Location: Fernando de Noronhas, Brazil
Awake at 06:30 and smelling the ocean breeze with an unfamiliar sight off our bow, land. We had anchored last night; however, it was in the darkness, and we could only faintly make out what was apparently our newest destination. So we are here now, sitting 250 miles off the coast of Brazil, in a remarkable dive destination surrounded by beautiful waters teeming with marine life. We awoke with Spinner dolphins just 50 yards away, displaying their natural antics, showing off to each other and the nearby spectators. Argo was cleared to go ashore just after lunch, so we ventured inland, seeing what Fernando de Noronha’s had to offer. Whether it was a buggy buzzing by carrying people and surfboards or divers heading out to a nearby reef, this place is definitely on my top 10. All struggled to speak Portuguese. A few knew Spanish, so I personally stuck by them, but we all enjoyed our time on land. It really shows you how different life is at sea once you make landfall. It is a whole different world in the ocean where nothing really matters except your vessel and the people aboard. Don’t get me wrong, I missed ice and walking a distance further than 112 feet, but I really became accustomed to the long passage and enjoyed seeing nothing but the vast, unexplored ocean. Once dinner was finished, we were greeted by a few local fishermen who offered us a solid-sized fish to cook for ourselves; they wanted nothing in return. We were humbled by the experience, and Im now looking forward to fish tacos tomorrow. On another note, our thoughts go out to the Canadian school ship Concordia, which sank yesterday off the coast of Brazil about 1000 miles from our current position. All passengers, thankfully, were safely rescued from their life rafts and are now headed toward mainland Brazil.