In our last article we introduced you to the dug-out canoes of Bahia. In chapter two of the story of Brazil’s traditional boats we show you how the natives have adapted their boat building methods to cope with modern legislation. In the Bahia de Todos os Santos and in neighbouring Camamu the dug-out canoes are low and narrow – and slow. Even the bigger ones, which accommodate six fishermen, are relatively low and very slow. They are evidently very heavy.…
Traditional boats have always been a big passion of mine. They appeal to my interest, as a sailor, in all other watercraft, and they also tickle my perpetual fascination with history. Having now spent three and a half years messing about on the east coast of South America we’ve had the chance to get to know the local boats pretty thoroughly; and certainly I’ve had the chance to compile a vast portfolio of photos of the various craft. Whilst I…
Two years – that was how long it had taken us. Looking back, I can hardly believe that we managed to achieve so much in such a short period. In two years we had turned a badly-built, 50 foot hull and deck into a sturdy, seaworthy vessel! However, at the time it did not seem to us that we had achieved anything remarkable; indeed, at the time it felt to us as if we were working with iron balls chained…
Picture the scene: You’re three days out from the Marquesas, on your way to Tahiti. The moon is almost full, and a silvery-white path leads all the way over the black sea to the edge of the world. A steady force five fills the belly of the mainsail, and the genny is also pulling nicely. There’s nothing needs doing – the wind vane is in control – and you can sit back and soak it all up. That’s what our…
Over the course of the past four years we’ve had a lot of correspondence deriving from our first article about hitching a ride across the Atlantic. Most of the would-be ocean travellers who read it accept that it was written tongue in cheek; and most also recognise that, besides taking the piss, it also offers sound advice. On the other hand, a few hitch-hikers have taken the whole thing to heart – perhaps they were so upset by the first…
One hundred and fifty miles from here, on the far side of a forest, 40,000 people are cheering and jeering at 22 others whose job it is to run after a ball. Further still to the north, much the same sort of scene is taking place in a brand new stadium which stands alongside a crowded favela; and there’s another game getting underway to the south, or so we’ve been told. No doubt the widescreen tellies in the bars in…
It’s been over a month since we posted our article about plastic in the sea and issued the plastic free challenge, and during this time nobody has got in touch to ask how it’s going – but we’re going to tell you anyway! During this plastic-free month we have had several people contact us to say that there’s no hope for humanity – or words to that effect. One friend told us that if you let such things as pollution,…
Everybody’s heard about the Pacific garbage patch. It’s the size of Texas and it’s so dense that you could build a house atop the debris. Last week I read an account by someone who sailed past the floating island and who claims to have faced a constant battering from all the rubbish hitting the hull. “The debris isn’t just on the surface,” he says, “it’s all the way down. And it’s all sizes, from a soft-drink bottle to pieces the…
The Argentinians are very friendly people. For example, the other day, while Nick was buying wood and struggling to lash it to his bicycle, a complete stranger asked if he would like to put it in her car, instead. She didn’t mind the fact that she would have to go out of her way to take it to our dinghy. And just yesterday, while we were shopping, another woman approached us and asked if we would like to borrow her…
It’s finally happened! First there was the delay in finishing the illustrations – of which there are more than 100. Then there was the delay with the final editing. And then there was the delay with the final final editing… After that came the delay over where to send the proofs (bearing in mind that we’re on the move), and when the proofs came there was a delay when we found that the photos were not up to scratch. Delays,…