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December 15th, 2009 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
by Herb McCormick
Precisely four-hundred-and-ninety years (plus two days) ago, on December 13, 1519, a blustery, hardheaded, totally obsessed Portuguese explorer named Ferdinand Magellan and his Armada de Molucca, or Spice Fleet – a five-boat convoy with 260 sailors, all under his always authoritarian, if sometimes tenuous command – sailed out of the stormy and current-wracked Southern Atlantic Ocean and into what’s been described as the “lush and gorgeous Bay of St. Lucy” at the mouth of the River of January: Rio de Janeiro.
Today, the crew of Ocean Watch did the very same thing.
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| Magellan had a hard time making it to Rio. For many reasons, including that wicked Brazilian current. So did we. |
Magellan, of course, was on the outbound leg of a voyage that, for him at least, would have no glamorous conclusion, but in fact would culminate in a grisly horror show of his own making with the most dire of conclusions. Magellan would never see Europe again, nor would four of his five ships, nor would scores of the men who followed him, many of who predicted such ill-fated consequences in the first place, but set forth anyway in the name of God, king, glory and, of course, the ever-popular, time-honored pursuit of wealth and treasure.
Magellan’s fatal mistake, perpetuated in the Philippines, so close to the “spice islands” he’d traveled so far to find, was the one mankind can’t stop making: Do not try and force people to believe in something, in this case Christianity, that they don’t want to believe in. Simple, right? But we’ll never, ever learn.
In any event, one of Magellan’s steeds, Victoria, a rickety, termite-infested “flying pig” – for that was the nickname for the rank, fetid vessels of the day – did make it back from whence it started, the Spanish port of Seville, and in doing so, became the very first ship to circumnavigate to planet. Our goal is more modest, to circumnavigate North and South America, but for us, making it to Rio seems just as wondrous and lucky as it did to Magellan’s men.
Befuddled by contrary tides and currents – not to mention lousy charts and a select cadre of Spanish captains who did not hide their abhorrence of the man, for to sail under a Portuguese admiral was an act of piteous revulsion – Magellan had a hard time making it to Rio. For many reasons, including that wicked Brazilian current, so did we. The last miles, however, and a rare (for us) daytime arrival, were very good indeed.
As we approached the wide, deep, natural harbor, a frigate bird wheeled overhead, black and lean and angular. “It
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| Reminders of our recent cold front vanished. Rio is meant to be “hot, hot, hot” in a hundred ways, and in the most basic sense, it surely was. |
looks prehistoric,” said scientist Michael Reynolds. “Like a pterodactyl.” The coastal mountain range before us was flecked with small islands, white surf crashing over them, and the miles and miles of fringing, white-sand beach underscored the entire scene. It must have looked similarly breathtaking to Magellan’s band of long-suffering seamen, and it looked pretty good to us, too.
All reminders of our recent cold front had vanished. Rio is meant to be “hot, hot, hot” in a hundred ways, and in the most basic sense, it surely was. Closer to the city proper, the geography became much more elevated, craggy and dramatic. In the hazy sky, the jigsaw mountains looked almost Asian: Had we taken a wrong turn and landed in Langkawi? No, closer still, we recognized the familiar profile of Sugarloaf, and at the opposite end of the beachfront, the towering hill known as Pico do Corcovado, topped by the tall, famous, striking statue of Jesus, his arms open to the sea.
Entering the harbor, the eyes shifted from the prominent landmarks above to the strings of high-rises at sea level, lining the famous beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema. Jets ascended into the sky and before long we’d wended our way behind a breakwater near the airport and secured a mooring at Marina da Gloria, which for the next couple of days will be our home and base of operations.
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| The towering hill known as Pico do Corcovado is topped by the tall, famous, striking statue of Jesus, his arms open to the sea. |
In Rio, Magellan and his crews took on fresh supplies and provisions, and Ocean Watch’s mission in the sprawling metropolis is altogether similar. Furthermore, from here, like Magellan, we’re bound south, with plans to pass the famous strait that bears his name. (Though the star-crossed explorer failed in his ultimate mission, he did discover the Magellan Strait, the passage to the west and the broad Pacific Ocean in the land known as Patagonia at the bottom of South America, which was one of his chief objectives.)
So for now, it’s not too much of a stretch to say we’re following in Magellan’s wake. Ever the optimists, we remain trustful, naturally, of a far different fate.
- Herb McCormick with photographs by David Thoreson
This crew log submitted by Iridium OpenPort and Stratos
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