Status: Anchored
Conditions: V warm
AirTemp: 39 deg C
WaterTemp: 34.5 deg C
Wind: Light
SeaState: Flat
Visibility: Excellent
Monday November 12th, 2001
A scorcher: A few puffy white clouds drift slowly from the east - appearing over the tops of the dark green trees of the island to windward to give us a couple of minutes of welcome shade. But they soon head for the other side of the river, changing identity as they go until they seem to mould with all the rest on the distant downwind horizon.
The sun reflecting off the sandbars is so bright that sunglasses are a must if going ashore, or even paddling nearby.
The glare is like that off a snowfield - but hotter.
The river surface also mirrors the sun’s rays straight under the awnings, giving little ability to get away - apart from heading “down below”.
The big fans are working 24 hours a day, sucking the warm air out of Seamaster’s interior, with the replacement air coming through the cabin hatches and the pilot house door.
Being a polar yacht, Seamaster is heavily insulated - just as important in the hot as the cold - so our cabins are generally the best place to be when we have “had enough” of the brightness, the heat and the glare.
The air temperature in the shade climbed to 39 deg C by 2pm, having started the day at over 30.
We are lucky that a light northerly breeze has arrived - even if briefly - over the past few minutes, sending a quiet but welcome draught across the decks and under the awnings.
I am at sitting at the plywood table of “Rodgers” writing this and will shortly have my second shower of the day. The only danger in showering on the aft deck is the number of small black bees that have taken to congregating there. They seem to like the dampness and the hot shade - but they are also attracted by someone cooling off!!
It’s a case of spraying the area with water, stripping off, and showering as quickly as possible before too many bees “climb aboard”.
They don’t seem to sting without provocation, but it’s the thought more than anything else that quickens one’s pace.
The crew have been stung by bees and wasps on a number of occasions - and in many positions, sometimes after one of these insects has made its way up under one’s shorts. All quite painful at the time, but cause for a laugh from the rest.
We keep the insect-screened pilothouse door shut from late afternoon onwards, as our lights after dark attract many varieties of flying visitors; but of mosquitoes we have seen very few. The high acidity of the Rio Negro means they don’t breed here.
5.30 pm: Alistair, Franck and I have just returned from taking some photographs for Omega behind an island next to a sandbar, only a hundred-or-so metres away from Seamaster. The walk over the pale golden squeaking sand was one where our footsteps intermingled with those of a number of caimans - one of which was obviously quite large.
Most of their tracks ended in the dark brown water under the overhanging foliage.
All was quiet - the sounds of silence - apart from the plaintive peeping of a couple of nesting skimmers, disturbed by our presence.
A tiny bat, maybe 3cm long, hung upside down from an old branch near where we stopped. It matched the colour of the dead wood almost exactly.
Large glossy black ants scurried over the bushes that we brushed through - not happy about our intrusion into their afternoon world.
Back aboard Seamaster, there is little apparent activity. The Jungle Team vessel “Iguana” is loaded, ready for the “off” with the sunrise in the morning. All is peaceful.
The dawn and the dusk are definitely the best times.
Right now the air is cooling, the shadows lengthening, and the light is again taking on a mellowness that has been missing for most of the day.
Under the bank of the island, the surface of the river is glassy calm; further out, a light breeze still catspaws the water.
Ripples from the current and from fish and “who-knows-what” appear from time to time, and the dry waves of sand are highlighted by the lowering angle of the sun.
Most of the clouds are gone and the evening sky is a clear blue, with the promise of a similar tomorrow.
This is the Rio Negro.
This is the Amazon.
All the best from the Seamaster crew.
Kind regards,
Peter.
Sir Peter Blake
"Having vision is not enough. Change comes through realising the vision and turning it into a reality. It is easy to espouse worthy goals, values and policies; the hard part is implementation."
Learn about Sir Peter Blake and his journeys around the globe
