St. Helena to Brazil

Our passage from Saint Helena was a series of slow days with wind speeds of less than 10 knots. For the first time, we can report that the weather forecasts were consistently higher than the actual conditions on the water by about 5-10 knots. With this, we recorded our slowest daily total ever. We reminded ourselves of the old saying that “he who scorns the calm has never felt the storm”. We had been accurately told that the crossing of the South Atlantic would be the most benign sailing we would ever do.

Approaching Fernando de Noronha

Fernando de Noronha is an offshore island group of the country of Brazil. The majority of the islands and surrounding waters is a national park and one can quickly see why. It is a place of stunning beauty, both above and below the water. It is also a bit of a “lifestyles of the rich and famous” type of place, as it is a destination vacation area for the wealthy citizens of Brazil.

Prior to departing Saint Helena, a South African sailor had warned us not to approach Fernando de Noronha in the dark, as he had previously done so and caught an unseen mooring line on his prop. Heeding this advice, when we arrived in the early morning hours (thanks to a two-knot current on final approach), we stood offshore until daylight. The final mile or so to the anchorage had us winding through a mooring field which is substantially larger than what is shown on charts. Sure enough, there were many mooring balls, with long lines trailing behind. We can only say thank you to the kind sailor who warned us, or we could have had trouble.

We anchored at 3°50.027’S  32°24.487’W. This is a bit deeper than most other cruising boats in the anchorage, but with a steady northerly swell rolling through, we were more than comfortable in the deeper waters. While others reported extreme rolling from the swell, this was not our experience at all.

Mobbed by Dolphins

We had read about the dolphins of Fernando de Noronha and as soon as the anchor was down, we were mobbed by them.  Approximately 100 dolphins were frolicking around us, jumping, spinning and flipping. What a sight! Especially when surrounded by the rugged beauty of Fernando de Noronha.

The warm welcome of the wildlife was quickly matched by the welcome of the people. We took the dinghy into the harbour, and had to slowly navigate our way around many pods of dolphins to get in. It was endless, and more than we have seen anywhere in our travels.

Getting Ashore

On approach to the harbour there were two docks visible, both of them jammed full of charter boats offloading clients, with many dinghies and pangas tied to the back side.   We were quickly directed to one dock to tie, but there was absolutely no way we could fit so we went to the back of the other dock and found space. The trend of lack of space for the dinghy would persist on every visit, and we just shopped around between each dock until we could find a space to make it work.

Formalities: Friendliness Overcomes Language Difficulties!

Brazil is the first Portuguese-speaking country we have been to, and to say our Portuguese is lacking is an understatement. English is not widely spoken, but the friendliness and welcoming nature of the locals meant that help was always offered, and google translate was frequently utilized.

We knew the Port Captain’s office was to be our first stop and that it was located at the “top of the stairs”. We made our way to that location and were standing there looking for some indication as to which building could be the Port Captains office, when a door opened and a very friendly fellow gestured to us that we must follow him into the building. We soon learned that this was Marco, the most friendly and hospitable Port Captain we have ever had the pleasure of interacting with. Sure enough, his office was the first building on the right hand side at the top of the stairs. It is a blue wooden building.

Marco speaks no English and we speak no Portuguese, but with the help of google translate, we were able to get by. He also had a pre-typed English language information page that he handed to us to explain the rules and expectations and provide information around the area. He called the Federal Police to come to the office to meet us and examine the passports and stamp us into the country. The Police took our passports to their office and returned them to Marco for us to pick up later in the day. He called the Navy to complete the vessel entrance formalities, which was just a page to be completed. There is no Customs clearance on the island, and if one wishes to continue on within Brazil, they must clear in (with Customs) at their next port on the mainland. For us, the total clearance process took less than an hour, with time spent sharing a fine coffee with Marco.

One of the rules that Marco went out of his way to repeat and ensure we followed was that there was no swimming with the dolphins or turtles. If you are in the water when they come, one must immediately get out of the water and onto the boat. Marco reported that there are “observers” on a nearby hill and if they see you swimming with the dolphins, they will quickly come and issue fines.

With the formalities all done, we wandered around the immediate port area and found that because it was a tourist area, prices for most things were quite high. A 30 minute walk up the hill to the main town found us in a quite nice area, but most restaurants and shops were closed until 6pm! Ah yes, the Latin American culture of life beginning after dark was still alive and well on this remote island. Grocery stores were open though and we quickly found some fresh fruit and vegetables at reasonable prices. There were three small grocery stores in the area and between the three, one could find most anything they were looking for.

More Than Just a Provisioning Stop…

We had only planned to spend three days on Fernando De Noronha, based on feedback from other cruisers, but quickly found that we could have spent much more time than that. It was intended to be just a provisioning stop before continuing on our journey, but we came to enjoy the island so much, we feel we could easily spend a week or more. It is a wonderful place in the world and we would urge other cruisers to give it more time than is usually done.

It is an expensive place though. To enter the national park requires a park pass that costs 373 reals per person (approx. USD$65) and is good for 10 days. Most hikes or water activities require a guide, which is an additional fee on top of this basic charge. Due to our short stay on the island we did not see the value in paying to enter the park when there was so much splendour around us without needing to pay the fee.

Besides taking care of provisioning and fuel needs, we spent time snorkelling the old ship wreck located right beside the harbour entrance marker buoy. We also snorkelled the outside of the rock breakwater wall for the harbour. While neither were outstanding, they were the best we have had in a while. It was good to be in the water again and especially 29C water!

One evening we went to the historical centre of town and had a great night in the town square and surrounding shops, sampling Brazilian foods and drinks and listening to live music playing. Barbecued meat and Caipirinhas (Brazilian cocktail) were our top priority and easily found. The only problem was that despite the restaurants opening at 6pm, there was really nobody out and about until 8pm and life really didn’t get going until after 9pm. Plan for a late night if one does this, but it is well worth it.

The entire island looks and feels safe. Locals don’t lock up their valuables, and many are out walking and exercising in the evening. We felt the risk of crime was very low. We were the only locked up dinghy at the dock and it probably wasn’t required. Wealth was readily displayed on many of the other tourists and there did not seem to be any concern of robbery.

Time to Depart

When it came time to check out, we returned to Marco at the Port Captain’s office and he again rounded up the Navy and Federal Police to do their bit. We also had to pay the applicable fees for our stay. The cost was 101.33 real per person per day, with the first 24 hours being free. There had been an expensive daily anchorage fee, but as of late 2023 this was removed to encourage more international sailors to visit. It is now free to anchor, as long as one stays outside of the national park.

All in all, our visit to Fernando de Noronha was fantastic. We would recommend the stop to anyone, and encourage other cruisers to stay longer than the usual two or three days. It is a special place in the world and has so much more to offer than just being a provisioning stop. We wanted to stay longer, but a schedule (the “s” word – never good) was driving us to keep moving. Seventy-seven hours after arrival, we pulled anchor and headed due north to cross the doldrums and then onto our next destination — Suriname!

Brent Crack and Mary Bevan
SV Knot Safety