Sailing Tropical Dawn

In this episode of our podcast we talk about our future sailing plans now that we are back home in Cape Town. We are not planning to do weekly podcasts any more for now, but if you like hearing what we are up to you can listen to our weekly Princess and The Big Blue […]

We are so happy to be back in South Africa, and not just because we were tired of being on the water and love having solid ground under our feet. We both missed the very special country on the southern end of the African continent. In today’s podcast episode we’ll tell you about our experiences […]

We recorded a podcast episode during our passage from Brazil to South Africa, about two weeks in. Reflections on our departure from Cabedelo and the start of the big South Atlantic passage.

After 45 days at sea, crossing the South Atlantic from Cabedelo, Brazil to Cape Town, South Africa, we are back home. It wasn’t an easy passage, and not just because it was our longest yet. We’ll tell all about it in this episode of our podcast.

A special episode of our podcast where we look back at our time spent in Brazil.

This week on our podcast we talk about our last minute preparations ans our offerings to the orisha of the water.

Our engine is finally fixed, but we are still in Cabedelo, Brazil, so what’s up with that? Listen to find out. We also complete our the safety inspection for the boat, tasted a delicious chocolate pizza and pizza pie, Brazilian style. Content warning: towards the end of the podcast we talk about violence and safety […]

We are still in Cabedelo, Brazil. We’ll explain where we are with our engine repairs and when we think we’ll leave here. And we get into a rant or two.

We are still ion Brazil and not crossing an ocean. What is happening with our engine and how did we get around coming to the end of our 90 day tourist visa in Brazil? Listen to this week's episode of our podcast to find out!

The engine is finally back inside the boat and we are preparing for our big passage from Brazil back to Cape Town. We went on a nice weekend outing to Pipa with our Brazilian friend Thallys.

We went back in the water, after finishing painting a few new layers of anti fouling, checking the seacocks, replacing the anodes and a few other things. Other great news is that the parts for the engine have finally arrived so hopefully it will be repaired soon!

This week we talk about gender roles within the sailing context and how the principle of "there can only be one skipper on board" can conflict with relating as equals within a romantic partnership. But before that, we talk about what we did this week, such as learning to dance Forró and Coco getting pricked.

This week we are reflecting on some big news we shared with the world as well as on the fact that we got married exactly 4 years ago. We have some good news regarding our diesel engine repairs and have been enjoying the Brazilian music and food.

This week we made a few different boat outings here in João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil. Dimi went sailing on a dingue, a Brazilian made Sailing dingy, with our friend Fernando. We watched the solar eclipse, right here in Jacaré at the marina. We went snorkelling to the Piscinas do Seixas, getting there on a pirate […]

We are still trying to get our diesel engine fixed, it feels like we are getting closer to getting this resolved. Keeping our fingers crossed. Our rudder is also getting closer to being fixed and good for another few years in the water. Luckily it wasn't all work and no play, our Brazilian friends took us to see the São Francisco church and cultural centre and some other special places.

This week Coco (and we) made a new friend at the laundromats. Some friends left and some friends arrived. Some of the stuff we ordered online arrived. Frustrations mounted as we scraped endless layers of paint off the rudder. And we got some not so good news regarding our engine.

So what happened to our boat and us this week? Some good things and some bad, ups and downs, sweet and dour! Listen to this week's episode of Sailing Tropical Dawn to get the lowdown.

We managed to get ahead on some of the boat work and we also finally have some more information on our diesel engine.

There's a saying among sailors that cruising is just fixing your boat in exotic places. We are still in Jacaré/Cabedelo Brazil and we might be for a while longer since we are getting our diesel engine and a few other things fixed.

We catch up with the crew of S/V Trinity in Cabedelo, Brazil before they head North and we head South. We chat a bout our respective experiences in sailing from Str Helena to Brazil as well as things that can and did go wrong.

This week we elaborate on our experiences being in the North East of Brazil, going to Cabedelo and João Pessoa, Paraíba. What we learnt about the culture, religion and just in general about Brazil and this beautiful region. Oh yes, and food!

We've been in Cabedelo, Brazil (or more specifically Jacaré) for a week and a half now so we can give our first impressions of what it is like here for us. We love the food, the weather, the culture, etc. Listen to the episode to hear why.

While under way Kay and Dimi each separately recorded some of their reflections. As an added bonus there is also a recording of the background noises on the boat during the passage.

We made it to Brazil! We rejoiced in a similar way when we got to St Helena, but this time the passage was challenging in different ways, it was longer and it was harder but we also got new things out of it because of that.

We are about halfway on our passage from Jamestown, St Helena to Cabedelo, Brazil or at least we should be.