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- HMS Leopard 1st Commission
HMS Leopard 1st Commission
- By Robby G
- Published 05/6/2008
- HMS Leopard
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Rating:
Part9
The Amazon River
Monday 18th April. After a placid Easter weekend passage across the Plate we arrived at Rio de Janeiro.
This time there was another reason for our visit here. We are to bear the full weight of diplomatic representation of all foreign naval forces- us presumably, the only ones to take up the offer- for the transfer of Capital from Rio to Brasilia. This event to take place at midnight on 20th April 1960.
The next morning at 0900, we fell in at divisions, the actual moment when Brasilia was inaugurated as capital of the United States of Brazil, the guard presented arms and the Brazilian flag was broken at the masthead. Our little ceremony was well documented by local press TV and news stations. Could it have been a coincidence that today was also our Queens birthday?
The whole of that day and night was one big party in Rio. It was just like the “ Rio Carnival” but better! A certain person had to go to the local hospital to have his small finger of his right hand re-attached. After treatment he was returned to the ship by the hospital staff who would not depart until the hospital bill had been paid. This was done, and then a couple of days stoppage of leave was bestowed on the victim. I believe the offence is called “self inflicted”. Well, if you miss your target and put you fist through toughened glass, what would you expect!
29th April.Our approach to the Amazon River was through the southern entrance, making a call at Belem, where we were met by the British Honorary Vice Consul, who was the Booth Steamship Company’s agent as well. Obviously the government post wasn’t paying very good wages and he was moonlighting!. He arranged for our pilots, and even managed to secure our mail, no mean achievement in Brazil where the postal authorities constantly wage war against the public. Their best effort against the ship occurred during our first visit to Rio, when the Postmaster-Generals office received some bags of mail from London addressed to HMS Leopard. When they opened the bags, a thing they shouldn’t have done anyway, it was to discover that all the letters were addressed HMS Leopard, c/o GPO London; so they naturally sent them back to London. Logical, but slightly tiresome
Belem, Daily Orders 28 April 1960
Belem lies on the Para River, and is 100 miles from the sea and about the same distance from the equator, so the climate is constantly hot and humid with only the occasional sea breeze to make it tolerable.
Only one day was spent at Belem, and for most of us, this was one day too many. Warm beer, open sewerage and charcoal grilled dog was not for us.
30th April. With our two river pilots aboard our course was set for the Amazon, but before reaching the main river there were 90 miles of narrows to negotiate, where had our first glimpse of the river-people who live along the banks and eke out their humble existence by growing bananas, jute, or brazil nuts. Their homes are little wooden huts usually only a few paces from the river-bank, perhaps as close as 50 yards away, the wash of the ship would curve over the edge of the muddy bank and go tumbling towards the huts, occasionally making it necessary for the house(hut) holder to snatch up the baby or dog or whatever looked as though it might be washed away; the huts didn’t look too secure themselves.
The picture shows us in the narrows, with lookouts and anchor party at the ready.
After the narrows came the River Amazon itself, broad and yellow, curving majestically through hundreds of miles of low-lying jungle, its surface dotted with floating islands of living grass, sometimes with bushes growing on them as well, and great trees , torn from the banks by the mighty river in flood and making their way at a steady four knots to the Atlantic, thousands of miles from their place of creation.
By day the trees were easy to avoid and since we were up the river at full moon it was possible to see them at night. the look-out in the eyes of the ship was kept pretty busy giving a running commentary of the dangers ahead as the ship wove a sinuous course through the debris. Going upstream against the current, our course uasually lay close to the bank to avoid the worst of the stream against us, though we also had to follow the deep-water channel cut in the river which was usually on the outside of the bends; but when the river run straight it was the knowledge of our pilots, Hugo and Jurueno, that kept us in deep water.
2nd - 12 May.
Halfway up the river to Manaos its character changed and it became narrower, with steeper banks, and here and there red cliffs rising at the side of the river which itself became deeper; and it was here that we saw the villages of Santarem and Obidos, where we spent a couple of hours to pay our respects and then moved on again. the arrival at Obidos was a noisy affair; as the ship moved in to the jetty to anchor close off the bank a fusillade of fire-crackers was released, banging high into the sky. Not to be beaten by this unexpected welcome we replied with the most appropriate tool at hand the Very pistol, firing a broadside of red, green and white Very lights into the sky. It might have been the 5th of November (Guy Fawkes night) but for the fact we were in the southern hemisphere and it was May.
After our brief two hour stay, we completed the firework display by firing a gun salute to the Mayor of Obidos. Many of the small township were seen to scatter at this event having not heard such big bangs before, but all was well and they waved us farewell as we once again pointed upstream to continue our journey.
PHOTO The coolest place was on the upperdeck, under the awning by the 4.5 gun.
The furthest point we reached (and incidently the furthest by any HM Sips since the survey ship Pelorus in 1909) was the village of Codajas, 1,144 miles from the open sea on the Solimoes River, which goes on into the continent until it reaches Peru and the Andes where it has its source. Codajas looked a quiet little place, with a grassy bank in front of the houses of the village, the only big buildings being the school and hospital of the Roman Catholic Mission. When the Captain landed it was to learn that the ship had answered the prayers of the missionaries, who had been fighting a battle against disease. Malaria and dysentery had struck many of the population and their supplies of drugs were exhausted, with food running out as well, the high river having interupted their normal supplies. Help from the ships resources was quickly forthcomming, and to have the chance to help people in such circumstances gave an added reason for being there at that time and made us feel our trip had been worthwhile.
Forty years later our captain still keeps in contact with this village and the missionaries, by means of letters and donations. It was the captain himself who decided to go to the aid of village, the Admiralty were informed after the event.
That afternoon, 5th May, we headed back down river, but only for about 40 miles, where we anchored of Anory, where it is said the waters boiled with alligators, their tails cracking the air like whip lashes. This was to be the hunting ground for Leopards "mugger-hunters". The reference to alligators being reffered to as muggers, was taken from the film "An Alligator named Daisy" in which the old retired General would exclaim, "muggers, by gad!" whenever he met the unfortunate poor animal.
Our
mugger hunting party was led by the captain, with the gunnery and engineering officer in support and assisted by our pilot Jurueno who was to act as interpreter to any local natives that might be come upon. Not only that, the alligators were pretty poor with the English as well! "let go of my leg you b.....d!" The hunting party left the ship at 1710hrs equipped with one 27 -foot whaler, 12 pussers bag meals, two .303 rifles with bayonets fixed, one parang and most important of all a case of beer. Well! if your going to be gobbled up by a bloody great alligator its best to be pissed at the time.
Ten minutes after leaving the ship, the first mugger was seen, a monster of a specimen, to meet one so soon caught the "big white hunters" with their trousers down and it had gone before all could get their breath, let alone load the weapons. I put it down to fright! I wonder if toilet paper was part of their provisions!
Soon after, the hunters came upon two natives in their dug-out canoes, they seemed rather shy at first, but soon came round when Jurueno spoke to them in their own lingo, the captain offered them cigarettes- not having any trinkets or any other barterable goods- and having no cigerettes of his own , detailed TO2 Barnham to do the honours. No doubt the captain was thinking of Captain Cook and his meeting with some natives!
At 1740 they came upon quite a large settlement. The name of the place was not only not known to the pilot, he said he never even knew the place existed. So within just 100 yards of the village, our intrepid hunters turned the boat around and headed, probably at speed, back down river. By now it was getting near sunset, and suddenly all around them, large, dolphin-like fish started to leap out of the water. These fish, known locally as "cow-fish" are about the size of a porpoise, have pink undersides and grey uppers, a large-beak type snout, and make rude noises when breaking surface. this was a good omen for the hunters as this meant the hunted were close by. Indeed, soon after the first appearance no less than four muggers were sighted. The captain had about three shots and missed each time. Proving to be a better ships captain than a "crocodile Dundee".
Having now frightened off all living creatures in the area it was decided to move to another stretch of the river. They hadn't gone far when they came upon another school of fish, with the muggers following. This time there were so many targets to choose from that the marksmen up forward ( the Captain and Leading Seaman Withers) were shooting at one mugger while the coxswain of the boat was chasing two others in an entirely different direction, and the situation soon became chaotic.Up to now, less than an hour after leaving the ship, they had seen ten really big Alligators, shot at half of them, and missed the lot. Have you ever seen an Alligator, swimming on it's back, laughing and sticking two fingers up in the air? I think this band of warriors did!
They chased one monster into an island of grass, and while waiting for him to come out, the Captain tried his luck on three or four pairs of luminous eyes or dark forms on the water.
So lets now sum it up, we have, a shot-up lump of grass and a couple of logs, peppered with lead from a .303, natives smoking cheap naval tobacco, hiding in the jungle because the think it's war, and a boat-full of " 'airy-arsed" sailors who should be out on the high-seas, defending the realm! "Crocodile Dundee's" they are surely not.
It was now time to do some serious thinking, so sitting mid-stream with the engine stopped, the Gunnery officer (Lt Lennox) said it was about time to break out the beer. The pilot, being a sober and upright chap, declined his, no doubt thinking about the consequences of alligator hunting with a bunch of drunken sailors. After the beer had been guzzled it was back to the hunting. A mugger was soon spotted and at a distance of 20 yards, the Captain opened fire. A hit was claimed but it got away. Leading Seaman "Geordie" Coates also claimed a hit but this one disappeared a flurry of foam, having been attacked by piranah, well, so they say!
Once again they moved slowly up-river with aldis and damage control lights trained on the bank. Soon they actually had one of the beasts cornered in the under-growth. Leading Seaman Coates and Withers both hit this one and the boat was turned head on to the bank to get closer; but alas, when the Gunnery Officer gave the order to "go astern", the boat jumped ahead at full speed and ended up in the undergrowth with a resounding crash. On getting back to open water the boat was examined for damage and it was found that the stern gear had become defective, and it took the best part of fifteen minutes to get rid of all the brush and twigs which had collected in the crash.
By now, our heroes, were determined to get at least one mugger, so off they set again. Suddenly another pair of eyes loomed up not very far shead. Withers took a shot at this one, and lo and behold, they had their first catch of he night. When the alligator was hauled inboard, it was found to be about three foot six inches long, not very big, but something to be going on with. Surprisingly Withers had only stunned this one; it came to life ten minutes later and caused quite a stir running around in the bottom of the boat. After a lot of fuss, and probably movement of the bowels, it was eventually put unceremoniously into the Engineer Officers bag and later presented to the First Lieutenant when the party returned to the ship. Of its subsequent history it need only be added that Able Seaman Ings also had a moving of the bowels when he was confronted with it in the showers the next morning.
Soon after Withers had got his mugger, the Captain shot one too, the second and last they were to catch. It is widely believed that this mugger surrendered, being in sympathy with our illustrious "Captain Crocodile Dundee". This did the Alligator no favours as unlike his mate this one had half its head shot away. Obviously the skipper got fed up with the .303 and used the ships 4.5 guns! Maybe this was a better way to die than being put under a hot shower!
After these two quick catches it was decided to call it a night and go back to the ship. This proved eventful, as the same native met earlier that evening was nearly shot having been mistaken as a crocodile in a canoe. All I can say is that the beer was to strong for them. Anyway, after another chat with the native the Captain bestowed more gifts on him, this time the remains of the sandwiches. There is now, somewhere in the Amazon basin, a grandfather telling his grandchildren, about the night he met the "great white hunters", who tried to poison him with their "pussers bag meals". So at 2300 hours the intrepid hunters arrived back to sanity!
6th May We leave our anchorage at the great hunting grounds of Anory, and after a brief jaunt arrive at Manaos. capital of the State of Amazonas and the biggest city in the whole of the Amazon basin. Our berth was out in the river alongside a floating pontoon, which was connected to the shore, to allow for the rise and fall of the river. during our visit the level was 36 feet above low river and was expected to rise a few feet more before the rains stopped and the river started to fall. Manaos had had a time of affluence at the beginning of the century when the city was the worlds principal exporter of rubber and had a monopoly, this was later broken by the British introduction to Malaya of rubber trees taken from the Amazon.
A monument to this former wealth is the Opera House standing on high ground in the middle of the city with a huge dome, covered in yellow mosaic tiles, to crown it. At the time of our visit in 1960 the building was being renovated and there was talk of Dame Margot Fonteyn being the first artist to appear there when it is reopened. I do not know if this event happened.
Another cheap run-ashore here. The canteen manager put a stop on the sale of chocolate from the ships NAAFI shop, due to the asaid goods being used as contraband, a couple of bars of this in your pocket ashore and you became the most popular man in Manaos, the exchange rate was "fantastico"!
8th May After two days here it was time to leave. This was probably due to the fact that not only had we run out of chocolate but smelly soap was getting dangerously low. The Supply officer proceeded to do the money exchange-exchanging cruzero's back to pounds-and it is pretty certain he got more cruzero's back than he paid out. I wonder if he ever worked it out , or did he spend a many sleepless night trying to balance his books? I hope so.
9th May We arrive at the village of Santarem. This is to be just a short 2 hour call, just long enough for the local traders to come on board to sell a stuffed mugger or some other exotic Amazon reminder.
So its farewell to the Amazon with just a short call at Belem, before meeting up with , for the last time, to replenish, our old faithful friend RFA Wave Knight. We were now leaving behind the muddy yellow waters and heading into the blue waters of the Atlantic, and setting a decent cruising speed of 18 knots pointed our nose toward Gibraltar and home.
The Amazon River
Monday 18th April. After a placid Easter weekend passage across the Plate we arrived at Rio de Janeiro. This time there was another reason for our visit here. We are to bear the full weight of diplomatic representation of all foreign naval forces- us presumably, the only ones to take up the offer- for the transfer of Capital from Rio to Brasilia. This event to take place at midnight on 20th April 1960.
The next morning at 0900, we fell in at divisions, the actual moment when Brasilia was inaugurated as capital of the United States of Brazil, the guard presented arms and the Brazilian flag was broken at the masthead. Our little ceremony was well documented by local press TV and news stations. Could it have been a coincidence that today was also our Queens birthday?
The whole of that day and night was one big party in Rio. It was just like the “ Rio Carnival” but better! A certain person had to go to the local hospital to have his small finger of his right hand re-attached. After treatment he was returned to the ship by the hospital staff who would not depart until the hospital bill had been paid. This was done, and then a couple of days stoppage of leave was bestowed on the victim. I believe the offence is called “self inflicted”. Well, if you miss your target and put you fist through toughened glass, what would you expect!
29th April.Our approach to the Amazon River was through the southern entrance, making a call at Belem, where we were met by the British Honorary Vice Consul, who was the Booth Steamship Company’s agent as well. Obviously the government post wasn’t paying very good wages and he was moonlighting!. He arranged for our pilots, and even managed to secure our mail, no mean achievement in Brazil where the postal authorities constantly wage war against the public. Their best effort against the ship occurred during our first visit to Rio, when the Postmaster-Generals office received some bags of mail from London addressed to HMS Leopard. When they opened the bags, a thing they shouldn’t have done anyway, it was to discover that all the letters were addressed HMS Leopard, c/o GPO London; so they naturally sent them back to London. Logical, but slightly tiresome
Belem, Daily Orders 28 April 1960
Belem lies on the Para River, and is 100 miles from the sea and about the same distance from the equator, so the climate is constantly hot and humid with only the occasional sea breeze to make it tolerable.
Only one day was spent at Belem, and for most of us, this was one day too many. Warm beer, open sewerage and charcoal grilled dog was not for us.
30th April. With our two river pilots aboard our course was set for the Amazon, but before reaching the main river there were 90 miles of narrows to negotiate, where had our first glimpse of the river-people who live along the banks and eke out their humble existence by growing bananas, jute, or brazil nuts. Their homes are little wooden huts usually only a few paces from the river-bank, perhaps as close as 50 yards away, the wash of the ship would curve over the edge of the muddy bank and go tumbling towards the huts, occasionally making it necessary for the house(hut) holder to snatch up the baby or dog or whatever looked as though it might be washed away; the huts didn’t look too secure themselves. The picture shows us in the narrows, with lookouts and anchor party at the ready.
After the narrows came the River Amazon itself, broad and yellow, curving majestically through hundreds of miles of low-lying jungle, its surface dotted with floating islands of living grass, sometimes with bushes growing on them as well, and great trees , torn from the banks by the mighty river in flood and making their way at a steady four knots to the Atlantic, thousands of miles from their place of creation.
By day the trees were easy to avoid and since we were up the river at full moon it was possible to see them at night. the look-out in the eyes of the ship was kept pretty busy giving a running commentary of the dangers ahead as the ship wove a sinuous course through the debris. Going upstream against the current, our course uasually lay close to the bank to avoid the worst of the stream against us, though we also had to follow the deep-water channel cut in the river which was usually on the outside of the bends; but when the river run straight it was the knowledge of our pilots, Hugo and Jurueno, that kept us in deep water.
2nd - 12 May.
Halfway up the river to Manaos its character changed and it became narrower, with steeper banks, and here and there red cliffs rising at the side of the river which itself became deeper; and it was here that we saw the villages of Santarem and Obidos, where we spent a couple of hours to pay our respects and then moved on again. the arrival at Obidos was a noisy affair; as the ship moved in to the jetty to anchor close off the bank a fusillade of fire-crackers was released, banging high into the sky. Not to be beaten by this unexpected welcome we replied with the most appropriate tool at hand the Very pistol, firing a broadside of red, green and white Very lights into the sky. It might have been the 5th of November (Guy Fawkes night) but for the fact we were in the southern hemisphere and it was May.
After our brief two hour stay, we completed the firework display by firing a gun salute to the Mayor of Obidos. Many of the small township were seen to scatter at this event having not heard such big bangs before, but all was well and they waved us farewell as we once again pointed upstream to continue our journey.
PHOTO The coolest place was on the upperdeck, under the awning by the 4.5 gun.
The furthest point we reached (and incidently the furthest by any HM Sips since the survey ship Pelorus in 1909) was the village of Codajas, 1,144 miles from the open sea on the Solimoes River, which goes on into the continent until it reaches Peru and the Andes where it has its source. Codajas looked a quiet little place, with a grassy bank in front of the houses of the village, the only big buildings being the school and hospital of the Roman Catholic Mission. When the Captain landed it was to learn that the ship had answered the prayers of the missionaries, who had been fighting a battle against disease. Malaria and dysentery had struck many of the population and their supplies of drugs were exhausted, with food running out as well, the high river having interupted their normal supplies. Help from the ships resources was quickly forthcomming, and to have the chance to help people in such circumstances gave an added reason for being there at that time and made us feel our trip had been worthwhile.
Forty years later our captain still keeps in contact with this village and the missionaries, by means of letters and donations. It was the captain himself who decided to go to the aid of village, the Admiralty were informed after the event.
That afternoon, 5th May, we headed back down river, but only for about 40 miles, where we anchored of Anory, where it is said the waters boiled with alligators, their tails cracking the air like whip lashes. This was to be the hunting ground for Leopards "mugger-hunters". The reference to alligators being reffered to as muggers, was taken from the film "An Alligator named Daisy" in which the old retired General would exclaim, "muggers, by gad!" whenever he met the unfortunate poor animal.
OurTen minutes after leaving the ship, the first mugger was seen, a monster of a specimen, to meet one so soon caught the "big white hunters" with their trousers down and it had gone before all could get their breath, let alone load the weapons. I put it down to fright! I wonder if toilet paper was part of their provisions!
Soon after, the hunters came upon two natives in their dug-out canoes, they seemed rather shy at first, but soon came round when Jurueno spoke to them in their own lingo, the captain offered them cigarettes- not having any trinkets or any other barterable goods- and having no cigerettes of his own , detailed TO2 Barnham to do the honours. No doubt the captain was thinking of Captain Cook and his meeting with some natives!
At 1740 they came upon quite a large settlement. The name of the place was not only not known to the pilot, he said he never even knew the place existed. So within just 100 yards of the village, our intrepid hunters turned the boat around and headed, probably at speed, back down river. By now it was getting near sunset, and suddenly all around them, large, dolphin-like fish started to leap out of the water. These fish, known locally as "cow-fish" are about the size of a porpoise, have pink undersides and grey uppers, a large-beak type snout, and make rude noises when breaking surface. this was a good omen for the hunters as this meant the hunted were close by. Indeed, soon after the first appearance no less than four muggers were sighted. The captain had about three shots and missed each time. Proving to be a better ships captain than a "crocodile Dundee".
Having now frightened off all living creatures in the area it was decided to move to another stretch of the river. They hadn't gone far when they came upon another school of fish, with the muggers following. This time there were so many targets to choose from that the marksmen up forward ( the Captain and Leading Seaman Withers) were shooting at one mugger while the coxswain of the boat was chasing two others in an entirely different direction, and the situation soon became chaotic.Up to now, less than an hour after leaving the ship, they had seen ten really big Alligators, shot at half of them, and missed the lot. Have you ever seen an Alligator, swimming on it's back, laughing and sticking two fingers up in the air? I think this band of warriors did!
They chased one monster into an island of grass, and while waiting for him to come out, the Captain tried his luck on three or four pairs of luminous eyes or dark forms on the water.
So lets now sum it up, we have, a shot-up lump of grass and a couple of logs, peppered with lead from a .303, natives smoking cheap naval tobacco, hiding in the jungle because the think it's war, and a boat-full of " 'airy-arsed" sailors who should be out on the high-seas, defending the realm! "Crocodile Dundee's" they are surely not.
It was now time to do some serious thinking, so sitting mid-stream with the engine stopped, the Gunnery officer (Lt Lennox) said it was about time to break out the beer. The pilot, being a sober and upright chap, declined his, no doubt thinking about the consequences of alligator hunting with a bunch of drunken sailors. After the beer had been guzzled it was back to the hunting. A mugger was soon spotted and at a distance of 20 yards, the Captain opened fire. A hit was claimed but it got away. Leading Seaman "Geordie" Coates also claimed a hit but this one disappeared a flurry of foam, having been attacked by piranah, well, so they say!
Once again they moved slowly up-river with aldis and damage control lights trained on the bank. Soon they actually had one of the beasts cornered in the under-growth. Leading Seaman Coates and Withers both hit this one and the boat was turned head on to the bank to get closer; but alas, when the Gunnery Officer gave the order to "go astern", the boat jumped ahead at full speed and ended up in the undergrowth with a resounding crash. On getting back to open water the boat was examined for damage and it was found that the stern gear had become defective, and it took the best part of fifteen minutes to get rid of all the brush and twigs which had collected in the crash.
By now, our heroes, were determined to get at least one mugger, so off they set again. Suddenly another pair of eyes loomed up not very far shead. Withers took a shot at this one, and lo and behold, they had their first catch of he night. When the alligator was hauled inboard, it was found to be about three foot six inches long, not very big, but something to be going on with. Surprisingly Withers had only stunned this one; it came to life ten minutes later and caused quite a stir running around in the bottom of the boat. After a lot of fuss, and probably movement of the bowels, it was eventually put unceremoniously into the Engineer Officers bag and later presented to the First Lieutenant when the party returned to the ship. Of its subsequent history it need only be added that Able Seaman Ings also had a moving of the bowels when he was confronted with it in the showers the next morning.
Soon after Withers had got his mugger, the Captain shot one too, the second and last they were to catch. It is widely believed that this mugger surrendered, being in sympathy with our illustrious "Captain Crocodile Dundee". This did the Alligator no favours as unlike his mate this one had half its head shot away. Obviously the skipper got fed up with the .303 and used the ships 4.5 guns! Maybe this was a better way to die than being put under a hot shower!
After these two quick catches it was decided to call it a night and go back to the ship. This proved eventful, as the same native met earlier that evening was nearly shot having been mistaken as a crocodile in a canoe. All I can say is that the beer was to strong for them. Anyway, after another chat with the native the Captain bestowed more gifts on him, this time the remains of the sandwiches. There is now, somewhere in the Amazon basin, a grandfather telling his grandchildren, about the night he met the "great white hunters", who tried to poison him with their "pussers bag meals". So at 2300 hours the intrepid hunters arrived back to sanity!
6th May We leave our anchorage at the great hunting grounds of Anory, and after a brief jaunt arrive at Manaos. capital of the State of Amazonas and the biggest city in the whole of the Amazon basin. Our berth was out in the river alongside a floating pontoon, which was connected to the shore, to allow for the rise and fall of the river. during our visit the level was 36 feet above low river and was expected to rise a few feet more before the rains stopped and the river started to fall. Manaos had had a time of affluence at the beginning of the century when the city was the worlds principal exporter of rubber and had a monopoly, this was later broken by the British introduction to Malaya of rubber trees taken from the Amazon.
A monument to this former wealth is the Opera House standing on high ground in the middle of the city with a huge dome, covered in yellow mosaic tiles, to crown it. At the time of our visit in 1960 the building was being renovated and there was talk of Dame Margot Fonteyn being the first artist to appear there when it is reopened. I do not know if this event happened.
Another cheap run-ashore here. The canteen manager put a stop on the sale of chocolate from the ships NAAFI shop, due to the asaid goods being used as contraband, a couple of bars of this in your pocket ashore and you became the most popular man in Manaos, the exchange rate was "fantastico"!
8th May After two days here it was time to leave. This was probably due to the fact that not only had we run out of chocolate but smelly soap was getting dangerously low. The Supply officer proceeded to do the money exchange-exchanging cruzero's back to pounds-and it is pretty certain he got more cruzero's back than he paid out. I wonder if he ever worked it out , or did he spend a many sleepless night trying to balance his books? I hope so.
9th May We arrive at the village of Santarem. This is to be just a short 2 hour call, just long enough for the local traders to come on board to sell a stuffed mugger or some other exotic Amazon reminder.
So its farewell to the Amazon with just a short call at Belem, before meeting up with , for the last time, to replenish, our old faithful friend RFA Wave Knight. We were now leaving behind the muddy yellow waters and heading into the blue waters of the Atlantic, and setting a decent cruising speed of 18 knots pointed our nose toward Gibraltar and home.