Brazil cruising

We have arrived in Forteleza where the Rally rendezvous takes place after a very quick passage up from Recife. Only just got good reliable internet access here in Forteleza. Whilst in Recife we were at anchor with no convenient WiFi. So we left Salvador and had a slow trip up to Recife as the wind and current were against us so it took slightly longer than expected. Arrived at Pernambuco Yacht Club a week last Saturday afternoon and were met by a very friendly manager Eduardo who was happy to row us ashore in his little wooden boat whenever we needed a ride. The mooring was reasonably cheap at R$30 a night (about £10 a night). We stayed in Recife for 5 nights before leaving to sail up the coast to Forteleza. This sail was great as we had a good positive current of 2 to 3 knots with us so the ironic thing was we were actually trying to slow down so as not to arrive at night when it is more difficult to see the small fishing boats in the dark and these work close to the shore. Hence we tried to stay offshore a good distance so as to avoid the fishing boats which work on just off the continental shelf. Now we are here after a tricky berthing which involved dropping the anchor then reversing onto the floating pontoon which moves around alarmingly! There is a bit of a surge in the Marina so Peter has rigged up two old car tyres with ropes to act as spring lines to stop the snatching. It seems to be working! Yesterday I managed to find a really good hairdreser in a lovely air conditioned shopping centre so treated myself to a good hair do. The best one since Galapagos! Today we have been doing jobs on the boat. Peter repaired some carrs on the mainsail as we had ordered some new parts which came via another crew from Germany. Tomorrow we will refuel and go provisioning. Hopefully the supermarket will deliver to the Marina! Here in the Marina we can use the Hotel swimming pool which is delightful and there is a small bar which serves drinks and snacks so perfect for relaxing at the end of a busy day. Departure day is Friday when we will have our last long passage to Grenada which is around 1700 miles so will probably take us about 12 days or less if we have lots of positive current. In preparation we have customs clearances on Thursday morning and a skippers briefing later that afternoon.