March 17 Landfall Brazil

Severance arrives at Fernando Naronha, an island within Brazilian territorial waters, having crossed the Atlantic. We made it!

We came to this island for a particular reason though. This island, as beautiful as it is, is also a protected habitat for sea turtles in particular but also other marine animals and birds.

Here, an effort is being made to accommodate a certain level of ecotourism, the interests of the locals, controlled development, and at the same time create a refuge for protected and endangered marine life.

A tall order. The island, a former prison (1750's +) bustles with activity as we visit a few historic sites and walk on some designated beaches where surfers are plying their skills on some very rad waves.

March 18 Fernando Naronha
In the morning a yell summons me to the deck. A sea turtle is casually swimming by Severance. A little later, a school of baby dolphins race by as if on a mission followed by 2 large parrot fish 4 or 5 feet long who have come near the surface to check us out. Amazing!

We provision, talk to some locals, hit the water-again and then in the early evening pull anchor and head for Natal, our first stop on the Brazilian mainland. What a magical place!

Posted by Danny McJannet

Half Way There

March 14
Early in the morning a large sailfish takes 1 line, spools it off, breaks it with almost dismissive contempt and we are only able to witness the fury of this being as it jumps and turns trying to release the embedded hook that is now all that is left of our ambition.

Later in the day a school of large mahi-mahi do the same. Concurrent strikes on our 2 rods come to nothing as these fish spool the line breaking them without effort. I have fished salmon but have never experienced this kind of power. After they have freed themselves, they both do a series of turning jumps as if to mock our efforts to make dinner of them.

Clearly, our rods and line are over matched so the solution is 150 pound test line run off Severance- no rod. We'll see.

March 15
A break from routine. Scott's birthday and the celebration begins shortly after my midnight watch.

But there is more. Later in the morning (approximately 5am) we cross the equator. In the darkness, Scott climbs to the swim grid, hits the water and swims across the line. Armando and I jump the line on board. As we pay our respects to Poseidon, the champagne flows and there is music.

Louis Armstrong sings “It's a wonderful world”, Bob Marley sings “Don't worry, everything is going to be alright” our ship mantra, John Lennon sings “Imagine” and then the blues takes over with John Lee Hooker.

A night for celebration and congratulations especially for Scott and Armando, who have been challenged at various legs of the journey that readers of previous entries can easily attest.

Next morning the wind collapses as ominous clouds surround Severance and out of the heavens a tropical storm unleashes a torrent of warm, fresh water. We all head for the fore deck, grab hold of a shroud and hold on through the deluge.

As it intensifies over the next half hour or so, I hear myself yelling with joy as the sensation of this ultra shower pressure washes the accumulated dirt, grime and sweat away. As quickly as it comes it goes, the winds pick up and Severance is underway again. What a sensation!

Suddenly there is a shout from Armando, our persistent fisherman. A very large mahi-mahi has taken the lure on the 150 pound test line and the battle is on.


It takes all 3 of us but the magnificent fish is landed. A brief celebration then the knives and beer come out and once again we eat sushimi with ginger, wasabi and soy until we can't. Later, the remainder is carefully cut up, bagged and refrigerated and we eat in bliss until there is no more.

Postscript: March 15th, Treasure Island, Florida

As the guys celebrate Scott’s birthday on the equator, Scott’s parents Bob & Marion, neighbors Kevin & Laurel and Harpo and I were also toasting the Birthday Boy.

Actually Birthday boys, since Scott and his older brother Lewis share the same birthday. My nephew Christopher was also born on March 15th (my apologies, Chris, for leaving you off the cake), so now you know the true meaning of “Beware the Ides of March!!”.

Happy Birthday Scott, Lewis, and Christopher!!

Posted by Danny

P.s. by Diane

The Crossing

As we head out, life on Severance goes on as you might expect with each of us falling into the rhythm of our watches, sharing the deck during the day but on a 4 hour watch rotation through the night and early morning.

On watch at night often times there is phosphorous lighting up around the keel wave, breaking in unusual but dramatic patterns. The moon follows us to it's fullest so light shimmers across the ocean surface to the edge of the horizon.

Three days out of the sight of land we spot our first vessel, a tanker heading for the Congo with a load of oil. We know this because of a ship identification system installed on Severance.

Identity, speed, draught, destination and most important, course are revealed. One afternoon, a super container ship with the same heading as ours came barreling past us at 21 knots. Sobering, because we know that regardless of radar small vessels aren't always picked up electronically or visually.



As we progress from the Verdes the colour of the ocean changes from an indigo blue/black to a brilliant royal blue. Now I understand the term “blue water sailing”.

Everything is warming up including the water which registers 83 degrees F.-beautiful. A surprise to me is the abundance of sea life. Every morning at the beginning of my watch I clear all the the flying fish that have died on our deck during the night.

At different times of the day fish are jumping, the rods are out and we are catching smaller mahi-mahi . Sail fish are hitting our lines hard but they are difficult to land as we have light line and we are under sail and they just generally break it off. Our specialty is mahi-mahi sushimi about 15 minutes after it has been landed. We are well equipped with wasabi and ginger and for that matter beer too. Eating this treasure on the aft deck will be an enduring memory for me.

As the temperature steadily mounts and the sun beats directly on us, our relief has been to tie a life line to the stern of Severance, dive off and quickly head for the line. The depth here is 5,000 metres, very deep, so it is a thrill to be out there separated from our vessel. We only do this below 4 knots because the life line is not long and it would be easy to miss it but also because at higher speeds it is difficult to work your way back and the thought of a shark attack, however remote, occasionally intrudes .

The winds have been very predictable so far and we have the mainsail and genoa “wing on wing” with Severance running towards Brazil. The spinnaker came out and worked well but tangled one night which was a real hassle. We are making steady progress without the extreme wind conditions as experienced on the run from Praia to Fogo.

Posted by Danny McJannet

Destination Fogo

Having limited sailing experience many years in the past, the run from Praia to Fogo was eye-opening. The winds picked up quickly to an estimated force 7 which Severance handled superbly. A group of dolphins appeared and steadied my nerves with their exuberant runs and jumps as we surf/side slip off the crest of a very large wave into the valley of the next one coming. So far my stomach is holding-just.

In time we find Fogo, dominated by a large volcano that sweeps right out of the ocean and gets lost in the overhanging cloud cover.



Fogo March 6
Early in the morning we awake to the solicitation of a local entrepreneur/rip off artist (Claudio) who swims out to offer his services to guard Severance. The vibe doesn't seem quite right so the decision is to pull anchor, get close to town and complete provisioning.

Breaking surf at this spot and difficult access to the provisions force the decision to return to our original anchorage to complete the task.

On return, the supplies are loaded and then the difficulties begin. It revolves around the value of the services rendered by Claudio. There is a very spirited discussion. Claudio brings reinforcements to the bargaining session and our situation starts feeling a little tenuous.

Money must be passed but we don't have any and they have control of our stern line on shore. So Scott stays on board to guard Severance while Armando and I go to town with Claudio and a truck load of his henchmen. All rests on the money run. My card doesn't work but Armando's does and after money passes hands, we are all friends again.

That's enough. After a long hard day and under the cover of darkness we pull anchor, depart and begin the crossing but not without the feeling that the pirates, unlike the past have moved ashore.

Posted by Danny McJannet

The Log of Severance: Atlantic Crossing Cabo Verdes to Brazil

I'm Danny McJannet from Vancouver Canada and this is my account of the Atlantic crossing of the good ship Severance.

February 28
I arrive at Praia in the Verdes almost on schedule to run the usual gauntlet of airport cabbies, succeeding in finding one whose overcharge button was stuck on turbo. I check into the the hotel I had previously booked and cancelled. For this bad behaviour on my part, the desk staff decide to charge me 120 euros extra for the 2 day stay. Welcome to the Verdes!

March 1
I spend the day tracking Severance on the hotel internet and walking to the boat harbour checking if the vessel had arrived. Later in the evening, sitting in the lobby waiting to check their progress yet again, an unexpected commotion erupts at the front entrance. The crew of Severance had arrived, Captain Scott and Yacht Master Armando and they are very thirsty as all good sailors are with lots of stories to tell. The thirst was dealt with but it took a while that evening and still not all the stories were told.


March 2-5
The next 3 days were a whirlwind securing Brazilian visas, reporting to Maritime police and other local authorities formalizing Severance's arrival, imminent departure and then provisioning for the crossing.

The trickiest task was hiring the right local port thief to provide security for Severance while we were away on our business. Seems like a contradiction, but with the right choice thanks to Armando's skilled negotiating, it worked out. Nothing missing from Severance when we departed.

Official business went surprisingly smoothly while our collective basket of currency including escudos, euros and american took a big hit.

Praia. The town is a vibrant mix of 3rd world reality, new world sophistication complete with internet cafes, people sipping espressos while listening to the African beat.

The people, mainly friendly, do not consider themselves African although the influence is overwhelming. What is evident is the result of the many generations of the local people co-mingling with the Portugese

Danny at the local barber shop getting a haircut.

We managed to visit a historical fort further along the coast that was linked to the slave trade.

During this day trip we witnessed the environmental degradation of parts of the island due to the introduction of European domestic animals many generations before.

Much vegetation has been lost and dust storms swirl through much of the day. A sobering sight.

Okay, time to raise the anchor and head for Fogo, the last Cabo Verdes island to finish off our provisioning for the crossing(ie beer, lots of beer)

Posted by Danny McJannet

Equatorial Crossing and my 57th Birthday (3/15)

Sorry to any and all readers of the blog, but too much fun is being had to do a proper job on it.

But I did have one thing that I really wanted to relay, and that was the equatorial crossing.

For sailors throughout the ages, crossing the equator for the 1st time is a big deal, typically involving ceremonies that were eventful and (not fondly) remembered by the initiants.

We had some other ideas, and had 2 good bottles of Spanish Cava (method de champagnois) chilled.

As we got closer, it dawned on me that the event might even occur on March 15th, which is a birthday that Lewis (my brother) and I share).

It turned out, we did cross at around 5am on the 15th.

As we approached, I decided to play my favorite tune on the stereo, but then realized that I had never established what that was...a good time to put some thought into it.

The artist came 1st, no doubt, Louis Armstrong, the tune was harder, but I came up with it. A search on my MP3 player failed to turn it up, but Armando came through with it on his Ipod and we played "What a Wonderful Life" as we approached 0 degrees Lat.

After that, I played John Lennon's Imagine, then put on a John Lee Hooker album, let the swim ladder down and dragged myself (now 57 years old) across the equator.

Popped the corks on the Cava, drank toasts and smiled like 5 year olds without a care in the world!

What a Wonderful Life!

Heading Towards the Equator

Since Scott has been away from Internet for awhile (no MacDonald's at 4.6N, 28.9W), I thought I would fill you in with what I know.

Scott, Armando and Danny departed terra firma last Thursday, March 5. They had a bit of an adventure departing - angry natives waving spears, etc. I will save that story for Scott and Danny to tell!

Many have asked who Danny is, but anyone who was at our new Years Eve party last year does not have to ask! Danny is related to Scott in some obscure way (Scott's grandfather and Danny's grandmother were siblings, their fathers were cousins, that makes Danny & Scott second, third cousins?? cousins once removed, twice removed?? something like that.) The families have always been close. Scott and Danny have known each other from childhood and they have recently renewed their friendship including Danny's wife Rhonda and myself. Danny & Rhonda are from White Rock, British Columbia, a beautiful seaside community near Vancouver.

Danny & Rhonda were visiting Florida over the holidays and perhaps Danny had had too much wine but somehow the idea of crossing the Atlantic Ocean with Scott appealed to him. Danny & Rhonda are both adventurers so the idea planted itself and quickly took root.

So Danny made plans to meet Scott & Armando in Praia in the Cape Verde Islands. Casting his lot with Scott, Danny, like Scott, chose to wait until they were in the Cape Verde islands to attempt to obtain a visa to Brazil. Unlike most of Europe, travel to the South American countries is not so easy. Luckily having Armando (a well respected Brazilian citizen) vouch for them (and translate for them) seemed to help. They got their visas and were on their way. I hope they don’t do anything to hurt Armando's reputation or prevent him from ever returning to Brazil.

After checking out with customs in Praia, they made an unauthorized stop at the next island over. That is where they had their little adventure. (I hope Danny got pictures!)

They left the Cape Verde Island on Thursday March 5.

Since then they are having the most beautiful sailing of the whole trip. The trip across the Atlantic in the northern latitudes was marked by big storms and rough weather.

In the south things have been nothing but pleasant and tranquil. As you can see on the satellite tracking they have been making great headway. They have had gentle following winds, warm weather, ocean temperature in the 80’s, and catching fish like crazy. They have been enjoying mahi mahi and sashimi tuna everyday. They have also been swimming off the boat and dragging through the water on a line off the stern. I sure hope Danny is getting some pictures!

Sounds like Scott and Armando are making up for their dreadful winter in the Meditterean.

They are now about 200 miles or less off the equator. Their destination is an island called Iha Fernando de Noronha which is about 200 miles east of the easternmost point of Brazil. Here is a Google Earth map of the island. The island is the little square in the ocean.

You can see Fortaleza (Armando’s home and their ultimate destination) up the coast a bit.

More tomorrow about the party that will be there to meet them in Fortaleza.