12 days out from St. Helena we sailed into the harbor of Fernando DeNoronha, a beautiful archipelago off the coast of Brazil which limits visitors (excluding those arriving by boat) to 400 individuals at any one given time. Unlike St. Helena, Fernando has a thriving tourist economy and, as a result, offers some of the luxuries in life we’ve grown accustomed to (i.e. internet and the glorious Apple pay). Life is easier on Fernando, but not necessarily better.
Prior to our arrival in Fernando, however, we experienced 1867 nautical miles of light winds, flat seas, and champagne downwind sailing. The kite went up upon our departure from St. Helena and remained the only sail used for the full journey. Just spectacular when you think about it, flying a spinnaker for 11 days on end. That part of the journey to date lived up to its reputation as a downwind milk run. As far as sailing goes, it was a very gentile passage with the moderate winds and flat to comfortable following seas.
Ship traffic was essentially non-existent, and it was not unusual to run for days on end with no contacts on the radar. Amazing sunsets and a waxing moon bookended days filled with boat projects, learning from the master Brett, and doing our best to consume as many of the 30 doz. eggs we provisioned to fortify us on this oceanic walkabout.
Our approach to Fernando was marked by Kristian landing a beautiful mahi-mahi about 50 nm out. Quick work of it provided nice fresh filets for dinner, pre-arrival.
The reward for such sailing “effort” was not too bad either. If you enjoy sitting on a beach encased in beautiful volcanic cliffs with limited to almost no other humans interrupting your blissful daydreams, while the surf rolls in across some of the softest sand ever experienced, Fernando is the place to escape to. All are easily had and are guaranteed to not disappoint. But bring google translate if you don’t speak Portuguese as English is in very limited rotation on the island and most menus are only in the native tongue.
I’m on a boat.
Customs and Immigration – no bureaucratic prancing, just simple and straightforward. The Port Captain wielding a quick google translate and bringing all officials to us at his office on a Saturday morning while pointing out the free wi-fi hotspot that his office and vicinity commanded. We checked into the country and out at the same meeting.
Followed by the immigration fellas escorting us around the island to point out recommended restaurants, the main town area, and the grocery store. Just amazing hospitality. And so chill.
That said, beware of asking for a buggy rental. That process and price charged is best handled in advance online and if they don’t meet you at the Customs office with a nice ride, grab a quick cab to their location. Our ride was connected that morning via a ‘friendly contact’ of the Port Captain and ended up being a full-on gangster rat rod piece of absolute shit. In fact, the renter tracked us down later in the day via a motorcycle, approached with a jug of oil, casually popped the hood while we were at an intersection and proceeded to fill her up- then signaled us all good with a thumbs up. Certainly not an encouraging exchange that left us all laughing. With a front end that wandered like a teenager’s attention span and a shift linkage that had absolutely no rubber bushing left, I was double clutching it all day showing her no mercy on the washboard roads leading down to many a tucked away beach.
Anchorage sights (03°49.95’S, 32°24.4’W) – a slow parade of a large pod of spinner dolphins greeted us each morning shortly after the sun rose over the harbor. What starts as what appears to be general fishing by the pod, transitions to leaping out of the water and spinning. Quite the show to behold and with an amazing backdrop of volcanic cliffs and pounding surf. The anchorage had a fair amount of local fishing boats but only one other cruiser that we could determine, and they departed shortly after our arrival.
Beaches – we visited no less than 7 beaches. Each with a different vibe and more than a few that I would deem ‘epic’ status worthy. If you like remote, quiet beaches, with a gentle slope, nice surf, and talc soft sand, they are plentiful on Fernando. Praia do Bode , Praia do Americano and Praia Do Boldro’ were each just spectacular.
Forte Dos Remedios – the requisite hilltop fort protecting the harbor entrance and anchorage, this fortification featured some cannons trained on the village square below. If overrun, the expectation was that cannons would lay waste to the town below, thus discouraging marauders staying for any period. I guess the mentality was if I can’t have it, neither will you. Certainly not a forgiving nor ill devised strategy. If living below the fort however, I wouldn’t have hung any pictures or decor on the walls knowing the ultimate strategy that would be unleashed should the town be overrun.
Prior to wrapping our time on the island, we visited the local ‘supermarket’ for any fresh produce we could find. More like a NYC bodega, we did score late afternoon fruit after their shipment was unpacked. Provisioning included:
Doz. tangerines
½ doz. Granny Smith apples
½ doz pears
4 bell peppers
2 cukes
Hellman’s mayo (hello deviled eggs ….)
3 sleeves of choc chip cookies
3 sleeves of double choc chip cookies
4 bars of dark chocolate
So fresh salad will be had for the next week of the journey into Grenada, which will be a nice treat as the passage is historically more uncomfortable the last week or so as we skirt along the Brazilian coast riding the current north but facing wind and swell on our port beam.
After two stretches of sailing that has essentially resulted in us having nearly crossed the Atlantic Ocean, I now understand the perspective of the great John Kretschmer and will leave you with his sage perspective. A uber accomplished sailor and author of numerous books including the classic ‘Sailing a Serious Ocean’ John qualifies ocean sailing as thus:
It’s hard to be alone anywhere on land, there’s so much information tracking it, and you can be tracked at sea as well but you’re a long way away from help when you’re in the middle of the ocean. It’s not like any Coast Guard is going to just launch a plane or a helicopter to rescue you, it really is a wilderness, and all of the beauty of wilderness applies to the sea. You think of so much great nature writing and it really applies to the ocean as well because that’s where the wilderness is today.