Ilhéus, May 2019
Ilheus is an overnight from Coroa Vermelha, about 18 hours. We left at 3pm and by 9:30 am we were anchored in front of the Iate Clube. Yuka and I are really getting into the rhythm of these overnight sails. We do watches of 3 hours, try to really maximize the sleeping time.
We departed with 14/16 knots of wind on the beam, then the wind increased just around sunset to 18/20 knots. Before it got dark we decided to put a reef in the main to have a more relaxed night, also because we were sailing at 8.5 knots and if we kept going at this pace we would have arrived in Ilheus at 3 am!
It's amazing how Oroboro with 16 knots of True wind and one reef in the main was doing 7.5 knots SOG. Practically only 1 knot less than with full main.
A few hours after putting the first reef, the wind started to increase, so we decided to put in a second reef. By the time we were done, the wind decreased substantially! So we shook the reefs, and after a few more hours the wind went down to 8 knots. This time we were running downwind, and the main started slatting, so we brought it down and we motor-sailed with just the jib.
We had several squalls during the night, and we enjoyed sailing through them with just the jib up.
Ilheus is a town without a soul. There is a nice cathedral, the house of Jorge Amado (famous XX century Brazilian author), a brothel called Bataclan that saw its best days during the '20s, a cafe called Vesuvio where apparently Jorge Amado used to spend his afternoons (now a buffet restaurant), and not much more.
Maybe because on Sunday everything was closed, maybe because it was raining when we got there, but after an hour or so in town, we looked in each other's eyes and we said: We're out of here!
So we decided to go back on board, eat, sleep and depart at 3 am to get to Jacaré at half flood tide!
Every anchorage — Ilhéus, May 2019
Jorge Amado's hometown and gateway to the cacao coast.
| Stop | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ilhéus Iate Clube | May 2019 | Jorge Amado hometown · cacao plantation visit · overnight sail from Coroa Vermelha |
Anchorage maps
Zoomed chart of the Ilhéus Iate Clube anchorage.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. GPS tracks from Raymarine chartplotter, archived May 2019.