The Mountains

The next day Bill arrived. Bill is a friend from our college days. He is a commercial real estate agent with his own agency in Traverse City, Michigan. The economy being what it is, this seemed like a good time to get away from it all. He was replacing Danny and doing the leg from Brazil to Trinidad.

Once again we hired Gladstone’s services and this time headed for the mountains. Scott had been suffering back pains and decided to forego this trip.

We wound through beautiful scenery with quaint sights such as children playing in streams along side the road, a man riding a donkey with handmade baskets hanging off the saddle, and huge fields of banana trees. As we drove endlessly through these sites there seemed to be an animated conversation in Portuguese going on in the front seat between Gladstone and Armando. We learn later that Gladstone’s short cut added some time to our journey, but … so what!
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Sights along the route.

A small bar we stopped at to get some water and take a break. It was here that Rhonda and Danny (wine connoisseur’s extraordinaire) purchased a bottle of cashew wine. (Cashew wine??? How do they do that?)



Same town. You tell me what it says?

Refreshed, we continued on to our ultimate destination … the top of the mountain.
Left to right – Danny, Rhonda, Madeline, Diane, Bill.

Madeline & Bill getting a closer look. It was very overcast and we were above the clouds in spots.

We started back down the mountain going through a number of lovely towns. We had a pretty full car. We came to a town that had some very steep roads. Gladstone, for whatever reason, tried to power up the hills, slipping and not quite making it on the mossy wet cobblestone. People were coming out of their houses and scowling at us.

With much discussion between Armando & Gladstone, we headed to our next destination.

A waterfall. Everyone changed into swimsuits and took a dip.

It was agreed, the water was very cold.

Madeline was the first to make the dive.

Danny, Madeline and Bill all swam underneath the waterfall. Rhonda chose to enjoy it from a warmer place.

Brazilian plant life.

Seeds from a palm.

Bird of Paradise.

We headed home. On the way Armando had one more treat he wanted us to experience. He was looking for a place to get something called (and I may not spell it right, but this is what I thought it was) Tapioca. It is not the pudding we know. We made a few U-Turns as we came into the city, but we ended up in a little bakery where we got these pastries that were like little crepes with cheese on the outside. Hard to explain how they got the cheese on the outside and normally they have the cheese on the inside, so these were unique even to Armando.

As we were eating and talking and laughing, the young son of the proprietor was very interested in these exotic English speaking people. He ran away and brought back a whole group of friends to show them the strange people. We saw them peeking through the window at us!

Our last and final adventure before arriving back at the hotel was when we were actually back in Fortaleza. We were on a 3 lane divided highway and as we are all slightly dozing in the car, Gladstone suddenly swerves to the right. As we look up we see what he swerved to miss, a donkey walked off the side of the road right in to traffic. As Rhonda looked back she saw other cars swerving and braking. Only in Brazil!

The Beach and the Barbeque

Tuesday Armando made arrangements for us to go to Lagoinha, a beautiful beach with sand dunes about 100 kilometers outside Fortaleza.

He found a cab driver named Gladstone who had a vehicle big enough to hold 6 passengers. We were able to hire Gladstone’s services for the full day for 120 reals, which is about $70 US. We ended up using Gladstone as our driver for the rest of the week.

This beach was not crowded and much safer than the city beaches. We ordered large bottles of beer which they brought in insulated containers. As we finished a bottle, we removed it from the insulated container and put it under the table. At the end of the day, the beer bottles were tallied and we paid based upon the bottle count.

Rhonda and Madeline playing in the surf.

Armando arranged for us to take a dune buggy ride. The driver asked Armando – “With emotion or without emotion?” Armando said “With emotion, of course.” I sat up front with the driver. Rhonda, Danny, & Madeline sat perched on the back hanging on to the roll bar.

Goats in the sand dunes.

View from the top of one of the sand dunes.

Donkeys were roaming free and grazing in the dunes.

The driver took us to a little waterfall that we had to cross to get over to a fresh water lagoon. I was concerned about crossing the falls with my camera, so Danny volunteered to hold it. Halfway across the current became very strong and I felt bad about the responsibility I put on Danny. Just then the current swept Rhonda off her feet. As she grabbed for her husband to save her, he backed away and said “Don’t touch me! I have the camera.” Poor Rhonda! She was able to regain her footing and we had a good laugh.

The other side of the falls.

The falls from the top.

On the way back we crossed over the top of the falls. There was no current there and it was an easy, calm crossing. If I had lost my camera – and then learned about this easy crossing ….. then you would seen the real meaning of emotion!

At the start of the trip we came over the top of this huge dune and plunged straight down. It was unexpected (part of the “with emotion” version of the tour), and like a roller coaster. There were screams from the back as they grabbed hold of the roll bar. And Rhonda’s hat went flying.

On our way back to the beach we passed the roller coaster hill and there was Rhonda’s hat. Danny raced up the hill to get it (probably trying to make up for not saving her at the waterfall!!). You can barely see on the left side of the hill, just across from Danny, a blue jacket or sweater. Apparently this is an area where items often go flying.

Danny redeemed himself!!

This beach had a lot of fishermen, all fishing from these traditional, very old style boats. The mast and boom were made from branches, as was the helm man’s seat. The rudders were carved everything was lashed down with cheap blue nylon twine.

These boats are still built as they were in the old days. The sail is just cotton and they throw dippers of water on it to tighten the fabric to perform better as a sail. The mast is a series of tree trunks lashed together to taper it and also to give it shape and flexibility.

Launching these boats is a major effort. The crews from several boats all work together to get the boats past the waves that are breaking. They roll the boat down to the water on logs, very low tech. They then, run, push, shove, angle and maneuver until they get the boat past the breaking waves. They then anchor the boat out past the breakers and go in to work on the next man’s boat.

These fishermen were going out overnight. See the bend in the mast.

Portuguese Man O’ War.

After leaving the beach Armando took us to a Barbeque restaurant called Gaucho, at the little village of Cumbuco. Look at the size of those ribs!! And they were incredible, juicy and crisp and a great flavor.

Bones picked clean.

Group shot with the owner (middle) and Gladstone (back row, left).

What a wonderful day.

Mercado Central

The next day Armando and his mother, Eloisa, took us (the girls) shopping at the Mercado Central ( the Central Market)..


When I was researching Fortaleza on the internet this was one thing that was talked about as a must do. I expected native craftsmanship, what I did not expect was a market that was the size of a city block and 6 levels high connected by circular ramps.

Within this area were many hundreds of small kiosks with shoes, clothing, linens, and jewelry, all managed by individual vendors with everything you can imagine for sale.

There are certain things that Brazil is famous for – cashews, hammocks (beautiful hammocks), linens – hand woven and hand embroidered, beautifully woven blouses, crinkled dresses, beads made from palm seeds and shells, if I could have prepared for this experience I would have completed all of my Christmas shopping with unique, beautiful gifts. As it was, it was overwhelming.

Eloisa helped keep us focused, pointing out especially interesting or worthwhile items. One of my first purchases was a crinkled dress of very thin cotton rolled into a twist to keep the wrinkles. Eloisa encouraged me to buy it and it has turned out to be my favorite thing to relax in when evening comes, cool and unrestricting. I don’t even bother to crinkle it, I just love the feel of the light cotton on my skin.

Armando helped Madeline barter a good deal on a hammock. Madeline also stocked up on some beautiful beads to take home to friends.

Armando was a saint, putting up with four women shopping. Eloisa was there to find the good deals, Armando was there to translate and help barter. Notice Rhonda’s purse, made out of pieces of polished coconut shells. It was beautiful.

I was not sure if Brazilians bartered until I was literally pulled into a shoe store, a pair of (I will admit) very comfortable sandals put on my feet and encouraged to make an offer. While I anxiously eyed my own shoes, the vendor offered me the sandals for $45 rialys (about $25 US). They were comfortable, but I was not thinking of new shoes. As I fought my way out of the store, he reduced the price to $40,… $30…, $25…, $15…, at that point I just wanted my own shoes back.

That gave me a false sense of the Brazilian barter game. Armando tells us that they expect you to barter for 5 or 10%. The deep discount that the shoe vendor tried to thrust on me was not typical.

We ended the afternoon with a stop at a juice bar. The drinks were made strictly from the fruits, no additives. Most of the fruits were unfamiliar to us, so Armando got the juice vendor to give us samples of the different fruits. There was one that was Armando’s favorite that he strongly recommended. It had a white flesh and was a little slimy, but very tasty. We all went with that. The fruit was blended into a smoothie consistency and was probably the most refreshing thing I have every tasted.

The green cactus-y looking fruit in the foreground is what we drank. It is called Graviola and it is only grown in a limited climate in Mexico, Central America, parts of the Caribbean and northern South America. It is not a common fruit, even in Brazil. If you ever get the chance to try it – do so!

Sunday at the Beach

Scott had left a wake up call for 8am the next day. He is not one to miss breakfast. We woke with the sun streaming through the window. I was sure the desk forgot and we had missed breakfast. The sun was so high, it felt like it was close to noon. We checked the time and learned that it was only 6:30. That is something I never got used to. Being only 3 degrees from the equator, the sun rose very early and set early also, about 6pm. It made it easy to get up in the morning and surprisingly enough, you did not mind the sun setting so early. It was so hot that the early darkness brought much needed relief from the heat.

We left the hotel shortly after 11:00 with the name of the beach restaurant in our hands. We assumed the cab driver would know where it was. What we didn’t know was that there was 15 miles of beach where we were going and it was packed with hundreds of restaurants that had very similar names. (I think the Portuguese word for Restaurant was the significant part of the name we were looking for - we saw it everywhere) The cabbie stopped and consulted with other cabbies and finally we found it, only half an hour late.

Everything you imagine about the beaches in Brazil is true. The most striking thing was their beach culture. On the weekend everyone near the coast was at the beach, rich, poor, and in between. All of the women wore string bikinis (and looked great in them) and all of the men wore speedos (and looked great in them also!!).

The restaurant we met in had a good solid roof and tile floor, but the sides were open to the beach. Families sat at the tables and ate and drank while children ran in and out of the water and played in the sand. You could sit there all day. There was no feeling that you had to make way for other customers.

Armando’s parents were charming and his mother is very beautiful. With the help of the Portuguese/English dictionary and, of course, Armando’s translating skills, we shared stories and laughed and had a wonderful time.



Left to right back row– Eloisa and Armando, Sr, Danny, Rhonda, Scott.
Front row – Armando, Sonia, and Madeline.

Armando Sr. showing Danny how to crack a crab.

We ordered a number of dishes and shared. The soup in the right top corner is ray stew – yes, as in stingrays.

Although this was a restaurant with menus and waiters, if you wanted something that was not on the menu, the waiter was happy to go out on the beach and bring in a beach vendor that had it. Scott wanted raw oysters, which were not on the menu, so the waiter brought in a kid from the beach who sat on a bucket next to our table and shucked a dozen oysters.

After a long and luxurious lunch, Eloisa and Armando Sr left for home and we started down the beach headed to our next destination.

The beach was beautiful, but parts were not safe. Brazil is a country that has so much natural beauty, but it is also a land of extreme poverty. The lack of opportunity has made it one of the world’s most dangerous countries. As we were warned to not leave the hotel area on our own, the beach also had its dangers. At first we did not notice anything. We were laughing and talking (in English) and generally making ourselves very conspicuous. At one point Rhonda pointed out that a shot of Scott and Danny walking ahead of us would make a nice picture. As I started to pull my camera out of my backpack, Armando was on me in an instance and told me to put it back.

Later down the beach a guard from one of the restaurants approached Armando and told him that we were attracting too much attention. We moved up to where the guards were and continued the walk away from the beach. At that point Madeline mentioned that she had started noticing passing the same people, in other words they were circling us.

It was a sobering thought, made more so since Armando had been robbed at gunpoint just two nights earlier. It is a real danger and so sad.

Eventually we arrived at our destination. It was another beach bar, but this one had a stage and band. The band was excellent, playing modern songs with a strong latin beat. Besides looking good in swimwear, Brazilians are natural dancers. Scott and I were the only ones in our party who did not dance, but I loved just watching.

The table we sat at was the table where Armando first met Sonia two years earlier. How romantic!!

Danny & Rhonda were fearless dancers, as was Madeline.

Danny & Rhonda, Armando & Sonia


But it was Rhonda who won the heart of Roger, one of the best dancers on the floor. Danny had a hard time competing, Roger monopolized Rhonda the rest of the evening and gave her lessons in how to dance like a Brazilian.

Roger, Rhonda, and an unknown cowgirl in golden platform boots! When we left Roger bowed and told Rhonda “You are my Queen!”. Rhonda replied – “No, you are my Queen!”.

Fortaleza, Brazil – March 28

Back during their days in the Mediterranean Armando talked Scott into adding a couple thousand extra miles to the journey and stopping in Brazil. Forteleza, a beautiful coastal city in Brazil, is Armando’s home town and he wanted Scott to see it. And Scott wanted me to see it. So plans were made to meet in Brazil.

This was also the end of the line for Danny. Danny’s wife Rhonda was also joining us in Forteleza. After a week in Fortaleza Danny and Rhonda were going on to see the rest of Brazil, including the Amazon.

And because it wouldn’t be a party without her, Madeline, the dear, crazy Cornish woman that Scott and Armando met in England, was between jobs and looking for an adventure. Scott had no trouble convincing her to meet us in Brazil.

Scott and Armando also picked up a new crew member, a friend of ours from college days, Bill Sage. Bill is a commercial real estate agent in Traverse City, Michigan and real estate being as it is, it seemed like a good time for him to get out of town and forget about the economy for awhile. Bill would be replacing Danny as crew and will be doing the leg from Fortaleza to Trinidad.

So we had a pretty lively group gathering. Saturday, March 28 was arrival day for most of us. My flight arrived at 2:45pm Saturday afternoon after a 17 hour journey. I arrived carrying a boat transmission in my suitcase. It got a lot of chuckles and I believe I will finally get that wife of the year award.

Rhonda arrived at 4:30 having traveled the longest – Vancouver, BC to Toronto, to New York, to Sao Paulo, to Natal, to Fortaleza, over 24 hours of travel time. I may have gotten the names of the stops wrong, but not the number. She left 8 hours before I did and arrived 2 hours after.

And finally, Madeline had the shortest and easiest journey of all, London to Lisbon to Fortaleza arriving at around 8pm. At one time during the planning Madeline actually suggested that I fly to London and go from there. It would have been shorter.

After a couple of trips to the airport we all gathered at the Marina Park Hotel where Severance was docked. A lovely 5 star hotel situated right in the middle of one of the most dangerous parts of town. The hotel was well guarded, but even short trips required a taxi.

We had all booked rooms at the hotel. After checking in we gathered in the cockpit of Severance, we had a lot of catching up to do. As we sipped wine and ate cheese and sausage we made plans for tomorrow. We travelers were exhausted so there were no early plans. At noon we were meeting Armando and Sonia and Armando's parents at the beach for lunch.

The Marina from inside the hotel lobby.

The view of Severance from our hotel room.

March 20 Natal

We arrive and anchor at the Natal Yacht Club and actually tie up to a dock to take on water and fuel. This is so much easier than transporting large full containers to Severance through wave break. A comment: I'm not sure what it is about Brazil and sailboats but there seems to be no effort spared to ensnare us in multi levels of bureaucracy every landfall we make.

The first day in Natal is similar to Naronha. A visit to 4 separate Ministries in various parts of the city, having documentation stamped yet again bearing in mind that we are repeating the same process as in Naronha. Among the detailed questions to be answered is...”Did anybody die in transit?” Well... no, we all sort of got along. At certain Ministries there is even a dress code. Try wearing shoes, shirt, and long pants in 35 degree C temperature and near 100% humidity. I guess the natural reaction to all of this love of Brazilian bureaucracy was the thong bathing suit for the ladies and the speedo for the men.

Armando, with his insatiable desire for shrimp and more fresh shrimp taps into the local market. He is up early in the morning bargaining at the local market returning usually with a couple of kilos of ...guess what and the appetite to take care of it. Listening to tunes on the aft deck, eating shrimp and sipping a cold one is a great way to start a day- every day in Natal.

March 24 Fortaleza
We leave Natal on March 22 and it is an uneventful run to my final destination, Fortaleza, except for the addition of another crew member, Armando’s girlfriend, the beautiful Sonia.

I say uneventful, except for the spike in night ship traffic. Not everything can be picked up by radar or AIS, especially small fishing boats. We go through a fleet of 50 or so plus larger vessels, and I leave my last watch exhausted but relieved there have been no close calls. A 34 ft. sailboat is going to lose to just about everybody out there.

We arrive in Fortaleza on March 24, tie up Mediterranean style in the hotel marina and my sailing odyssey is over. I crossed the Atlantic on a small sailboat, didn't get seasick, and completed an adventure of a lifetime in the company of very fine sailors. It is a wonderful life!


Posted by Danny McJannet