u079721
Contributing Partner
Just got back from three weeks in Rio de Janeiro (yes, it was tough duty, but someone has do to it
). Rio has more natural beauty than any other city I have seen, and the people are amazingly nice. And with all the beautiful water you might expect it to be a sailing mecca. (I mean, the Volvo Ocean Race stopped there, right?)
But no. The taxes on boats are so high, that only the very rich have them. And even then the boats they have are just normal mid sized boats, from 30 to 40 feet. In a town of over 7 million people I counted between 200 and 300 sailboats. That's it. On a typical day I would only see three or four out sailing.
The first photo below shows the main harbor in Rio, where just about all the sailboats are to be found. There is not a single slip in sight, only moorings.
One boat I noticed that is worth of special mention is shown below. At first glance it looks just like an ordinary cruiser, with perhaps a bit more than usual mounted on the stern. But close up you see that the owner has actually had an entire back porch added, complete with awning and deck chairs and dinghy davits and swim ladder. It's amazing that the boat isn't squatting more than it is.
The really sad thing about Rio is the crime. My wife was in town on business teaching a class for three weeks. I joined her during the third week and we then extended our stay for two weeks of vacation (during which we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary, by the way). Of the 18 folks in her class, two of them were carjacked at gun point in just those first 3 weeks. Which, as you might imagine, was enough to keep us from renting a car while there!
). Rio has more natural beauty than any other city I have seen, and the people are amazingly nice. And with all the beautiful water you might expect it to be a sailing mecca. (I mean, the Volvo Ocean Race stopped there, right?)But no. The taxes on boats are so high, that only the very rich have them. And even then the boats they have are just normal mid sized boats, from 30 to 40 feet. In a town of over 7 million people I counted between 200 and 300 sailboats. That's it. On a typical day I would only see three or four out sailing.
The first photo below shows the main harbor in Rio, where just about all the sailboats are to be found. There is not a single slip in sight, only moorings.
One boat I noticed that is worth of special mention is shown below. At first glance it looks just like an ordinary cruiser, with perhaps a bit more than usual mounted on the stern. But close up you see that the owner has actually had an entire back porch added, complete with awning and deck chairs and dinghy davits and swim ladder. It's amazing that the boat isn't squatting more than it is.
The really sad thing about Rio is the crime. My wife was in town on business teaching a class for three weeks. I joined her during the third week and we then extended our stay for two weeks of vacation (during which we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary, by the way). Of the 18 folks in her class, two of them were carjacked at gun point in just those first 3 weeks. Which, as you might imagine, was enough to keep us from renting a car while there!
Attachments
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Rio Harbor.jpg -
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Back Deck.jpg
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