As Morski writes on the 2nd of March, 2020, Drazen Grgic had a mission to cross the Atlantic alone and get from Croatia to Brazil, more specifically to the Fernando de Noronha islands from the Dalmatian city of Sibenik.
Sibenik-based ophthalmologist Drazen Grgic has finally succeeded in his plan! He spoke to Morski about his adventures.
Via Croatia’s stunning Kornati archipelago, Drazen Grgic’s goal was to sail to the Fernando de Noronha islands off the coast of Brazil and back, and these two points were not merely chosen by chance, as they are probably the two most beautiful maritime national parks in the world, and their symbolic connection (from Croatia to Brazil) is intended to raise people’s general awareness of marine conservation.
”You kind of lose your sense of time because you sleep when you arrive. Day and night are the same for you, you just look at what the wind is like. You listen hard to everything because every sound means something. I won’t say that the navigation was easy, but thank God there were no major difficulties,” Grgic told Morski and continues:
”The most challenging part was the part near the equator, the so-called Doldrum. There, all the forecasts were off the mark, and I went according to the situation as it was and the stories of more experienced people and it went well. It’s a strong sea and it takes a lot more power to pull a ship through the waves, at least 20-30 percent more power than you’d need on the Adriatic. This automatically means that you’re so much slower,” added Grgic as he discussed his intrepid journey across the open sea from Croatia to Brazil.
”Sailing along Africa, where I was about 50-100 nautical miles offshore, I was surprised with the amount of fog and humidity in the air, later, along the shores of the Western Sahara and the sand that covered the ship like powder. There wasn’t much sun. It was only from Cape Verde that the air cleared and we finally got some sun, but then it burned over 30 degrees. Still, it’s a faster transition from one climate to another,” recounts Grgic.
”I didn’t see any monsters, I saw a lot of dolphins, two whales, one shark, a lot of dangerous Portuguese man o’ war (marine hydrozoan). Flying fish were jumping on board and there were even squid near Africa! Here in Brazil, these Fernando de Noronha islands really look like they’re from the pirate-style stories of the tropics. They’re overflowing with greenery, I’m anchored in a bay where a waterfall flows from one cliff down into the sea.
The people here are very cordial and although I know almost no Portuguese and they speak very little English, we manage to communicate very well. I’m going to relax for a couple of days and rest, check the boat and then back to the middle of the Atlantic sea to the Azores, and then in about a month or two, I’ll be in Sibenik,” explained Grgic.
Make sure to follow our lifestyle page for more on Drazen Grgic’s journey from Croatia to Brazil and back.
