SouthAmerica/AntarcticaCruise: "A Three Hour Tour...A Three Hour Tour"

Typically, we have very good luck with the weather when we travel. Of course, occasionally we run into some unfavorable conditions. On our stop in Buzios on the Brazilian coast our good weather luck ran out.

Buzios is a small resort town on the coast that is popular with Brazilian tourists from Rio de Janeiro. It is located about 106 miles north of Rio and is known for its many beaches, restaurants and shops and was made famous during the 1960's by the actress, Brigitte Bardot, who stayed there to escape the paparazzi of Rio. Buzios is often called the "Saint-Tropez of Brazil". For our much anticipated visit there, we planned a day enjoying the water and beaches in the morning, then walking around the shops and entertainment area in the afternoon. We booked a tour on a schooner to cruise around a number of bays to see the many beaches and to take a swim in the inviting waters of the South Atlantic Ocean.

Our ship was anchored so we tendered in to the pier to board a vintage schooner with about 80 other cruise passengers. The schooner crew of 4 spoke a little English and welcomed us aboard. Under overcast skies we cruised around the bays sailing past the various beaches while snacking on fresh fruit and sipping caipirinhas. After about 30 minutes, the schooner captain dropped the anchor and invited us to jump into the water for a swim. The clear blue water of the South Atlantic was refreshing at about 77 degrees. We were all having a great time.

Shortly after our swim, the schooner captain pulled up the anchor to continue our tour when suddenly the skies opened up and a downpour began. An unpredicted storm came in from the surrounding hills so fast, we had no time to cover up or secure our belongings. The water got rough, the winds picked up and a torrential rain came down. There was zero visibility. We were positioned on the front of the open deck of the schooner and we were being pelted with horizontal rain and hail. The crew was frantically speaking Portuguese among themselves trying to maneuver the schooner back towards the pier which was nowhere to be seen. At that point the schooner captain's radio shorted out and there was no radio communication. Some of the passengers went below deck to get out of the cold. We elected to stay out in the miserable conditions just in case the boat capsized. We both had the Gilligan's Island theme song playing in our heads as we bounced around in the storm. To make matters worse, I (Linda) just finished reading the book In the Heart of the Sea about a shipwreck and lost at sea story so my imagination was in overdrive.

Fortunately, the schooner captain finally got his bearings and steered the schooner back to the pier where other vessels were jockeying for position in the rough waters to safely off load passengers in the howling storm. We're used to torrential rainstorms in Florida, but they usually pass through quickly. This storm was unrelenting! We were soaked through and through and freezing cold. Finally, after about an hour, we got off the schooner on to the pier and awaited our tender to take us back to the ship. The tenders were also struggling with the weather conditions to shuttle passengers back to the ship safely, thus there was a long wait in the storm at the pier.

Once aboard our ship, a hot shower and a stiff drink rebounded us. Our ship's captain announced later that afternoon that the gale force winds gusted up to 60 mph that morning. Unbeknownst to us, during the storm the gale force winds caused our cruise ship's anchor to drag, so the captain actually had to reposition the ship to secure the anchor. We are really happy we did not see that happen during the blinding storm because we would probably have thought our ship was leaving us!!!!!

It was a memorable day for us. There was plenty to talk about at dinner that night.