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.