It was an exciting exit out of Atins - with kitwsurfers everywhere, we waited for high tide then followed our yellow track back out the way we entered. Current and waves were. Strong. As we rounded the exit, things remained lumpy with confused seas and side wind with choppy river currents. Not comfortable at all. We were 2nd reefed all night. Autopilot failed twice likely due to mainsail being too tight then surfing down a wave and autopilot unable to correct the forces leading to near accidental jibe in the middle of the night. Fortunately, no major issues arose aside from breaking our espresso machine with the confused seas as it flew off the counter 😭 zero fish were caught but we dodged MANY fishermen along the coast. Many sandbanks as well to navigate as we approached Ilha lencois but once we got into the river, a whole nother landscape awaited with mangroves, mud flats, sandy dunes and beautiful bright red ibis birds EVERYWHERE 🤩 so stunning.

Suuuuper speedy downwinder! We were flying, broad reach with ENE wind then Jibed when winds shifted to ESE… eventually went wing and wing, just nuking along! 💨 had to drop sail at 9a to slow way down as we were approaching the river mouth with 25knots of wind behind us, breaking waves EVERYWHERE, and our pilots boat was still inside stuck in the mud. We waited outside bashing into the wind and waves for him to arrive - kids had a blast 🤣caught one little mahi mahi just after sunrise… overall epic passage and excited to be in this rad place with kiters all around!

Smooth downwinder, overnight sail. Left after lunch and arrived at 7:30a. No fish were harmed during this passage, but we caught a couple sea grass fish 😆 🌿 had to jibe the main once.. which unfortunately, during the event, a giant wave decided it was a good time to wake up Sabby and enter thru her hatch, waking her up completely soaked, and filling her bed with the ocean. Hoping to find laundry in Jeri… as water with a large crew has been a precious commodity. 💦 beautiful view of the dunes this morning. Looking forward to exploring and playing 🪁

Glorious downwind sail… left at sunset from galinhos and spent two nights at sea. Fishing was solid! Landed two delicious mahi mahi, lost two due to incompetence with the gaff 🤪. Landed a final wahoo just before sunset. Spent final night with only the jib to slow ourselves down and arrive at sunrise.

Night 1 was calm, day 2 with some occasional rain squalls, got into the wind line and started cruising! Had many fish bites, lost two beautiful mahi mahi (really need to work on our fish landing skills!), but scored a delicious wahoo! Squalls hit with 30+ knots. 2nd reefed main and jib on second night. Flying… then needed to slow the boat down as our arrival was putting us in at 3a, which wasn’t ideal. But it was also peak high tide. Got a contact for a local pilot to help navigate us up the river at mid tide at 5a. Anchored safely in Galinhos by 7:15a. Another successful passage 🤙🏽

Exciting passage up the coast from peninsula de Marau, straight shot to Recife. We chose to ride just ahead of an incoming system. For the most part, we had great sailing. Then the squalls starting catching up making for an exciting day and night. Dodging ships in lumpy seas with extra strong winds. Yeeehaw! T’was a doozy. Happy to be safely anchored in a marina as the storm approaches…