want to happen.
A large wave made it into the cockpit, splash,
completely drenched Th who sat on guard, washed through the whole cockpit,
went down into the interior and threw the rest at the foot end of
my bunk where I got a quick, cold and wet awakening. We have
had the same weather for 24 hours, then an extra large wave exerts itself a little extra. In the cockpit there were left a struggling
flying fish and a slimy octopus, and inside the boat, so much extra
inconvenience, it was very wet in my bed so now the whole boat is a
clothesline, salty textiles do not dry well. We are very pleased to have only about one more day to go before we're in port.
If I could make a wish now, sailing on the penultimate day is: that I
would like to see a "shore team" on the quay with buckets and rags
saying - "Hey?"
E and S, where are you?

Anna Karin

Lat N 34 24 / longitude W 011 32

Day 30
The sea was not calm for long, now it's freshening again. A fresh breeze from
South, yes you are right, SOUTH. We could not be happier,
it allows us to leap towards Gibraltar, where we first stop. From there
we will find out where it's best to put up Anastasia over the summer.
Not only has this been a windy night, there has also been rain and thunder. I saw
several bursts of lightning flounce down to the sea through an illuminated sky.
While we have some kind of lightning rod on top of the mast, we are
a small exposed dot on the sea in a thunderstorm.
When I was out camping with the family as a child, we had to sleep
in the car all night if there was thunder.

Anna Karin

Lat N 33 20 / long W 015 00

Day 29
Yesterday we passed Madeira, it took all afternoon and evening. We
had a couple of hours coverage on the GSM phone, so we took the opportunity to
call friends and family. It was fun to get a break in the otherwise
permanent view of the ocean. Gray ocean or blue ocean, calm seas and wild
seas. We have seen some water flowing past, or are we flowing
through? Never mind, we have now been four weeks at sea from Rio.

Anna Karin

Lat N 32 12 / longitude W 017 40

Day 28
When we sailed in the Pacific, we looked for the mountain of garbage which we had heard about, but there was no floating island of garbage, it was clean. French
Polynesia Marquesas, Tuamoto it was clean water. What could be seen
floating around was coconuts, palm leaves, branches and twigs.
In Patagonia, didn't see any trash in the water either, just kelp,
lots of kelp.
The garbage zone started off Rio de Janeiro, where it was like sailing in
a sewage plant. We believe that all debris from the beaches just went right
into the sea. In recent days, the trash has increased where we are sailing, we are
on the level of the Canary Islands and Madeira. If you just look down
is always something floating in the water. Buoys, fenders, PET bottles,
plastic bags. Plastic bags are sneaky, they float about half a meter below the surface.
World, recover!

Anna Karin

Lat N 31 17 / long W 020 28

Day 2
On such a long route you are guaranteed to get becalmed in some
part. We did not get our share around the equator, but have had it now.
The wind is so weak that it does not blow out the sails.
We have been running the machine more or less the whole
night. It's okay because we have plenty of diesel left. At the start of a trip, we have 500 liters in the tanks, plus 150 liters in cans. With this we can run by motor for approximately 1200 nm.
The weather is also nice, sunny but not too hot, and a crystal clear air.
We expect that this is the last Sunday at sea.

Anna Karin

Lat N30 14 / long 22 53 W

Day 26
After three weeks on the starboard tack, the wind has now given us
conditions to turn and sail by the port necks. The wind has
backed down and is currently NNW. We enjoy steering almost directly towards our
goal. Now everything must take its position on the other side. Things that
were safe in the bookcase before, now go flying across the floor. We must re-package
and fix down. The body has become used to compensating in one direction,
it must now use other muscles. Ocean sailing makes you lose strenght in your
leg muscles, when we went ashore after 30 days at the Pacific just before Christmas
I felt shaky the first few days.
Today we record less than 1000 nautical miles left.

Anna Karin

Lat 29 27 / long W 025 17

Day 25
Knäckebröd, I thought when I woke up today. Would be nice. Why do you find
it almost exclusively in Sweden? It is such a practical bread that does not become
stale when properly stored. One can enjoy it alone or with various
toppings. My absolute favorite is the butter and grevé cheese. We bought lots
at IKEA in Alameda in August. Due to a salt water leak on the first
stretch, we were forced to dump it all overboard. Now you dare start indulging
your fantasies about certain foods, we are approaching our destination. There is today not much more than 1200 NM to go.

Anna Karin

Lat N 28 00 / W 026 40

Day 24
Another stowaway. You may remember the last bird of indeterminate species,
which spent one night huddled in the outboarder, then went away. Our new
stowaway landed yesterday afternoon. He introduced himself as Mr
Dove. Walked around and inspected the boat. Toward evening, he had
decided he would stay overnight. He crawled into the rubber boat,
where he has been since. We have set out a dish of water for him. Mr Pigeon
has a ring around one leg, perhaps he has a letter attached to it. Then
he is a mail pigeon. I'm not going to touch him, I'm not so fond of
birds, what if he carries the bird flu virus.

Anna Karin

Lat N 26 11 / longitude W 028 07

Day 23
Destination?
Many wonder where in Spain we are going?
It is not yet decided where we will moor Anastasia. We are looking at
different options. It is likely that it will be in the Cadiz area or any
Marina on the southern coast.
When I sit and look at the chart around Cadiz, among other things, I see the river
Gaudalquivir with places like Seville and Cordoba. Then I think of
Red Orm, my favorite book by Frans G. Bengtsson and how Red Orm became a
galley-slave of Alemansur in Cordoba. To be a galley-slave, was no fun,
one day was ever the same so it was difficult to keep track of time.
However, he noticed three things, which showed that the time went. He was chained
to the oar as a beardless youth, and after a while his beard began to grow,
albeit it grew no longer than the oar, where it got worn away. "Of all the
ways to trim a beard, this was the worst". For my own part, I began
this journey from Rio, maybe not as a youth, but still beardless, and I
conclude it with a beard.
The other two ways that the Snake could measure the passage of time? Read the book!

Thomas

Lat N 23 56 / Long W 029 35

Day 22
Now we are on the "right" side of longitude W 30th. It's been a long and tough
struggle to get there. Not since March 28, we have been east of the line.
It's been a struggle to pass it again. Fighting the
Northeast trade wind. But this morning began with W29 59 on the GPS, and gradually convert in the right direction.
We have now got a wind that carries better towards the goal. Yeeapeee.
After three weeks under sail, you find that our focus is quite
limited. Our everyday events, which govern the whole world, or is
it not so?

Anna Karin

Lat N21 15 / long W 030 39

Day 21
The overview chart that we use now is called North Atlantic Ocean, Eastern
Part. It's the same chart we used 27 years ago when we sailed
to the Caribbean with our previous boat Aurora. We have it lying on the
chart table under the plexiglass sheet, we mark the 12-o'clock position and
sometimes we plot the low pressure tracks. When we took out the chart, I discovered
that the old plot from 1983 was visible still. I can read the dates and
positions for every day. Why I mention this is because today
we cross our own old track, then it was January 9, 1983, and today is the 5
April 2010. Then we calculated our positions with the help of the sun and
stars. Now we have 5 GPS's on board. Then we lived on 200 liters of
fresh water. Now we are producing our own new, if necessary. We had no refrigerator,
now we both fridge and freezer.
We had a good voyage then, and we have even better now.
Hooray for ocean sailing!

Anna Karin

Lat N 18 46 / long W 031 39

Day 20

Long-distance sailing calls for milestones. Previously, the equator. Beyond
that we have had "having less than 2000 NM left." It is a bit difficult to
calculate because we do not know how wide a turn we must make up towards the
Azores. Total distance could always be longer.
But we now hope that the in the next day we will reach the milestone.
2000 NM is still a long distance, for comparison, I remember
from the time when I sailed on the Mediterranean that the distance Skagen-Gibraltar
is 2000 NM and also Gibraltar Haifa.

Anna Karin

Lat N 16 05 / W 031 36

Dag 19

HAPPY EASTER from Anastasia to all blog-followers.
In a valiant attempt to convey the Easter mood, we got into a
yellow sail bag, took pictures, compressed one and sent it via satellite, up, down
to webmaster, to be able to publish the very latest
photo evidence of the two, still sailing. If you can see on our fruit net you can see it has turned all brown. We have sand from the Sahara all over the deck. Our latitude cuts through the Cape Verde archipelago.

Anna Karin

Lat N 13 29 / W 031 29

Day 18
April,April, month of fools

One of our ways to receive weather reports is Inmarsat C. Very good
addition to the GRIB files. Now we are in NAV / MET Area 2, which is
run by France. For a few days now there have been reports, but only the
first row, where the date and time is .. It has been very annoying since
we want to follow weather developments all the time. This morning I was watching
one like that, a one-line message, and came up with the idea to use the arrow keys to follow the row. Believe it or not but the whole weather report is there in only one
long, long, long list. When you select it and cut and paste into Word,
it becomes a full A 4. You can imagine how long that line is. Many thanks to
the French. International standard?

Anna Karin

Lat N 10 38 / W031 37

Day 17,
1 April, Change of plans
Since the trade winds now carry us in the direction of the West Indies,
we are going to bear up and set course for Barbados.
Carpe Diem. After the Caribbean, the Panama Canal and to the south again.
Another round, quite simply.
Is there someone who wants to come long? Submit an application, to address
mail bouy Atlantic, we will pick up the letter when we pass.

Anna Karin

Lat N 7 59 / W 031 32

Day 16
A few days have passed since we crossed the equator. We are very
pleased with the passage through the notorious doldrums - we did not have to struggle with calm belts and severe thunderstorms.
Now, however, we are into the NE-trade winds. We are sailing as close as
we can, but are pushed westwards each day as you can see on the positions. We
has pused up all our ballast on the starboard side, so comfort is
still high. As a broker said about the ballast: - "It's like having
8 men sitting on the rail." I am pleased that our ballast does not require three
meals a day.

Anna Karin

Lat N 5 30 / W 030 51

Day 15
Today is the full moon, at your home as well as in the North Atlantic with us.
When the sun went down last night the moon turned up in its full
splendor. It is so nice to have light all night. Moonlight gives more
light out at sea than you might think, at home it's usually drowns in all
the lamps from the city. For us it is a welcome light in the otherwise
pitch-black night watch.
The nightwatch can be oh so long if you're tired. If you can cope
you listen to audio books and old radio shows on the iPod. Or if there
is no salt spray, you can sit with the laptop outside and watch
a movie, it's pretty cozy. An old Hitchcock in darkness can
liven up an otherwise uneventful night.

Anna Karin

Lat N 2 40 / W 030 02

Day 14
Hot, hot, hot. We have 32 degrees C during the day and at night the
temperature goes down to 28 degrees. Dress code? You could say that it is
"casual". But today the sun passed the zenith, and tomorrow we may just like
you, look at the sun's south meridian passage. This will not affect the
heat in many more days.
For the rest, we sail north around longitude W 030, sometimes a little more east and
sometimes a bit more west. We would like to get a bit more over to the east,
but the wind is in control. Longitude W 030 degrees. Basta.
The wind does not know that the captains on board do not want someone else deciding
over them.

Anna Karin

Lat S/N 00 00 / W 029 55

Day 13
Celebration today, we are crossing the equator. The vernal equinox having passed, it's good to come from summer in the southern hemisphere to
incipient summer in the northern hemisphere.
It is exactly six months since we crossed the equator from north to south, at
longitude W 136, in an entirely different ocean.
We have during this time logged 13,130 NM.
• 38 days in port
• 76 days cruising in Polynesia and Patagonia
• 67 days offshore sailing

The most westerly point was Bora Bora in Polynesia at 152 W
The most southerly location was the southern tip of Tierra del Fuego at S 55
We started in San Francisco located at approximately N 37
The goal is set at the southern Spain of about N 37

Anna Karin

Lat S 2 18 / W 030 06

Day 12
Today I think of señor Navero who was the Big Fixer in Puerto Eden. In
Puerto Eden, there were no roads only a narrow wooden walkway in front of the
houses around the bay. Since it was almost constantly raining the footbridge
was slippery, except in places where they had attached pieces of tin, perforated
with a star chisel. Despite the village's small size there was a
police office, an armada station, a post office and a school. It was at the school
there was supposed to be internet but that's a different story. Señor Navero,
was an old fox in the dirtiest trousers I have ever seen. Tramping around in
rubber boots, owner of the village's hostel, and also the village's organizer,
he was the owner of the phone. Since we needed gas, we became fast friends with him,
and ended up sitting in his "lobby" where the TV and the stove were always on.
Our first mission was to buy diesel, voy a ver (I shall see) voy a
ver, 200 litros hmm, perhaps on Monday, got a liter price written down on
a small piece of paper. It would also be "microfiltrado" which sounded very
good. For various reasons already on Saturday we got more acute needs for
LPG (one bottle was poorly filled) Up to Navero señor, thought
there was no problem, LPG is used everywhere for everything in Chile.
But ... they all had big bottles and we had a small one, it
there was no one who had a change for filling. The solution to the problem
was to ride the ferry that went on Sunday morning to Puerto Natales,
get a replacement bottle, go back and get to Puerto Eden, Wednesday. Not so
attractive to us, but señor Navero could get someone who did this for
us. It all ended up after a hard evening's negotiations in the lobby,
we would get our old Chilean bottle filled + a new bottle, which we
purchased from an unknown man in the village for a decent price, that would also be filled.
This fits all very well on Wednesday when the diesel will come. Wednesday, would
not diesel come on Monday. No, no, there is no chance. Microfiltrado. We got
tired of Puerto Eden, the days passed slowly and on Wednesday morning, we were
leaving early. We got our gas and diesel, and while the diesel was transported
out in cans with the dinghy I went to the señor to make us debt free.
I thought it sounded a lot, looked at the little piece of paper, but didn't get the
numbers to match up, paid and watched, we were in a hurry to get away
so I thanked him and left. We lifted anchor and then looked
closer on the piece of paper. I can say that he had a premium
the good Navero, 100% on the price for the diesel, okay, he had no guests at the hostel,
and of course needed to raise money to live on. He is
forgiven and it turns into a fun memory of a great businessman.

Lat S 4 13 / W 030 12

Day 11
This morning I had 20 dolphins jumping around the boat. I saw them come in
from a distance, in pairs and sometimes four abreast. When they had arrived at the boat
they swam in a race. Some rolled up a bit as usual to get air,
and some jumped, sometimes there was a bellyflop but usually they made
fancy jumps. I wished I had one of those rings that I could
hold out for them. I think they would have jumped through. It was like a
show and lasted for about half an hour. It feels powerful and fantastic
to be present on such a morning - and the camera did not turn up in
my consciousness until the entire show was over.

Anna Karin

Lat S 6 29 / W 031 13

Day 10
Today we will cross South America's easternmost point, Cabo de Sao Roque.
We are in the middle of a trafic lane, yesterday we saw four cargo ships. Two
container ships, one of them, a large Maersk, we spoke with, and two
bulk craft. It's fun when there's a bit of motion around. We
still make pretty good speed, and navigate our way between the patches of rain and
thunder.
Tonight we had a stowaway. He was asleep in the chapel on the
outboard machine - a large brown bird that did not look like a
seabird, rather some kind of jay. He was sitting, looking lost,
until dawn, when he was gone.

Anna Karin

Lat S 8 38 / long W 032 40

Day 9
Beginning to see the Big Dipper in the starry sky at night, it's a sign
that we will soon be in the northern hemisphere again. 600 NM left. I am
thinking of September 28, when we crossed the equator in the morning,
going south. That was the day after we dropped the inner forestay and we were
working with that. Many latitudes and longitudes have passed since,
and many a nautical mile, we have put behind us.
We also had quite a few comments on our
routing and timing. The first rigger we met in Tahiti - who did
not get the job to replace the stay - was a regular prophet of doom. He
said that with this rig, we would be lucky to get as far as to Chile. We
found another rigger who did what we asked, without discussion,
and as you know, we came to Chile and also around Tierra del Fuego.
In the WiFi room in Ushuaia I met a Dutch lady who was the
captain's wife on a large Dutch steel yacht who went on charter to
Antarctica. When I replied to her question that we would go north to
Europe along the coast of South America she looked at me and said in her
Flemish-English. - "Sailing Against the Wind & the strrrreeeaaamm"?
Now we are soon at the equator.
The moral:
There are many sailors who know best, choose yourself what advice is to be
counted for good.

Anna Karin

Lat S 11 04 / long W 034 12

Day 8
Today I'd like to tell you about Mr. M. of Finnish origin, fluent in English
and Spanish. We met him in Puerto Montt, where he had been
living on a sailboat for 7 years
From the outside the boat looked rusty and worn out, but inside it was
a very nice home, with lots of literature and a small stove for
chilly nights. Before Puerto Montt he had lived for three years in Puerto Williams,
sailed the Chilean channels seven times. A fantastic man who had arranged
his life to suit himself and his environment. He
had a small shack at Marina Oxxean doing odd jobs for sailors.
Knew where to find things you needed to buy in the city.
He was very happy when we shared our homemade mulled wine on Christmas Eve.
Anna Karin

Lat S 13 36 / long W 035 19

Day 7
You cannot trust a goodwind to keep
Rolling home, oh, indeed! You could see the measly day's distance
we did yeasterday. We must be humbly grateful when the wind carries.
In order to dispel thoughts of bad wind and because it was Sunday yesterday,
we had a culinary journey through the day. Breakfast consisted of boiled eggs and a can of
Matjesill - soused herring from IKEA. Last papaya for the afternoon.
With the drink we had salty crackers with guacamole made from the last avocado.
Dinner of rosemary roasted lamb loins with fried potatoes and leek pot,
washed down with a glass of red wine. Finally we were sitting in
the cockpit, staring up at the starry sky munchingone Cadburys
bar of chocolate (150gr).
Then, at long last, we had a steady breeze again.

Anna Karin

Lat S 15 41 / long W 035 02

Day 6
On the way we have met and been in contact with a lot of
different people. Today I think of our friend P. who we met in Puerto
Montt. He was a solo-sailing American, who has lived more time in Mexico than in the
USA. He was very helpful and helped us translate from / to
Spanish in certain situations. He had sailed from Mexico through Panama to
Easter Island. There he remained for three weeks before he headed for
Puerto Montt. He loved to tell the story of when there was
really bad weather over the island and he had to go out to sea for four
days to ride out the storm. We heard the story at least three times and
it was surprisingly similar each time. The last time I could
have filled in the next sentence myself through the whole story.
He was headed south like us, then up to the Caribbean to
visit a sister.
When we asked why he chose the way around South America to visit
his sister in Antigua, he replied:

But you are going the same way, why are you doing it?

Anna Karin

Lat S 17 00 / long W 035 56

Day 5

Our planned route is moving us further away from the Brazilian coast, more
and more. I read the names on the map: Salvador, Recife, Natal. When I
hear the names I think of the endless sandy beaches, where sun umbrellas stand
in row after row. Makes me think of when the children were small and we
travelled to Mexico, Isla Mujeres on vacation, when we approached
Cancun by plane little Y looked out and said - "Mommy look what a
long beach down there ", after she watched a while came
the best comment: - "But it's a very narrow beach, so we have to
sunbathe in single file. "

Anna Karin

Lat S 18 28 / long W 037 01

Day 4
Rolling home, rolling home across the sea. ... Even though we are not on a
full-rigger on the way home, we sing this shanty at the top of our lungs. Nobody
can hear us, anyway, as we are into the steady grip of the southeast trade wind.
We can sing any way we want. We have now set a waypoint at the N 5 / W 25
. This should be a good place to cross the equator and meet the
trade winds of the northern hemisphere.

Anna Karin

Lat S 20 26 / long W 038 46

Day 3
Adventures of the night

An exciting title, don't you think? Rather, the adventure started as early as the
afternoon. Isolated thunderstorms, as they said in the weather report.
It came upon us, it came upon us, the wind speed increased from moderate breeze
into much too much in no time. Sails had to be taken down,
reefs must be taken in sails. While lightning was flashing and thunder rolling and
all the gates of the sky opened. You wanted to just curl up somewhere sheltered, but who
would then manage the sailing? This continued all night.
Rain torture. Wearing for a small crew.

Anna Karin

Lat 21 53 / long W 040 40

Day 2
Now we must make distance every day. We have about 4800 NM to Spain
and in order to reach home before the summer as is said, we must not be on
the lazy side. Therefore, we began yesterday in the slight breeze, by hoisting
our big genoa, code zero, which has been in hibernation since Puerto Montt.
The wind has varied throughout the night and it has been raining, but we are still quite
satisfied with the first day.
We have a high-ranking target, to cover three latitudes per day.

Anna Karin

Lat S 23 01 / long W 042 48

New sailing with new adventures. Half past seven we sailed away from a
still morning sleepy Rio. We have had 6 really hot days, with
temperatures well over 30 °C each day. We have done what we
needed, sails reinforced, new HF antenna since the old one blew apart in
Pacific. Yesterday we even had time to lift the boat and inspect the bottom. It was
surprisingly little overgrown. We have, as you know also a freshly cleanshaven
Captain.
Rio has been a nice city to be in. Of course we have only seen
a fraction of the entire city. But we have been in some very nice neighborhoods
when we made our purchases. It has been slightly more expensive here in comparison with
Chile and Argentina, which were really cheap countries for us to stay in.
A sad thing that we noticed already as we sailed in, was all the garbage in the
water. Several miles out we were met by all manner of junk, it was like everything
from the beaches was just shoveled out with the tide

Anna Karin

Sea lions and fish

Different ports have different attractions. In Mar del Plata, we had sea lions swimming around, and above all, the big fat harbour captain that mostly lay sunbathing on the slip. See old photos. In Rio, there are jumping fish in the marina, they jump high, about 30 cm, and splash in. I do not know why. I have a theory that says the water is dirty and oxygen poor, so they must get up to catch some air. But I guess fish don't do that, they would rather disappear. I tried to catch the middle of the jump, but just got the splash, you must imagine the fish.

Anna Karin

Weekend in Rio

The sails are mended again, on Monday we do a lifting of the boat and flush the bottom and insert new anodes. So we get a weekend here in a stunning Rio. We shall tourist a bit today and maybe take a dip and a samba on the Copacabana.

Anna Karin

Woops!

The result of not knowing the language and falling asleep at the barber's.

Anna Karin

Rio de Janeiro

Yesterday we arrived, a nice marina right next to the airport.
We got a whole list where we would go to clear in. It proved to be time consuming. We took a taxi to the passport police first, that worked well. Then we went by a taxi in town for 1 hour, looking for the Harbor Master office, the taxi driver did not know where it was, we ended up in traffic jams, worst of the rush hour. Patience ran out and we went home. This morning after leaving the sails with a delayed sailmaker's we began again by taxi, this time we would be visiting to customs, it took some time. Then we went with the same taxi to the health authorities of the port, where the taxi driver said, can not wait for you longer. The health authorities were behind the stevedore collection barracks. There were "blixtgubbar" in hammocks, waiting for jobs, but we found the place anyway and got a certificate after answering questions like: How many have died on board and why? did you have contagious diseases on board? Puuhhh. Now there was just the Harbourmaster left, went by another taxi which did not find the way, let go of us early so we had to walk. At last we were at the Harbourmaster's. We got to wait around there for two hours before we had the paper. Worst clearance bureaucracy so far ...
All this in over 30 °C.
The marina is not therefore the Internet, has been updating blogs, and slideshows on the internet cafe.

Anna Karin

Lat 22 59 / longitude W 043 10

Day 11
A month ago we left the anchorage in Bahia Buen Sueco, the
southeastern point of Tierra del Fuego. Now in an hour we are in Rio de Janeiro. Then it was
dark, cold and windy, now it is sunshine, sunshine and more sunshine.
The little Spanish knowledge, I have managed to use in Chile and
Argentina I can put on the shelf now, here is a country that speaks
Portuguese, which we can not. Our hope is that you can get on in English.

Lat S 24 54 / long W 044 0

Day 10
When we were stocking up on vegetables in Mar del Plata, we were in a wonderful
market hall. Everything looked so fresh and good -I bought apples, carrots,
onions large as cabbages and I bought beetroots. Good to have. The
days have passed, I have been looking at the beets, starting to
wither. Must use them, can not just buy and throw away ...
So yesterday was the big soup cooking day. I chopped onions, carrots
and beetrootss, made meat broth and baked bread. All kitchen utensils,
the cooker, and my hands were stained bloody red. If you hadn't known there was
beetroot cooking afoot, you would have thought there had been an accident.
It was a wonderfully good beetroot soup, and we have many future dinners.

Lat S 26 52 / long W 047 13

Day 9
In contrast to the desolate Pacific, where ships did not
existed along the route we sailed, we are here along South America's east coast in the middle of
a traffic thoroughfare. It's fun to see the little boats in the daytime, it reminds us
of "the good old days".
Yesterday we had an incident, could have been worse if we had not observed
the ship's advance. The boat was called "m s Effort One" and was from Panama.
It was his duty to turn, but nothing happened, we called them
on channel 16 but nothing happened. In the end we had to make an
evasive action, he passed near the front of our stem. We were so close that
we could see the whole bridge through our binoculars. Not a soul to be seen. First mate was
perhaps making coffee, looking aft, or he was
sleeping in the pilot seat.
Was it better in the old days?

Lat S 28 53 / long W 048 27

Day 8
After rain comes sunshine. The sail was torn and needed serious repairs, we started
planning for Rio, and then we get a stunning day at sea. It was like changing the set
on a stage, an abrupt switch from the mischievous sea with heavy black clouds to light
skies and a friendly sea. The wind carried and we sailed at high speed throughout the
day. We dried wet gear, aired the cabin, yes all that stuff which is not done during tough
days.
Going to Rio de Janeiro does not feel entirely wrong. As you know, there are
worse places to be heading towards. We have read the Pilot Book and
checked with people with internet access, and it seems that you can find
most things there.

Lat S 31 20 / long W 049 29

Day 7
The last few days we have had bad weather against us. The deck has been
constantly awash, waves jumping and skipping, the wind has howling around our ears.
Not much else to do but sit on guard and
contemplate. Last night we had our first incident when we discovered
that our inner staysail had fared very badly, it had ripped
between the reinforcement at the clew and the sail.
Nothing to do but pack it up.
Now we sail with the stormsail and two reefs in the mainsail, just like when we came to
the Marquesas, the difference is that then the forestay was broken and
now it's the sail.
Because of this we are now on a course towards Rio de Janeiro to get the sail repaired.
Not a bad place to go, but a bit tough on our time schedule.
We have a few days left at sea before we are there.

Lat S 32 46 / long W 049 23,6

Day 6
Today I had another reflection. I am lousy at the pentathlon at
Liseberg, the rings never hit the mark, the balls refuse going into the holes,
the bears standing on their hind legs don't get shot.
Then I sit here on Anastasia with my teacup, huddling in my
favorite spot under the ceiling of the cockpit. Tea bags have done their job and
I chuck them overboard. They usually hit the lifeline and spin
a few laps so they get stuck perfectly!?
I'm aiming for the sea but hit the lifeline, great marksmanship, right?

Lat S 33 49 / long W 052 41

Day 4
If you think we are doing we are doing short day distances, it is true. We cruise along the
coast against a stubborn wind straight in the nose. This makes the distance through the
water about 30% longer. Fun? Nah.
We're spoiled with having the wind at our backs, so we
hope this state will soon be over. Would be enogh for the wind to turn a bit more on ESE and
we would have a nice half wind. Yes please.

Lat S 34 55 / long W 054 09

Day 3
- "Tonight it's najs to be a sailor," a deck-hand once said. The year was
1974, we were sitting on the poop deck of the Swedish Orient Line's m/s Trane Country.
We had no air conditioning on board so the poop was a popular gathering place after dinner.
It was a wonderful evening with the moon lighting up
the sea, we were on our way to Piraeus in Greece. The sea was kindly
and gave us a slight cool breeze.
Last night I thought about that sentence. I rediscovered the feeling
and it was very najs to be a sailor.

Lat S 36 50 / long W 055 06

Day 2

Samborombon, a village without street ... not far from the Rio de la Plata.

We came from the blue Atlantic, met the yellow stream that goes out from the River
Plate. Behind the hull and masts at the river's south shore is the
city of Buenos Aires. ... jetties are constructed with stone from the Swedish Bohuslän coast.

Life is good. We listen to Taube, passing La Plata. The weather is
beautiful, light winds, the sun warming.

Lat S 37 47 / long W 057 09

There is a certain feeling you have for the long stages. When you cast off the
moorings and putter away from the piers, you know there will be some time
before you are safely moored in another port.
The feeling is breathtaking, even if today was a perfect day of departure, you know
there will be many incidents, large and small, impossible to know beforehand.
That is what is so amazing with sailing. Join us for
the next stage through the blog, and have a taste of the trip!

Sunday sailing

Repaired and reinforced, the sails are back. Great for the long sail ahead of us. People ask for our choices now and planned ports.
The point is that we are very open to the elements. The wind willing, we sail on, taking opportunities for port stay, Brazil, Fernando de Norhona, .... The ultimate goal is Cadiz. We do begin to long for home.

Entertainment

We have downloaded a lot of programs from Swedish Radio. Among other things, we will have over 200 "summer programs" to plow through. A good complement to book reading.

The answer

Of course, you were right, the ice cream costs 22 Peso and the bottle of Gin 17 pesos.
1 Peso = 2 SEK

When we left home, our luggage was gigantic, yet there were some things that we thought, we can certainly complement them on the way. One thing was paper charts. We have charts in the computers but it's good to have an overview chart of the ocean you are on. To plot the mid-day location and for plotting how high and low pressure centers move. You get a better view, simply. We already tried in Chile and later here in Argentina, but no. Yesterday I met of a Swedish couple in the harbor who had been in Buenos Aires for a few days to buy parts for their engine. I borrowed a chart of the South Atlantic, went to a place that makes copies, and all of a sudden we had a chart. Cheap and almost as good.

Question of the day

Which costs more, a litre of gin or two little pots of Häagen- Dazs ?

Diesel fuel

How simple is not everything in Sweden, going by car you refuel at a gas station, going by sea you refuel at a marine gas station. Already when we were in the U.S., we were warned of the bad diesel quality we would get down there in Mexico (where all thought we were going) so we bought a baja filter (pronounced baha). This filter is on three levels, large particles get stuck, then smaller and finally water. It's good, just takes some time to run through. What we did not then know was that we also needed to obtain a lot of cans for transporting diesel fuel in. In the last months we have refuelled by going with the diesel cans in a taxi or rental car. There are no marine gas stations here. Everybody lugging around their cans. It is not very environmentally friendly since it is impossible to fill without spilling a drop.

Victualling in Mar del Plata

Delicious fruits and nuts, we found at the market, plus great steaks, fine minced meat and chicken. We have begun to stock up for the next leg, filling the freezer and stores again. In Mar del Plata, we can find just about everything, and there's a great atmosphere down here in the port now in regatta week.

Sails

We have an arrangement with the sailmaker who thankfully speaks English, he will review our sails in the days to come. They need strengthening in certain places. After 12,000 NM in six months, the wear is evident. Before embarking on the last stage which is about 6000 NM, they need to be reviewed. Kevlar, which is the golden material in the sail, is sensitive to UV radiation. The sailmaker promised the end of the week and we hope he keeps his promise.
Today we were in a shop to make copies of the key that serves both to open the door and to start the engine. One key accidentally went off with the boys to Sweden, so we needed a new pair. When we were in the shop, we saw that they had kerosene, too, which has been difficult to obtain so we acted and bought five liters, my Spanish did a volt in the head so after a while he happily came back with 15 liters in cans. We said thank you and paid. Five and fifteen, so easy to miss.

Prefectura

We did not think you had to report in person at the Prefectura in every port. We talked with them over the radio when we arrived and thought it was perfect. Today they came and picked us up and we got to ride in the patrol wagon. No sirens on and everyone was very friendly, we did not get further sanctions. The man in the picture who was sent to fetch us, spoke a little English. He explained very educationally it was for our safety they wanted to know all the ports we came to. Bureaucracy is as present here as in Chile.

The crew moves on again

They are leaving again. After a few days in the sun with us they turned back to Buenos Aires, soon to return to the snow in Gothenburg. We are staying for a while, hunting sailmakers for consultation. Not easy during the regatta week, also on a rough Spanish that does not want to get better.

Tall ships

In connection with the regatta week, several large sailing ships gathered in Mar del Plata. Really big and full-rigged ships and brigs. They were from Chile, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina. We and thousands of Argentinians strolled along the quays and enjoyed the atmosphere.

Mar del Plata

When we arrived yesterday afternoon we were met by the port captain. He told us there would be a regatta week here in Mar del Plata, so berths were very scarce. We got a place among the motorboats anyway, a bit low on water under the keel, we were drawn by a small boat through the mud to get to the site. Tonight when the tide was out, there was even less water and we got an angle of list of 15 degrees. Today, we have shored her up against the posts and hope that things get better at the next low tide.

Lat S 38 18 / long W 57 38

Visa romanisering

Land in sight.

The first thing that came up when we started to see the coast was a row of skyscrapers.
We have not seen skyscrapers since we left San Francisco 5.5 months ago.
Exciting. We will run parallel to the coast for a couple of hours,
then we arrive in Mar del Plata. We will have a visit this afternoon
from E and S, who have now "done" Buenos Aires + some other places. They plan
to spend the last days of their trip here on the coast.