12 June Brazil Clearance

Three offices to visit in three different towns and a couple only open for 2 hours in the morning from Monday to Friday. We had been advised the process of clearing in at Jacare requires travel and patience. It took us a couple of days to complete the process simply because the time needed to travel to each department.

First stop is Immigration to be completed at the Federal Police office in Intermares. We cycled the 2.7km from the marina and were fortunate to be called in to the office within ten minutes of arriving at the station. Then things s-l-o-w-e-d down. The officer in charge of checking passports and issuing visas is thorough and speaks very good English. For each passport he checked the cover. Checked every page. Checked our photos three times. Filled in numerous online forms. Checked that. Printed it. Checked it three more times and then asked David to sign exactly as he had signed his passport. One hour later we had 90 day visas. No charge. We cycled back to the marina and spent the rest of the day catching up on doing nothing.

Day two and this time we need to catch the train in to the port of Cabedelo. The train station is close to the marine, costs R1 (£0.20 for me, free for David because he's over 60) and you get off at the end of the line and walk ten minutes to the Port entrance to visit the Customs office. In preparation I had already completed the online Customs declaration form and printed a copy of the receipt to present to the officer. Again, his English was perfect and he was very helpful. This visit took less than twenty minutes which gave time to go to the ATM and visit the fresh market before the next train departure to Joao Pessoa.

The Port Captain, our last department to visit, used to have an office close to Customs but there was a fire a couple of years ago and it hasn't re-opened. No hassle. The train from Cabedelo runs through Jacare to Joao Pessoa where a ten.minute walk up the hill brings you to the Naval Office. Port Captain was at lunch when we arrived so we too went for lunch and popped back at 2 o'clock where he smiled. We filled in a form, got a stamp and formalties were complete. All free of charge for EU passport holders (some nationalities are required to buy a visa in advance, ie Canada $150).

While in the big city we had a look around the many hardware shops before hopping on a bus which would take us back to Jacare via the main highway and a stop at the Carrefour hypermarket. David travels free on buses too when he shows his ID. For me it was a R3.50 (£0.70) fare. We didn't need much with a freezer still full of fish and the marina restaurant, but we like to see what's available.

We were home by 5pm and in time to see SV Gaia arriving from Ascension and joined them for dinner at the restaurant.