Barefeet aboard Two Fish

Chris and Erin have been a great inspiration to sailors and non-sailors alike. We constantly hear from people thanking them for sharing their story of their journey around the world aboard their Antares 44 catamaran s/v Barefeet. This past winter, Antares owners Jason and Gail invited them aboard their Antares s/v Two Fish to sail up the Brazilian coast. Below is Erin’s description of the trip.

Brazil is enormous and the people super friendly (despite our utter lack of Portuguese). Two of our favorite stops were Recife and Cabedelo. We had a hoot of a good time at both…and caught a gorgeous mahi mahi while on passage between them. Recife and Cabedello might not show up on a Best of Brazil list but they were charming.

First stop after getting tied up at the Cabanga Yacht Club in Recife was a tourist office where the ladies behind the desk gave us great advice. Their must-see recommendation…a tiny museum (more of a workshop) that makes the amazing giant “puppets” for Carnival parades all over the country and the world. It was actually a bit creepy to walk amongst a forest of three foot heads…Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, Elvis, the Pope…to name just a few.

Wandering the neighborhoods was lovely thanks to the rejuvenated colonial buildings – colorful and quite European in appearance (thanks, again, to the settlements being originally founded by the Dutch and the Portuguese in the 1600s).

Ducking out of the heat we refueled on a tree covered patio with a tapioca pancake and a cold drink. Kinda quirky but we were game for this popular street food…cooked on a charcoal fire. Chris and I looked no further than the pancake filled with sliced banana, melted cheese and a sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar. It was not a combination we would have ever imagined but it was tasty…and so popular that it has its own name; cartola.

So long Recife and a quick 85 mile hop to Cabedelo. Not much more than a friendly, wide spot in the road where cruisers can rest and regenerate in a safe anchorage beside a small river village. Finally we met some global cruisers. A neighboring German boat just arrived from South Africa and is next off to Martinique. Yikes – that is a lot of miles?! We took a taxi to Tambau for a tourist stop…the most eastern point of the Americas. These Brazil towns are packed with sky scrapers and people – every city has been larger than Boston.

The village of Cabedelo makes its own fun with a nightly spectacle. Okay, maybe that is a bit over stating things but there is a guy in a white tuxedo that walks to a canoe at sunset and plays Bolero on the saxophone. He has been at it for twenty years…every night! Erin was the only one to overcome inertia and see the performance from shore…the rest of the crew watched from the boat. Gotta say – it was cool.

To read more from their journey around the world, visit their website at: www.notallthosewhowanderarelost.com

Link on videos below and watch a five-part series on their trip around the world aboard their Antares 44i catamaran Barefeet.