Ilha Grande Memories

Tell me? What's better than this? Cruising for a few days in a bay speckled with islands, with good company, and a few days worth of food and water.

Ilha Grande is pretty close to paradise, in my opinion. Balmy surrounding waters are benign. And pretty safe, offering simple navigation if you keep your eyes open. Just keep away from the odd semi-submerged rock. As you know: "Boats are not to be used on rocks".

I bumped into one once. A very humiliating feeling, I admit. Very embarassing. Indeed. On the other hand, it is also very educative. Having the chart available, at hand, is imperative. In general, the rocks are close to the steep shoreline. So, just keep of the rocks. Very few are isolated, but those you need to know where they are.

I bumped into mine while actually searching one of them, for some some snorkeling. The water was cristal clear, and a calm, sunny day, no wind, seemed like a perfect day for the adventure. But the rock was elusive, and after some searching, we gave up. Just when we turned the wheel away from where the presumed position, the rock jumped into the way.

Protected anchorages are allways close by. The ground is clean, white sand, in dephs between 2 to 15 meters. You choose. Plenty of deserted coves give you oportunity to admire the lush, virgin vegetation. The evening breeze brings spicy scents, and exotic sounds from the close shore.