Alright, so folks keep asking me how I pulled off that boat trip from NYC down to Brazil. It wasn’t like booking a flight, let me tell ya. It was a whole thing, a real project I set myself, and honestly, I just wanted to share how it all went down, from start to finish, because it was quite the ride.
Figuring Out the “How”
First off, deciding to go by boat was the easy part. I was just tired of being crammed into planes, you know? Wanted to feel the distance, see the ocean properly. But then came the hard bit: how do you actually find a boat going that way that isn’t a mega cruise ship costing a fortune?
I started digging around online. Not your typical travel sites. I was looking at forums, old maritime message boards, that kind of stuff. Spent weeks, no joke, just sifting through ancient posts and trying to connect with people. Most of it was dead ends. Some folks suggested cargo ships, but getting a berth on one of those as a passenger is trickier than you’d think. Lots of red tape, or they just don’t take people anymore.
Then, I kind of stumbled into a different scene – people looking for crew on smaller, private sailboats. Not like I’m a seasoned sailor, far from it. But some captains are willing to take on greenhorns for long passages if you’re willing to learn and pull your weight. That seemed more my speed, more of an adventure.
The Search and Getting Ready
So, my search shifted. I started looking for delivery trips or folks heading south for the season. It was a lot of messaging, a lot of “hey, I’m keen, not much experience but a fast learner” type stuff. You get a lot of silence, a few “no thanks.”
Finally, I got a bite. A guy, let’s call him Captain John, was taking his 45-foot sailboat, “The Salty Dog,” from somewhere near New York down to Rio. He needed an extra hand, mostly for watches, a bit of cooking, general help. He wasn’t offering pay, obviously, just a spot on the boat and food, in exchange for help. That was my ticket.
Getting ready was a mission in itself.
- Packed super light. Space on a boat like that is tight. Really tight.
- Got some good foul-weather gear. Essential. Can’t stress that enough.
- Stocked up on seasickness meds. Heard horror stories.
- Tried to learn some basic knots from YouTube. The bowline became my best friend, eventually.
- Mentally prepared for being disconnected. No internet for days, weeks even. That was a big one.
We met up, John checked me out, I checked out the boat. It seemed legit. He was an older guy, done this a million times. So, we shook on it.
The Actual Journey: Weeks on the Water
Leaving New York was incredible. Sailing out past the Verrazzano, seeing the skyline fade – that’s a memory burned in. The first few days? Rough. I was seasick, proper green around the gills. Thought I’d made a huge mistake. John was patient, just told me to keep my eyes on the horizon and eat dry crackers. Slowly, it passed. My sea legs arrived, fashionably late.
Life on board settled into a rhythm. We had a watch system, so someone was always awake and alert. My duties were simple:
- Keeping watch, scanning for other ships, weather changes.
- Helping with sail changes, though John did most of the heavy lifting there.
- Cooking some meals. My specialty became “whatever’s in a can, heated up.”
- General boat tidying. Keeping things stowed is crucial.
It wasn’t a vacation. There were days it was boring. Just water, water everywhere. Other days, it was absolutely magical. Dolphins playing in the bow wave, sunsets that just take your breath away. And the stars at night! With no city lights, the sky is just… wow. You feel tiny, in a good way.
We hit some storms. Nothing too crazy, but enough to make things interesting. That foul-weather gear I bought? Worth every penny. Sleeping was an adventure sometimes, getting tossed around in my bunk. But you get used to it. You have to.
Making Landfall and Final Thoughts
The whole trip took a little over five weeks. Seeing the coast of Brazil appear on the horizon after all that time at sea was an incredible feeling. Sailing into Rio, with Sugarloaf and Christ the Redeemer in the distance, felt like a real achievement. Not just a trip, but something I’d actually done.
So yeah, that’s the gist of how I got from NYC to Brazil by boat. It wasn’t easy, took a lot of planning, a bit of luck, and a willingness to be uncomfortable and learn on the fly. It was slow, sometimes tedious, sometimes scary, but mostly, it was an amazing experience. Totally different from just hopping on a plane. You earn that arrival, you know? And I got to see a whole lot of ocean in between. Would I do it again? Ask me in a year, still got my land legs back under me!
