We have a catamaran, lagoon 440 at marina park Fortaleza.

Dock rates have gone up to USD 1 /ft/day.

Internet connection is no longer free – at the hotel, you can purchase time at R$20 per hour.

There is exceptionally good security currently at the marina and although they are not in your face, so to speak, they are very good and are there.

Diesel can be arranged with Armando …. About R$ 2 / liter delivered in a big tank on the back of a vehicle, from which a long length of pipe is attached.

Docking is stern to and one may need to use the anchor to secure the bow as there are limited pickup buoys. The dock is composed of floating metal pontoons that move around in the surge. In order to dock one has to drop an anchor and then reverse towards the dock. Due to the tides and surge, this dock represents a considerable danger to boats. A boat docked alongside us got seriously damaged due to a slacking of the anchor chain combined with a wildly moving dock. The outboard motor was knocked of the dinghy which was moored between the boat and the dock. The stern of the boat collected structural damage which remained undetected until the boat was past the oil rigs on its way to the Granada. Then as they tacked, gallons of water rushed in and nearly sank the boat.

A taxi to sort out all the customs and other requirements on the day cost us R$ 60 … We searched for the port captain who has now moved next door to the yacht club.

The yacht club welcomed us for drinks and eats and although very nice amenities we hear safety at anchor is still an issue. We were shown a huge concrete wall being built around the low-cost housing in a bid to control crime.

A trip to the main mall in town will cost R$ 30-45 one way depending on traffic.

Cell provider – Vivo – sells airtime for phones and Internet – 1gb per month and valid for 1 month …R$ 135.00. Ask for Aisha as she speaks English and is helpful.

The marina park hotel changed USD 1 at exchange R$ 1.40 and in town at sadoc cambia e truismo we got R$ 1.80

The marina park hotel has a courtesy bus for free to the main beach several times per day. There are reasonable places at the beach to eat.

We found it handy to have Internet connectivity with a language translator on our iPad – very helpful especially when the wife needs to give clear directions to the hairdresser.

Hope this is helpful

Brent Grimbeek