late July 2025 ~ Within 2 months of our visit, two sailing yachts wrecked on the sandbars of Ilha dos Lençois — so it is no joke!
There are many shifting sandbars and deceptive currents in this remarkable island. It’s known to be safe and dangerous at the same time. How is this possible?
To safely approach Ilha dos Lencois, we took our navigation seriously. Navigation comes in 2 parts: Preparation (what we do in advance) and Presence (what we do in the moment).
Preparation is basically an attempt to visualize all possible futures — peering into the crystal ball. When will the wind and tide and sunlight align for a best condition for safe entrance? What’s our backup plan, what does that look like? Curiosity (and some degree of anxiety) are very helpful to motivate preparation. It drives us to collect information (sailor resources, study charts, tidal info) and try to make a decent working Plan. Not forgetting, of course, that the “plan” is simply a roadmap that might (will) be changed.
Presence is where the “rubber meets the road” . We need to rely 100% on observation and instantaneous response, based on intuition, experience, and the knowledge gained from Preparation. Watching the wind & waves, the clouds, the depth sounder, the charts, reviewing notes. Preparation is the guide book outlining a plan; Presence is the guide that, in the moment, alters the plan.
We sailed overnight from Atins, and arrived just after 10am (with good lighting) in the region littered by sand bars surrounding Ilha Lençois; and entered on the incoming tide (in case of running into a sand bar, the tide is rising!)
Disorganized seas confused us at first. Eyes go from chart to reality and back. Is that an unmarked sand bar? Why is the water color an odd milky seafoam green?
We pick our way into the estuary of Ilha dos Lençois, rewarded with an incredible experience: like anchoring in a calm river with mangroves on one side, and magnificent sand dunes on the other.
We reveled in the surreal light that plays on the dunes. We spent a few night, visiting the village, kayaking through the mangroves — it was relaxing and wonderful.
Watch our Reel about Ilha dos Lençois:
reel above didn’t load? watch here.
Photos from Ilha dos Lençois:
Up next: we sail to Belém, up the Rio Pará into the Amazon Basin!
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