WHATS IT LIKE SAILING IN BRAZIL?
Why Brazil
When we left Europe we saw Brazil merely as a stepping stone to Patagonia. We were absolutely delighted to arrive and find busy fishing villages, friendly people, wide sheltered anchorages, fantastic beaches, colourful towns and much more.
Instead of hurrying past we spent our full 6 month visa allowance cruising from Salvador to Uruguay. Here's what we learnt.
SAFETY
We were initially worried about safety, for us and for the boat. We asked and took advice from the local boaters and haven’t felt threatened at all. For the boat the advice is as follows. If a bay has mooring buoys and/or fishing boats/other yachts in it, it will be fine. Don’t try and find your own ‘secluded places’ in unmarked bays.
For us, the advice varied. In Salvador (big city) we were told to take Ubers and not walk past certain dangerous areas. Further south, away from the big cities,we found we could go ashore without worries in the small tourist towns. In Ilha Grande and Angra dos Reis we are happy to take the bus with the locals. Common sense says don’t go walking around dressed to the nines in the dark!
Apart from using the SOCICAM marina in Salvador we felt safe enough to anchor everywhere else. We always found good holding in either sand or mud.
PLANNING
I told my friend and weather expert Simon Rowell from Rowell Weather that we were planning on heading to South America. He said, ‘Great idea Lin only don’t start in the Caribbean’. He produced these diagrams to show that if we started in the Caribbean it would be against the current all the way along Brazil’s north east coast.
He also told me to pay close attention to developing lows and cold fronts. Below excerpt from Simon's Weather Manual
Choosing safe anchorages on the Brazil coast relies on spotting these cold fronts coming. You need to be confident in your weather interpretation skills and willing to move anchorages at short notice.
Just as an aside. Simon and I sailed together nearly 25 years ago when I might have known more about weather than he did. Now he is the expert and I am happy to listen to him. He provides weather information to cruisers, around the world racers and is the meteorologist for the GB sailing team. If you need help and advice he is your man.
As well as using windy, predict wind or similar you can view synoptic charts , forecasts , bad weather warnings and the high sea forecast for MetareaV at the Brazil Met Office site. You might need google to translate!
We set off from Europe in 2022 and followed Simon’s advice. We missed out the Caribbean and headed further south. We chose Salvador in The Bay of All Saints as our first stop. The beauty of this route is it can be done any time of year.
OUR ROUTE SOUTH FROM SALVADOR
The coast of Brazil is extremely long so I am going to cover it in sections.
This first section covers our arrival in Salvador and the 880 mile cruise south along the coast to Angra dos Reis.
The Bay of All Saints
The Bay of all Saints is approx 15nm x 10nm. Although at first glance it looks very industrial you can find many quiet places around the bay to anchor.
Salvador
Salvador, the third largest city in Brazil, is easy to spot at the entrance to the bay. The tide runs quite fast through the narrow entrance. It is well buoyed and the approach is straight forward, once you remember it is IALA B and red right returning!
In Salvador you will find everything you need for the boat after a long passage and can get fuel from a floating barge. Ashore are all the facilities you expect of a city. A great first stop in Brazil.
Not only do you have to check in to Brazil on arrival, you also have to check out/check in whenever you move state. This makes planning and picking a departure weather window for passages more complicated. Fortunately you get 72 hours to leave after completing your paperwork
Salvador is an easy place to check in/out as Immigration and Customs are in the same building and the Capitania is a short walk away (2023). 2024, I hear that all 3 officials are now in a dedicated SAC office but did not experience that.
Make sure you take a ride up the Elevador Lacerda to Pelourinho, the colourful old town and historic centre.
Bom Jesus
There is a lovely anchorage in the north part of the bay between Bom Jesus and Ilha Frade. There we found complete shelter, great holding, and flat water in all wind directions.
The tiny island of Bom Jesus, half a mile long and about half a mile wide, is home to 1500 people. The town is sprawled across the centre and northern parts of the island. It is a maze of streets. You can’t get lost but watch out for dead ends. At high water the sea comes right up and over the road.
The islanders are really friendly and patient with ‘beginner Portuguese’! There are shops, bars, restaurants and fresh vegetables come to the market on Thursdays (Quinta Feira) This charming island is well worth a visit.
Itaparica
Across the bay to Salvador is the island of Itaparica. The anchorage at the north end has a complicated approach. There is a degaussing station surrounded by yellow buoys and remains of fortifications to avoid. Although the buoys are not in the correct place, the navionics chart is correct for water depth on approach.
I’m glad we arrived in daylight because despite what the chart says, most of these obstacles were unlit. None of the yellow buoys are lit either. There is a new marina, not open yet in July 2023, a mooring field and room to anchor either close to the pontoons or further out near the church.
This is the tourist end of the island, colourful, cobbled streets, bars and restaurants but no shops.
A nice place to spend a couple of days. With the marina not being open we left our dinghy for free on the pontoon.
After checking out in Salvador, Itaparica is a good place to wait for weather/tide when leaving. You get 72 hrs to leave after checkout.
The Coastline
Bay of all Saints southwards
This part of the coastline is a bit like the west coast of Portugal. Lots of entrances that look like you might find shelter but are actually shallow, narrow rivers. The tide runs fast and with a prevailing onshore wind and almost constant swell a lot of them could quickly become dangerous. Local knowledge is recommended.
At 2.5m draft, we worry about the possibility of getting 'stuck' in these rivers, and prefer, easy entry all weather/tide anchorages. The headland of Armacao dos Buzios has a selection of anchorages on both sides to suit any wind direction. We decided to make a long passage and head there.
Heading offshore takes you into deeper water which improves the sea state. It also keeps you clear of the small wooden fishing boats with nets that do not show up on AIS or Radar.
This route south takes you past numerous oil fields, through fleets of brightly lit fishing boats and along the same track as lots of cargo ships. Good watchkeeping is essential. The AIS and Radar were continually full of targets, it certainly kept us on our toes.
Armacao dos Buzios
We arrived in the dark with a steadily increasing SW wind and anchored on the north side of the headland, just west of Buzios town in Enseada da Manguinhos. A nice wide bay with easy approach. There was perfect shelter and a cargo ship for company. By morning the wind was gale force, white horses everywhere. We were comfortable on board but didn’t fancy a dinghy ride.
2 more days of south gales and then it was time to move. From Cabo Frio south this becomes the weather pattern. South winds, calm, north winds, repeat. You can find a sheltered anchorage for 2 or 3 days then it is time to move as the next system approaches. Unfortunately this left no time to visit Buzios, but we could take a few snaps on the way past.
Arraial do Cabo Frio
This beautiful bay just 15nm south of Buzios has a choice of anchorages. We anchored in the widest bay, Enseada do Forno taking care to avoid the fish farm to starboard on the way in. Plenty of tourist boats visit during the day, but by sunset you have the place to yourself.
From the south end of the beach there is a lovely walk over the hill through the trees and down to the village – a really nice place with supermarkets, restaurants, tourist shops etc. You could also anchor nearer the town or pick up a vacant buoy.
Cabo Frio to Angra dos Reis – 130nm
This was our most exciting leg down the coast. No sooner had we rounded Cabo Frio than we spotted whales. After the first hour we had counted 4 groups totalling 15 whales. How lucky were we. We had been disappointed not to be able to stop in the Abrolhos Islands on the way south. Now we were crossing paths with migrating whales.
It was glassy calm – and we were surrounded by whale spouts, whales broaching, flippers banging, and great views of tails as they dove. It was amazing just gazing at these fabulous animals and hard to describe how surreal it felt.
I tried with the camera. A combination of the boat moving, the whales being on the surface for only a few seconds and the digital camera taking its time to register meant I couldn’t quite do them justice. Hope you can spot them in the slideshow.
It was flat calm when we rounded Cabo Frio but the new weather was approaching quickly. We thought about stopping in Rio, but knew we were likely to get trapped there for days in strong southerly winds. It was dark when we sailed past and the sea state was horrid, we continued west.
Ilha Grande
The weather was challenging as we approached Ilha Grande, but once in Abraão bay the sea went flat and although busy there was plenty of space to anchor. Phew!
Exploring Abraão and Baia Ilha Grande will be covered in detail in the next part.
Angra dos Reis
Angra, the port of entry for this part of the coast, is almost in the middle of the bay. The offices are closed at weekends. We anchored near the main pier and took the dinghy in, landing on the beach a short walk from the Policia Federal office.
The entry paperwork in Angra is easy, they are far more used to yachts than other places. The document you need is a ‘Passe de Entrada de Embarcaçao Pequeno Estrangeiro’. Once you have your Passe you then visit the Capitania dos Portos. If you are entering Brazil here you also have to visit the Receita Federal.
Angra has Marinas, Yacht Clubs, good shops, banks and 4 chandleries. Fuel is easy from a barge in the bay - pay with a card.
What we learnt
The people are friendly, the coastline is stunning and anchorages are safe and free.
Pay attention to the weather. Links for Synoptic charts, forecasts, bad weather warnings and MetareaV high seas from Brazil Met Office.
We have left our dinghy on the beach many times and it was untouched.
You have to check in and out of each state. Paperwork and bureaucracy is easy but time consuming. Many officials are not quite sure how to deal with yachts. Most offices are closed at weekends but you do get 72 hours to leave after check out.
A small amount of Portuguese goes a long way. If you are willing to try then locals are patient. They soon whip out their phones to use google translate.
Ubers are cheap and great for getting back from the supermarket with loads of groceries.
Foreign credit cards are accepted everywhere even for small amounts.
If you need cash Bradesco bank machines take foreign cards.
The telephone system is complicated. Communication between locals is mainly by Whats App.
Cell phone signal is limited except in big towns. We use Starlink
Spare parts are difficult to find and expensive if you do. Stock up well.
Ordering off the internet is complicated. You need a CPF (tax number) from the Receita Federal
Domestic cleaning and personal hygiene products are expensive, Stock up well.
Fruit, Vegetables and meat are plentiful and cheap.
Be careful buying butter. There are two types, extra or premium/top quality. We prefer extra. It has more fat and no additives are allowed. Premium/top quality has less fat and additives are allowed. I think you can taste the difference.
Be careful, many packaged food products have sugar in them. Even tinned tomatoes.
Brazilian wine is sweet. Imported wines are expensive. The local hooch cachaça is cheap. Homemade Caipirinhas are delicious!
We enjoyed sailing in Brazil so much in 2023 we came back in 2024
I write a regular blog which contains more details on the places mentioned. Below are the blogs related to this post in chronological order of writing. Links in the carousel
Any questions, please ask in the comments, or via chat on our No Foreignland page.
Source of extra information
The Noforeignland app/website has loads of additional info added by recent cruisers.
The next part will cover sailing in Baia de Ilha Grande, subscribe here to receive it directly to your inbox.
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