The Chesapeake Cowboys

We had a lot of fun at this waterman's event - heck, where else but America would local fisherman start a competition to see who can berth a boat the fastest? Yep, you can see it all right here.... high speed boat docking.

We arrived in Reedville (Virginia) early June, just in time for a fund raising event at the local marina - there were live bands, and for your entry ticket you got all the beer and food you could consume. Profits went to the local volunteer fire and rescue service, but the stars of the show were the Chesapeake Cowboys, local fisherman who compete up and down the bay in weekly events that would seriously challenge the health of any decent marine gearbox.

These work boats are generally operated from a stand-up console on starboard side, close to the stern. Yes, there are other people on board but they do not touch the controls except in an emergency. Click the arrow below for lots of maritime cowboy fun.

Dangerous AIS Targets? New Challenges To Safe Navigation

A Busy Waterway, However The AIS Fish Beacons Give Me Great Fears

Heading north around Cape Hatteras a few weeks back, we found ourselves facing a number of targets along our intended course - only some were more dangerous than others. That green target at top right of the image (36870200) was an American aircraft carrier performing incredibly tight turns and circles - but that wasn't the danger. Neither was the fast moving target to the left of our track (the track in black), which was the Captain Caden, a 21 meter fishing vessel out of Barnegat Bay.

FV Handful & Four Local AIS Beacons

The real danger was that tiny cluster of targets on our starboard side - the US flagged fishing vessel Handful, seen here with a cluster of AIS beacons around it (note : this image, and those that follow, is produced by replaying our voyage on our electronic nav system. The target shapes are different when in actual navigation mode). If we zoom in (at right), the picture becomes more clear - one primary AIS target, being the fishing vessel Handful itself, plus a cluster of four AIS fish net beacons floating around her. Fish net beacons, using AIS. Hmm. OK, read my lips. Say after me. This is not good....

The AIS system was devised and built as a safety system for vessels under management. It was not built as an identification system for unmanned, unpowered fish net and long line floats that do not ask questions and cannot correct their course. If the technology is used for net tracking, the targets should display with a clearly different icon or graphic on screen. But they do not. They look just like ships on screen.

The IMO (International Maritime Organisation) has published guidelines for the display of navigation related symbols on screen (read them here) and no fishing target beacons are included. The United Nations Food & Agriculture Organisation has published a draft paper (read it here) on marking of fishing gear, which acknowledges the illegal nature of AIS fishing beacons, but doesn't come down against them.

Thanks to Ben Ellison, author of the excellent PANBO marine electronics blog, I obtained the following information from a US Coast Guard website :

"18. Can I use AIS to mark nets, pots, traps, moorings, or as a race mark, etc.? There are no outright prohibitions to use AIS (i.e. AIS AtoN) as a marker (see Types of AIS and IALA Recommendation 1016 – Mobile Marine Aids to Navigation). However, it is not permissible to do so with equipment intended for use on vessels, (i.e. AIS Class A or B devices), for lifesaving (i.e. AIS SART, MOB AIS, EPIRB AIS), or with devices that are not FCC certified and licensed. See 47 CFR §§ 2.803, 2.805, 2.301, and 80.13 regarding licensing, station identity, and the prohibition to sell, market, or use radio devices that are not FCC authorized (search, Equipment Class: AIS)." It appears then that so long as these devices are FCC approved, they can be used at sea. But are they FCC approved?

So, what has gone wrong? Firstly, Chinese manufacturers have seized on an opportunity to use AIS electronic packages as fish net beacons, though without any approvals from relevant international AIS scheme managers. Secondly, US fisherman keen to track their nets (at  very low cost) have seized on these tools and deployed them, even though they are illegal under US law (my opinion). In fact you can't buy these readily in the USA - you have to order them online through Ali-Baba or one of the foreign web supply chains.

Above is the Ova fishing buoy beacon, sold out of China on the internet for not much over US$100.00, waterproof to 10 meters, and it comes pre-programmed with it's own MMSI number. Wait a minute - how did that happen? An MMSI number is supposed to be a Maritime Mobile Service Identifier - a number that identifies a vessel and an owner and tracks back to the national registration of the identified vessel.

Who ever heard of MMSI numbers being issued by the factory that built the product.... geez. They are supposed to be issued by the country of registration!

Then there are other brands and models - in fact there are so many models that there is an entire market place on the web where you can buy these (illegal) devices. Check out the page at this address. Many are shipped with software on disk plus a cable that allows the user to program the MMSI number - this is completely illegal under US FCC regulations.

Many fisherman, reading this story, will be wondering what the heck I'm complaining about - OK so it's illegal, but where is the harm? In fact it can be said that the fisherman are doing us a favor by identifying nets and floats that otherwise would be invisible to us at night. However until these beacons can be identified easily on screen as floating beacons (and not ships), then I believe that some dangerous situations are being created. Read on for the story on that ....

Return To Reedville

Crystal Blues Shares The Dock, With The Beautiful Grand Banks Trawler Slow Dancing, Plus Dingies From The Visiting OCC Fleet

On Virginia's "northern neck", Reedville is a small village with a proud commercial fishing history. Right now it has aged gracefully to become a popular retirement and vacation area, set among rural farmlands, surrounded by a myriad creeks and bays.

Reedville Peninsular

Its a beautiful environment, still with a large population of working watermen, engaged in oystering, crabbing and net fishing. A fleet of large trawlers still work the Menhaden schools at the bottom of Chesapeake Bay and in the nearby Atlantic ocean. The Menhaden fish has been called "the most important fish in the sea". By tonnage, Reedville is still the second largest fishing port in the USA.

The Menhaden fishery once gave Reedville a fabulous wealth - it had the highest per capita income in the United States. Millionaires row in Main Street Reedville is evidence of this - scores of magnificent homes line the single street that forms the spine of this tiny peninsular.

Our friends Walter Keith and Mary Frazer have welcomed us back to their home and dock. There is a busy social calendar this time of the year, and in between music and social events we're trying to work on maintenance and repairs, but that is proving difficult.

On June 9th the Ocean Cruising Club started a Potomac River History Cruise from here, so we suddenly found the anchorage filled with 25 visiting OCC boats. Then cruising friends Bill & Jean Crew arrived on Pelican Express, with four legged crew mate Bella. Local friends are also calling to welcome us, several arriving by boat.

Ted & Lynne Hower Bring Pepper To Visit.  The Boat Is A Chesapeake Deadrise Skiff, Built By George Butler In Reedville.

 Yesterday was a big day for the OCC rally group - they came for cocktails here at Walter & Mary's home, then we all crossed the street for the first musical concert of the year at the Reedville Fisherman's Museum. Bluegrass and country rock kept our feet tapping until predicted thunderstorms shut down the evening.

Between the rain storms the social schedule has been frantic and the maintenance schedule continues to take a beating. Tomorrow we're off to cruise the lower Potomac River for three days with the OCC.

OCC Cruising Sailors Celebrate On The Porch At Walter & Mary's

Our Reedville Welcoming Committee

On The Dock In Reedville

 

Musical Cruising - Manzanillo To Cienfuegos

Making Music With Our Fisherman Friends

We departed Manzanillo in company with the English catamaran Miss Molly, heading for Cienfuegos via the Golfo De Guacanayabo and the Golfo De Ana Maria.

Miss Molly

The total straight line distance is around 250 nautical miles, however the thousands of cayos and reefs in this region mean that a straight line course is impossible. So we dodged and weaved our way to the north west, traveling in the daylight and anchoring up each night where ever protection could be found.

Philip and Monica Shorter aboard Miss Molly are members of the Ocean Cruising Club, as are we, so we had a lot of cruising gossip to share each evening. Phil is also a guitarist, so he and I were able to share music and belt out some favourite songs between beers and gossip.

In total we spent seventeen days among the reefs and cayos, and covered around 300 nautical miles. The weather was mostly benign, with little wind, so most of the traveling was diesel powered. On the upside, the water was clear, warm and blue, the fish plentiful and we convinced ourselves to start swimming again.

First Swim Of The Season For Admiral Ley

 The northern hemisphere summer is approaching rapidly, and we're starting to set sun shades on deck again, even running the aircon some evenings to cool the boat when there is no wind.

At Cayo Breton we purchased five crayfish from local fisherman. Next night at Cayo Guayo the same fishing boat happened to be nearby.  Captain Phil and Admiral Ley, the fishing experts, went to visit the local boat and were invited on board. Ley was given a number of coral trout, so we reciprocated with cold beers. Then, in the early evening, the fisherman presented us with a beautifully prepared platter of grilled fish, with tomato paste, onion, garlic and fried plantain chips - a gift from the chef on the fishing boat.

Before another hour had passed Phil and I started a music session, jamming away, and the fisherman joined us onboard Miss Molly. The evening ramped up into a regular floating party. The ladies danced with the fisherman and the rum bottles was eventually emptied. This is the cruising life...

Typical Waters In The Gulf Of Guacanayabo - Kinda Reefy

Beautiful Bahamas Cruising

The locals call these Nurse Sharks, but to us they look a little like the Australian Wobbegongs, or maybe Lemon Sharks.... either way, they are an unusual welcoming committee. Coming ashore in the Exumas Islands these guys are a common sight, along with giant rays, turtles and numerous reef fishes. The further south we travel, the more interesting this area becomes...

Warderick Wells Mooring Field

Of course it's also beautiful, when the weather is cooperating. We're still working with weather systems that are occasionally dominated by the lows and cold fronts that come down off the US east coast, but at least the average temperatures are now above 25degC. in the daytime. Warderick Wells, inside the Exumas Land & Sea Park, is a popular cruising hangout, and the walks ashore reveal a distinct (if limited) range of wildlife. Lizards and birds dominate, though if you stay on the beach after dark you'll be sure to see the native rodent, the Bahamian Hutia, once considered extinct but now resurgent in the park.This is the first place we've been where native palms dominate - sure enough, we found the park service had worked very hard to eliminate the invasive Australian Casuarina, or the She Oak as we call it back home in Australia. The locals here really don't like these Aussie invaders.

VonYachtSki Moored At Warderick Wells

Our friends Harry & Liz aboard the Canadian yacht VonYachtSki enjoyed the park with us, and we eventually sailed further south to Staniel Cay in company. Next we're heading for the big smoke - Georgetown on Great Exuma Island. We should be there before the end of the week. For our favourite images of Warderick Wells and the Bahamian wildlife click the link below.

 

Great Guana Key, Bahamas

Community Fish Cleaning Action At Great Guana Cay

Sunshine, clear waters, fresh fish, friendly people - it doesn't get much better. Unless of course you also like messing around in boats, in which case all your dreams can come true here at Great Guana Cay in the Bahamas. I guess it must be a little frantic at peak tourist season, but right now its extra laid back and friendly. We arrived here yesterday after a quick 3 hour passage from Green Turtle Cay, and have settled into the anchorage to sit out the front that is expected later today.  We're in 3 meters of water with 27 meters of chain out, so we're not planning on going anywhere soon.

This morning we took the (fast) ferry 16nm to Marsh Harbor, where the Admiral found a hair dresser and we both searched the hardware and marine stores for parts we needed. That search turned up nothing of value, so we headed back to Great Guana in the early afternoon. This afternoon, before the weather deteriorated, we spent a few minutes testing our new aerial camera system, with great results. Click the play button below to view.

South To St Augustine, Florida

Atlantic Sunrise, Off The Carolina Coast

Too Small & Too Bloody - Mackerel Tuna

With winter rapidly setting in, we escaped southward last week, sailing offshore down the Atlantic coast in warm weather bound for St. Augustine, Florida. Light winds from astern were not helpful, so the Cummins engine worked hard once again, as we pushed south and west, staying close to the coast to avoid the north-setting Gulf Stream current.

I wasn't surprised to find the Admiral on deck early one morning, with a fish hanging off a lure ... but really, did she have to start fishing before breakfast? Unfortunately the first three fish that came in were low-value Mackerel Tuna, and they were all released. With this state of affairs the Admiral gave up in disgust - she wanted Mahi Mahi or Wahoo, or Spanish Mackerel. Dream on.

So the fishing tackle was stowed once again and relaxed cruising resumed. We arrived at the St. Augustine bar right on time, in the middle of a rising tide with a following wind. The entrance was therefore drama free and Crystal Blues found herself safely moored on a City Marina mooring ball well before it was time for drinks. Perfect!

Christmas Lights In St. Augustine

This town, reported as the oldest city in America, was once a Spanish outpost. Now, with Christmas approaching, it kinda feels like a Disney outpost. Trolley / tram rides clog the streets, carrying droves of serious tourists from sight to sight, from Ghost Tour to Spanish Fort, restaurant to restaurant. This is not at all what we expected. But the decorative lights are really nice, and the spirit of the place does eventually get to you. Music is everywhere! St. Augustine has an incredibly vibrant live music scene - we've enjoyed great bars and restaurants with excellent live entertainment and usually no cover charge.

Checking The Injection Elbow

However it hasn't been all glittering lights and music. Our beloved Cummins 4BT engine was due for a major 4,000 hour service, so this past week we've tackled everything that can be checked and refreshed on the unit. The standard lube oil and filters, fuel filters etc were ticked off early, before we moved on to the gearbox lube oil and filter, then flushing and cleaning the gear oil cooler and the engine heat exchanger. Then we inspected and checked the turbo, serviced the Walker AirSep filter system, serviced the syphon break, checked the exhaust injection elbow, replaced the drive belt and replaced the belt tensioner.

The Salt water pump was checked (all blades Ok after 500 hours) and the coolant was tested with a Fleetguard coolant test kit, then adjusted to the correct chemical mix using a measured concentrate. For good measure we finished off with valve lash adjustment today.

OK, I'm slow, but it has taken almost six days to work through the job, in between shopping trips and the essential cruising social activities. The weather here has now turned to winter again, with a series of small cold fronts moving in. Predicted 2 degrees Centigrade overnight tomorrow evening. So we'll probably move aft and turn our attention to the Northern Lights generator - its now ready for service.

Valve Lash (Tappet) Adjustment On The Cummins 4BT

Light Weather, Heavy Boat, Off The Carolina Coast

The Admiral Enjoys The Warmer Atlantic Glow

Crystal Blues is heavy, real heavy. Absolutely stuffed with provisions, fuel, water and of course more than a little grog, she slid away from the dock yesterday after nine days in beautiful Beaufort, North Carolina. We  planned to stop in Beaufort for a week of provisioning, preparing for cruising the Bahamas and Cuba over the next five months.  It was a fine choice.

A Tough Career Choice -So Many Shrimp, So Little Time

Berthed at Homer Smith's Docks & Marina, we found ourselves in a family run marina that is relaxed and low key but with a great location and the support that only a family business can provide.

The berthing rate is only $6.00 per foot per week, including power and water. In US terms this is great value, but the deal gets better when they pass over the marina truck keys so you can do your shopping, then pass over a couple of pounds of fresh shrimp....

In fact the business still buys and processes shrimp and sea food direct from the trawlers, shipping fresh product to markets in the south. Within an hour of arrival I walked out of the marina office to find shrimp processing in full swing - where my questions lead to a quick stint on the production and sorting line.  Never ask questions.

Diane Tetreault (center) With Visiting OCC Cruisers

As members of the Ocean Cruising Club, there is another great bonus to being in Beaufort. Local OCC Port Officer Diane Tetreault is incredibly welcoming and supportive. There were several OCC boats in town, and nothing was too much trouble for Diane, who organised social events and repeatedly helped out with transport when needed. Hats off to Diane!

Amazon Calling

And then there was the shopping...

The admiral, with daily access to the marina truck, ran a fast provisioning schedule that saw Crystal Blues sinking lower into the water each day. Every cupboard and locker was audited and re-stocked, goods rotated, some thrown away and yet more purchased. To all that we added 900 liters of diesel and 900 liters of fresh water. She is now a seriously heavy boat.

We also discovered that Amazon was a great value source for bulk food supplies - tinned butter, milk powder. coffee, tinned foods and the like. All delivered to the marina within 48 hours at great prices.

Beaufort also provided us with another gem - while watching activity in the seafood processing area we met locals Libby and Jack Cox. Libby was up to her elbows in fish sorting at the time, and Jack was working with one of his boats that had just delivered the catch - they harvest bottom fish by line fishing. Next thing we knew they visited Crystal Blues, so we then joined them for Thanks Giving lunch. Libby & Jack are dreaming of a future on a cruising sail boat, so we had a lot to talk about. Friendships are born this way.

Crystal Blues should be in St. Augustine, Florida, by Thursday evening.

The Admiral & I At Dinner With Libby & Jack

Lobster Madness

A Carpet Of Floats

Coastal Maine is famous for it's lobsters - last year they landed more than 130 million pounds of lobster and exported over $200 million dollars worth of live lobster, with the majority flown to Asia. Along the coast, lobster shacks decorate every harbor, serving the thousands of tourists that flock to this coast in the summer months.

Cape Porpoise Lobstermen Landing Their Catch

Each lobsterman can have up to 800 traps in the water, and there are more than 6000 licensed boats out there. 

Estimates put the number of lobster traps in Maine waters at over 3 million, and I figure we've seen and dodged the floats marking half of them.

In fact sailing on this coast is hard work, with constant vigilance needed to steer around the thick carpet of floats that dot the water. In places you could walk across the floats with snow shoes.

On foggy days the navigation work load increases even further. Watching the radar for traffic, dodging floats, managing the navigation and constantly peering into the fog means that even a short four or five hour coastal passage is exhausting - we prefer not to go to sea if it's foggy here.

So how do you deal with this carpet of obstacles ? First, we simply don't navigate at night, but there are other things that help .....

Fishy Business Again

On April 15th we departed Martinique, turning north again to cover more miles in our quest. We aimed for St. Martin, a smallish island with a large pond in the middle, all bisected by an international border - it's half French and half Dutch. The passage took us two days and 20 hours, covering around 280 nautical miles, a sedate pace that included typically uncomfortable sections, specially in the passes between the islands where the currents run strong.

However in one of those island passes Ley hooked another big Mahi Mahi, a fish that managed to slow the boat down from our 6 to 7 knot classic fishing speed. Kind of daunting really .... it went slanting off sideways on the line, tacking against the movement of the boat and then tacking back across the stern. I woke Ley as I retrieved our second unladen line, clearing the way for this big one to be retrieved.

It took another 10 minutes before we had it at the stern, and then another 5 minutes to get it on deck, at which time we shared some of our best white rum with the fish, but got no thanks, just a lot of angst.

So more rum, several times over, eventually did the trick and the magnificent fish did its magical (and somehow sad) color change, as the life force departed.

We cut two huge fillets off the fish and blessed the sea with the rest, chilling the fillets down before skinning them, so that no scaling was required. The admiral tells me we'll get 10 meals off the catch, that is great fishing.

Next morning we approached the coast of St. Martin, the western French side, in kind of sloppy conditions with a big east north east breeze blowing. We anchored off shore in calm conditions, but within 24 hours there were ocean swells running through the anchorage, heaving Crystal Blues sideways 5 meters at a time, and truly straining our friendship with St. Martin.  We could of course have moved into the lagoon, through a drawbridge that opened three times a day, and had uncertain water depths  ... instead we moved north, further into the lee of a natural point of land. There we enjoyed calm conditions and used our dinghy to explore into the lagoon - much better to run the surf into the lagoon in a small boat!

Once inside we found, on the French side, a cruisers paradise - flat water, relaxed officialdom and all the creature comforts of France, delivered in a laid back Rasta kinda way.  Cross the lagoon to Holland and things became decidedly more precise and up-market, driven by the amazing number of super yachts that were berthed there. On the down side, most of them were power boats, however it was a splendid sight. St Martin seemed like a great place to do boat work, and have a damn good time despite that. We provisioned quickly, on the Dutch side, and prepared for our next passage, just eighty nautical miles to the British Virgin Islands.

A Record Flying Fish Haul

Carnage On Deck

Our night passage from Tobago to Grenada was memorable for setting a new record - that is, a record number of Flying Fish on deck in one evening. Ley counted 34 of the little devils initially, then we continued to find more over the next few days, secreted under lines, behind cleats and hidden by turning blocks.  What a mess they made.

To add insult to injury, one flew right into the cockpit and hit Ley on the back - lucky fish, she threw it overboard right away for another chance at life. 

As dawn broke our viewing of the beautiful Grenada coastline was interrupted by the discovery of slimy carcasses all around the boat - and in these numbers they quickly became very smelly in the sun.

Remora Attack - More Information ...

My experience being hassled by 12 desperate Remora fish in the ocean off the coast of Suriname is apparently not so rare . Our friends on the catamaran Ceilydh came up with some research that shows it is common when a large shark kill has happened in the area - basically the lack of shark hosts means the Remora fish outnumber the hosts, and the results are not pretty.

The BIG One- Fast & Hungry

We commented on the problem after I was hassled between Suriname and Tobago - then our friends on Ceilydh were prevented from swimming off their boat in Tobago - one even bit Evan on the toe.  By this stage we were both still "hosting" just a few Remora. Just google "remora attack" to learn more about this.

Unfortunately for us we still had with us the BIG One, lurking under the boat and definitely not afraid of us. I did think about starving the critters out (surely they'd leave?) but the thought of not pumping the heads for a few days was not a good one (yes, they eat everything that comes out of the host).

Fortunately, by the time we had sailed from Tobago to Grenada we had lost the aggressive creatures and were left with just one smaller, shy creature that disappeared whenever we swam off the boat.  About time - at last we could swim and enjoy the water.

A Course For The Caribbean

Ley In The Galley As We Beat To The North West At Sunset

After three weeks in Suriname we set sail again for our first Caribbean landfall - Tobago.  It was a 500 nautical mile north westerly voyage that started with very nice light northerly winds - we had flat seas, a favourable current and seven knots of boat speed.

That all changed in the middle of the first night watch, when we snagged an illegal fish net about 30nm offshore. We were motoring at the time, the wind having died out completely, and the net brought us to a standstill while also stalling our Cummins diesel.

With lights on deck we could see the net trailing aft, now twisted into a thick rope by the rotation of our propeller. Using the boat-hook we snagged the net and pulled it to the surface, then cut it free with a serrated blade knife. The top rope of the net was at least 14mm diameter, with floats directly attached, so there was no way we could ever pass over it.

Net With Top Floats

Now drifting free, we unfurled the genoa and slowly pulled away into the night, sailing on a very slight breeze at around 3.0 knots. Six hours later I came on watch again after sunrise and prepared to dive under the boat to clear the propeller and running gear and check for damage.

Preparing to enter the water I was startled by a large fish that appeared from under the boat - a Remora of course, only this one was much bigger than I had seen before.  Once under water I found myself out-numbered by eight large Remora, with another four visible hanging on the keel, plus a larger dark colored creature that I wasn't quite sure of, circling out beyond them. OK, I've chased remora around the boat before, but these guys were bigger and had a different attitude - they wanted to chase me...

As soon as I was underwater they were at me, and by the time I got to the propeller and net I was fending them off with a knife! After cutting away some of the net the fish did get the better of me and I came back to the stern - but then realised we were badly handicapped without an engine, and went back again to finish the job.  It wasn't fun ... for every few links of net that were cut I was fending off the damn fish again.  That larger dark one kept circling and coming in behind me, with just enough aggression to keep me distracted and dodging behind the rudder and skeg. I now believe it was a small Ocean White Tip shark, the rounded fin tips and white mottling being quite obvious. A rare creature, who fortunately backed off when I directly challenged it.

Eventually the remaining net was cut free from the propeller, and floated free off the stern where the image above was taken.  I then quickly checked the propeller blades and rudder and levitated out of the water pretty fast. This sort of behavior from Remora is unusual I think, though earlier this evening another Remora chased our friend Diane, of the yacht Ceilydh, as she was swimming off the boat here in Tobago. Her husband Evan was bitten by one just a week or so back. A Caribbean hazard perhaps?

The other notable feature of this passage was the large amount of Saragosso weed that was drifting on the ocean surface - we'd never experienced this before.  Sometimes very large rafts of weed were spotted, and it was constant enough that Ley wasn't able to troll a lure behind the boat without fouling the hooks with weed.

Saragosso Weed

The remainder of our voyage to Tobago was more relaxed, though we did manage to lose an impeller on the Cummins and had to change out the sea water pump the day before we arrived. Good winds and awkward arrival timing found us off the Tobago coast fully 16 hours before we could approach the land - Tobago Customs being fussy about arrival and reporting times, so we spent the final evening lazing around offshore in almost a flat calm.  Next morning we motored in and were welcomed into Tobago by a very friendly customs and immigration team in Charlotteville.

Tobago Appears At Sunset

A Birthday In Brazil

After our arrival at Fernando De Noronha we slept like babies. Ley woke early, and watched the sun rise from the cockpit, while I slept for 10 hours and eventually stumbled on deck later, to survey the anchorage and the island.

Breakfast was bacon and eggs, followed by a “birthday cake” made of toast with blackberry jam. 

We had a very slow morning, launching the dinghy and setting up the outboard motor, washing laundry and generally recovering from the passage.

A local man was fishing from a plastic kayak nearby, using just a hand line. We waved and said hello, he spoke no English, but paddled over to us and handed over four fresh (still alive) beautiful Coral Trout. What a wonderful birthday gift – Fernando De Noronha was already starting to impress us.

Later, we headed ashore to complete immigration and customs formalities, however it was now after midday and we found the port offices were closed – siesta of course! 

Plan B was quickly implemented, and we settled in to a very fine local restaurant overlooking the anchorage and serving wonderful Brazilian specialties.

The beer was cold and the wine was good, the staff provided birthday deserts for us, and we met a fine bunch of Brazilian nationals who were holidaying on the island. Several hours later, with our credit card beaten into submission, we staggered down the hill to report in to the authorities.

At the port office we were welcomed literally with open arms, and started to wade through the many arrival forms and details, though not one of our hosts spoke any English.

The Policia Federale were called, and they arrived after a few minutes to stamp our passports and clear us for immigration.  Fortunately the locals appear to live on strong coffee, and we were plied with small cups of sweet black Brazilian coffee as the process ground onward.

Once our birthdays were recognized it was handshakes and backslaps all round, congratulations and way too much rapid Portugese for us to follow.

By late afternoon we were clear of the formalities and caught a bus to the village, looking for a supermarket and hopefully a motor cycle rental.  The motor cycle didn’t happen, however another friendly local lead us to a mechanics yard where we rented a converted VW beach buggy, the standard form of transport on the island. Of course we had no local money – not a problem they said. Take the car, go now to the ATM at the airport, then come back and pay us later ….. life here is very simple, relaxed and trusting.