Rhod and Anna's World Adventure

Whilst in Brazil we have been on two different boat trips each with basically the same idea. Take some tourists on a cruise, let them go swimming, take them somewhere expensive for lunch then drop them off back at the jetty slightly sunburnt.

Ilha Grande and surrounding islands
Vessel: (see photo above right) The Schooner Phoenix I
Capacity: Licensed for 95. Nowhere near that many on board so plenty of space.
Captain: Well-groomed, clean-shaven, uniformed, beverage of choice: coffee
English speaking guide? Yes, Wilson spoke excellent English and told us all about the different bays and beaches that we passed.
Weather: perfect
Lunch: Choice of on-board snacks or lunch in efficiently-run island resturant
Activites: 3 snorkelling stops

Paraty and surrounding islands
Vessel: (see photo above left) The slightly dodgy looking Pilar
Capacity: Difficult to judge. I can´t imagine it´s licensed and could safely hold about 10. We had 13 for most of the day and 15 at one point.
Captain: Slightly sweaty man, no uniform, drinking cans of Skol at 10:30am and smoking a joint by 11:30am
English speaking guide? No. The Captain knew some words from James Blunt´s song "You´re beautiful" The words he knew were..."You´re Beautiful" He used them often. The commentary was non-existent.
Weather: cloudy with light showers
Lunch: On an island restuarant run by the hostel owner´s mate. Over-priced fish.
Activities: Bowling up at a party to celebrate the festival of St Peter and St Paul. Witness the May Queen equivalent lady (above) dancing. The party was odd. It was raining when we arrived and it is possible that it would have been an amazing event in the sunshine but frankly after 45 mins of not having a clue what was going on we were all desperate to get back on board the Pilar (never thought I would have said that) and head for home.