March 10, 2025 we left Piriapolis, Uruguay. Due to family emergencies Synchronicity had been on the hard for 3 months, longer than planned. It took a bit of adjusting to be back on the water.
The passage from Piriapolis to Rio Grande, Brazil was boisterous and changeable. We experienced squall after squall with winds hitting 27 kts and then slowing down to 15 kts. Us sailors are a fussy group. We don’t like too much wind, and we don’t like too little.
The confused seas day one of our passage were a bit of a washing machine due to high winds the previous few days. Light head winds slowly clocked to the southeast. Day two at sea the wind strengthened to 15-20 knots mostly on the beam. Seas were 1-2 metres, becoming more organized. That’s when most of the squalls came with the winds increasing and rain. Fortunately, there was no lightening. It made for a fast sail hitting speeds of more than 8 knots.
The morning of March 12th we arrived at the entrance to Rio Grande, Brazil with breakwaters on both sides of the entrance. The channel is clearly marked. We prepared for the worst as we crossed the bar. Drop boards were put in, harnesses on and the ham radio nearby. Fortunately, it was an easy entrance that day and the current which Navionics said would be against us actually was with us giving us a nice push. The channel is well-marked.
Our first glimpse of Brazil was a shipping port with lots of cranes and large freighters loading and unloading their wares. This led into the city, with a mix of old and new buildings along the shoreline. There are boats of all sizes primarily for fishing. Some are open and some have cabins.
Traditional Brazilian fishing boats
Closer to our anchorage small ferries popped out in front of us, forcing us to have to stop and back up to stay out of the way.
Anchoring in only 12 feet of water was a bit unsettling. I went to drop the anchor and nothing moved. The chain had jammed itself into a tight pile and wasn’t budging. Most likely from all the movement on our two-day passage. Dave managed to unravel enough chain for the shallow waters while I kept the boat in reverse steering her away from going aground. Once anchored we breathed a sigh of relief. It was a strange sight seeing birds walking in the water only 100 ‘ away from where we anchored.
Synchronicity sitting pretty in the Rio Grande river
Checking into the country would have to wait until the next day as we were both tired from our days at sea. As well, one of the offices closed at 3 and we knew we couldn’t make it there in time. The next day armed with our boat paperwork we set off in our dinghy to a nearby dock that was the Oceanografic Museo’s (Ocean Museum). We walked to the first office, Policia federal (Immigration/Port Police). Our lack of Portuguese didn’t seem to hurt us as the officials were happy to communicate using Google Translate. The woman who helped us even printed out a map of the other two offices we needed to go to.
I asked the official if she knew where a money changer was. Not only did she give us the info she walked us the two blocks to where the bank was. While we were walking, she was busy typing on her phone communicating with us. At one point she handed me her cell phone and it said, “You are so brave.” I was so touched. “Obrigada”, I replied thank you – the only Portuguese word I could say and pronounce. Sadly, when I got to the bank I learned they didn’t change currency. However, a customer overheard me and proceeded to direct us how to find a money changer at “Mega Mart”.
Off we walked until we saw the bright yellow building, Mega Mart. It looked like a clothing store. Indeed, it did sell clothing, shoes and gems. The store was closed. A man nearby on a bike said in broken English that the casa (house) next door was where the store owner was and to knock there. Sure enough the store owner was having his lunch. We felt bad but he said no problem – spoke English – and promptly opened his store. And yes we were successful in exchanging US money to Brazil Reals. Turned out the store owner was Greek.
We always try to have local currency. Most places take credit cards but not always. We were unable to get Brazilian Reals in Uruguay. We carry some US cash to exchange for the local currency. South American countries are very fussy about US cash. In Argentina if there was even a slight pen mark on the bill they wouldn’t take it. Most places want $100 USD to exchange. No rips, or small tears, no writing on the bills.
Next we Ubered to the Alfandega dos Portos, Receta Federal (Customs). Ubers are very cheap as are taxis. About $2 Canadian for most trips in town. At Customs they asked the value of our boat. We misunderstood at first and thought we had to pay $70 USD, but it turned out they simply needed Synchronicity’s value. No fees were requested.
After that we ubered to the Capitania dos Portos (Port Captain). There we met a young man, Gabriel, who spoke fluent English and was eager to help us and practice his English. He gave me his what’s app phone number and told me to message anytime we needed any information about Rio Grande. He told us about the Sunday market.
Friendly and helpful Gabriel, a Port Officer
Our check-in gives us 90 days in the country. You can request an additional 90 day extension but need to leave the country and then return. Our boat is allowed to stay for 2 years.
The local Sunday market. Giant avocados for $2 Canadian.
We enjoyed the Sunday market. A $3 Uber ride took us there.We found a sea of people and bright coloured fruit and vegetables, under shade cloths. Vegetable and fruit prices are cheap here and tasty. Dave spotted shrimp and said get a kilo. At the time I thought hmmm a kilo is quite a lot of shrimp but not seeing the size of the shrimp I thought why not. Dave had watched the person before us order a kilo. Well, it turns out these shrimp are shrimpy! We got them home and I started shelling and cleaning them. Over 3 hours to do the kilo! This is what we were left with. Fortunately they were delicious. But I’ll never order a kilo of shrimp again!
Fresh and tasty Brazilian shrimp
Portuguese is the language in Brazil and Dave and I have been religiously studying Spanish for two years. It’s a shock being in a country with a new language. We are back to the basics and Duolingo is our friend, trying to learn some basic Portuguese. Meanwhile I made a new friend Lillian, who loves Alanis Morissette and is an Uber driver, Music Teacher and musician. We met when she was our Uber driver and we learned she spoke English. Yay!! Since then we have become friends. Lillian took me out to a special coffee shop she called Pelota Sweets. Apparently, the city of Pelota, an hour bus ride away is famous for their sweets. I got to experience some of the yumminess with a chocolate cream square and a passionfruit mousse.
Pelota sweets with Lillian and I
We have now been anchored in the river for two weeks waiting for a 3 day weather window to go North. With our dinghy we go easily to and from the shore, just a short distance from where we are anchored. We leave our dinghy at the Museo Oceanografic dock for free. Sunsets here have been magnificent with this old tree pictured prominently.
Beautiful Brazilian sunsets
Our introduction to Brazil confirms what others told us before…Brazil is a friendly, welcoming and warm country. We can’t wait to explore more.
