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?