I have just arrived in Buenos Aires but my baggage is enjoying an unexpected stop-over in Cordoba. Gritty eyes, a sore knee and an empty brain will just have to be put up with till…

It feels normal – no, wonderful to be back in BA, which is as beautiful as ever. The skies are cloudless, the markets are opening and washed cobblestones glisten. I have such rich, complicated memories…

Piriapolis is packed with obese holidaymakers. To the noise of muffler-free motor bikes is added advertising by boom boxes on the roofs of cars. At top volume. If I were mayor of this town…  Here…

In the cool of the morning we set about putting the new forestay together. Only then did I realise that the Wrapstop fitting was absent. It must have disappeared over the side when the forestay…

Yesterday was a rest day for us lads, while others painted the bottom. My shame but their pain. A time to dream, read and reflect. I know what Chris means about Bruce Chatwin – his…

We motor out of Piriapolis at last, on a flat sea, into a faint E breeze. Cloudless and warm. The autopilot is clapped and so, I think, is the wind generator. Tant pis. There is…

At 1400h we dropped anchor in the first bay of Porto Belo. Full of motor boats, pirate ships, floating prawn restaurant, plus the odd fishing trawler and 2 cruising boats – Mallard (bob and bette),…

  A grey morning with commercial shipping, low green shoreline, humble housing and a pleasing absence of toytown high rise. This is a working port. We moseyed up river and anchored off the old town,…

Calm grey seas and intermittent showers. Clusters of fishing boats at the 20m line, which is almost 20 miles offshore hereabouts. I thought ennui were Eskimos till I discovered Brasil’s coastline. Henry Ford is tireless…

We fuelled up at 1300 – 450 litres at R2 per litre – and fled Santos. We were given complimentary T-shirts by Rosie at the yard, and were charged nothing. Such nice people. Light variable…

Last night the sunset was a vulgar Roger Dadd cataclysm. Unsubtle oranges and blacks. We were chased into San Sebastiano channel by the thunderstorm which brought cooling rain and a favourable breeze. We anchored in…

The barometer is rising and it will be a hot one today. Up at 8, after a hearty metamucil breakfast I am raring to go. Dave rightly observes that we have no food and cigarette…

At 0300 on Monday our log reads “Ipanema beach abeam 3 miles” and the lights of the favela sprawl up into the hills behind. Jesus looked benignly down at us through the mist as we…

After the longest, most tedious motor sail we finally tied up at Vitoria YC soon after dawn. A joy to turn the engine off. The waterfront is fascinating, it being the service centre for the…

As always, the breeze died at 2 am and we were motoring again. Still it is the last day of this Henry Ford epic. Approaching Salvador harbour we shook hands and quaffed. I said the…

 It rained in Rio, or as they say in Portuguese, “hained in hio”. In Niteroi the Niemyer MMA and Rio itself look gorgeous through the mist. Some special treats – the 16th century library; an impromptu…

We are away from the boat for a couple of weeks. David is off exploring with Jeanette while Christine has joined me to give Rio some slightly more respectful attention. But now we are in…

Back in Bahia, it was hot and very steamy. The faded, mouldy opulence of Portuguese colonial architecture looks sad, but there is such exuberance in Salvador. Dirty, noisy, hot, peligroso and tourist-oriented. But very alive.…

Chris has gone home. Time now to digest some of the memories of our cruise up Rio Paraguaςu and our time at Itaparica. Not to overlook that extraordinary interlude at Lencois – the emerald hummingbirds,…

We at last dragged ourselves away from this noisy, dirty, exuberant, dangerous and vibrant city. Memories of urine along the pissing wall; the caterwauling of the Bosun’s whistle at Capitania do Portos; the tiny black…

Natal was the nicest, mellowest, coolest, palmiest and easiest place we’ve been since Nelson. No other yachts (we hated all the pretension of the French cruising community at Cabadelo) and the prettiest little club a…

  We spent a taxing night weaving our way through fresh squalls. Dave has the uncanny knack of attracting them. I would just be drifting off to sleep when Tainui would be over on our…

Yesterday we crossed the equator at 1130 in 43 deg 39.8W. No celebration – Dave asleep. Grey all day with squalls graciously passing on each side.   A boisterous, wet and uncomfortable night, close on…

  A fast night but now light airs and 5 knots through the water. Excellent vegetable stew.Today I lost a bucket over the side. The first time in 35 years. One of Ian’s excellent Piriapolis…

  Today is sunny with an easier, steady NE trade allowing dry decks. We still have some fruit – pineapples, melons to go. Trade wind sailing. We haven’t touched the sails for 4 days now,…

  Birdsong, rain, a lazy brown river, dense jungle and rich organic smells. A desultory collection of mouldy French yachts at a rickety jetty – the burnt out ends of tropical dreams. Repaired trilight. Provisioned…

Departed Cayenne at 1800 and at 2330 we made Devils Island. We rounded the southern tip of Isle Royale and anchored in 5 m of water with a rocky shore only 50 m behind us.…

Our romp last night became a lope and then a dawdle. 4 knots with 1.5 knots of corriente to assist. By 3 am we were in 15 m of water, with little breeze. At dawn…

We hauled the anchor in the Paramaribo River after the top of the tide. The 6 mile channel out to sea from the river mouth passes through invisible shoals. The markers are about a mile…