I write to highly recommend Pier 26 as the boatyard of choice in this area. It is less expensive than neighboring Supar and very professional. There is little space for long term storage and SupMar or somewhere near Sao Sebastiao or Paraty might be preferable and less expensive.

On the boat storage issue – necessitated by the new 24-month law, we have heard very good things about leaving the boat in Paraty near Isla Grande.

Warning about Rio harbor:

1) We have never seen such heavy fouling in 17 years of cruising.

2) The Niteroi side is preferable to the very expensive and “upscale” I ate Club de Brazil. There are several marinas with full services. Both the English Club on the north side and Clube Naval Charitas are excellent. The Club Naval offers very inexpensive rates for the first four days and then starts doubling it periodically to keep you moving. They have limited space. A new club with new docks is located further west along the coast from Clube Naval. It has no water or electricity at the dock yet, but say it is coming. The cost is attractive. The entire Niteroi bay is plagued by the wakes of the high-speed ferries. You get used to it.

3) The Niteroi side is much safer than the Rio side. You can safely walk the streets after dark.

The new law:

You will want a letter from the facility where the yacht will reside for the port captain. The law requires the Port Captain’s permission to leave the yacht in his port. The Recita (customs) is the office that is responsible for your financial undertaking to remove the yacht before the 2 years is up. We think this is only necessary at the first stop, but the boatyard faxed a copy to them, so best go there anyway.

The order changes depending on location. We only know Rio, Niteroi, and Santos. We got the first 24-month permission in Rio. In Rio, we went to the Port Captain, then immigration (Policia Federal), then pratique and finally to the customs. Then when we had moved to Niteroi we were advised we should have checked out of Rio and into Niteroi. Go figure.

In Santos, we went to the port captain and immigration. We had to check out of Rio to go to Niteroi and again from Niteroi to Santos.

The five-year Multiple Entry Visa:

This visa is not so easy to get. You need to be a bit persistent. The Namibia embassy put us onto it. So. Africa did not tell us it existed and the Los Angeles Consulate acted like it didn’t exist when asked by friends. The authorizing decree is #1455, dated May 13, 1995. You may need to be pushy.

THE IMMIGRATION/BOAT DIFFERENCE

Ron and I disagree about the purpose of this law. The law was sponsored by the marine industry in Bahia. Forcing the owners to store the boats and engage maintenance and security people is good for business. I would find it strange that the entire immigration laws would be revised to make an exception for a handful of cruising sailors. We may think we are pretty special, but the rest of the world doesn’t understand about us at all.

I hope this stuff helps you keep everyone up to date. Thanks, Jimmy and Staff!

Don Logan