Amazon Expedition – Day 14

Blog written by Yoav

PANGAEA has reached the farthest point a sailing boat of its size has ever reached. Last night we turned around at St. Isabel back down the Rio Negro, towards our final destination, Belem.

This morning started of with a nice paddle on our canoes and paddleboards down river. Everyone had good control over their means of transportation and enjoyed every moment as we floated across the vast green trees of the rainforest. Once we arrived back at the boat, we had a small snack and quickly continued sailing to make progress and cover distance. We have so much to do, in short time, and a big distance to cover.

In the afternoon Mike taught us how to use the climbing gear in order to climb the ropes all the way up the main mast. It’s a 35 meter climb! We were all excited to learn, because none of us had done it before. Once we understood how to use the equipment and had it all set, we prepared to start the climb. At first we climbed to the first stay on the mast. Everyone did it well, which brought the next challenge. On the climb up the whole mast we split into pairs. It was a competition. We were keen to get to the top as fast as we could. Climbing with the equipment can be tricky; you need to control the technique very well. At the end, Tim achieved the best results; he climbed all the way up in 2:27 minutes!

Everyone is extremely excited for the rest of the expedition, we are currently sailing non-stop for a day and a half down the Rio Negro in order to connect to the mighty Amazon River. Once we arrive at the Amazon River, we would have many activities all around. There’s much to do and much to see, we all know that it’ll be absolutely incredible.