Easter weekend on St Helena Island was a relaxing time for all on board. The crew went to explore the Island and gave me time to do some maintenance. Had a packing to replace on the rudder shaft and change oil and filters on the main engine. Saturday night the crew treated me to a dinner at the local hotel and as Menno was celebrating his birthday the next day it gave us a good excuse to have two bottles of Neville Dorringtons superb red wine from his private cellar at Rijks Ridge. A good time was had by all and we made friends with Bert and his crew from Holland journeying to his home town. Anns place was temporary closed due to her awaiting a knee operation but I had the opportunity to see her again after 18 years, some photos were taken and the crew spend some time paging through her books and reading about passing yachts. The RMS dropped anchor at 06h00 on Tuesday morning and after buying fresh bread and cool drinks we had to say our goodbyes to Madeleine, and left the Island at 13h30 for Brazil.
We had good wind for the first six days and logged some good mileage, doing some days 140/150 miles. Then mother nature started playing her tricks and gave us very light winds for the rest of the passage, the last 120 miles we had to motor sail.
On the 28th we celebrated Grahams birthday and he was spoiled all day. June cooked us a terrific dinner and we washed it down with a bottle of Laborie Merlot.
We arrived in Salvador in Thursday 4th May and everyone welcomed the fact we could tie up in the Marina Centro Nautico in Salvador. No more watches, what a relief !!! We soon made friends and Bruno, the manager was helpful, giving us general information. We joined two other RSA yachts in the marina, Taurus, a Muira owned by Richardt & Lilly and Ukulele Lady a Shearwater 39 with Nick & Lynette on board. It gave me a chance to speak Afrikaans again. The people in Salvador are very friendly but language is a problem as no-one speaks English.
We discovered a superb restaurant and treated June to a wonderful dinner. The Cenac is a training restaurant for apprentice chefs and waiters. We enjoyed the best buffet that one can imagine. Plans are to stay in Bahia area for the next 3 - 4 months, explore the islands and the rivers, so much to see and do in this beautiful country. I will just have to get used to the high humidity and the heat but it 's a small price to pay. All for now, until later .....
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