After our long say at Itaparica, it was good to go out at sea again.The coastline of the state Bahia is beautiful. We got a nice view of some places, each one original in its own way. Morro de Sao Paulo is a charming tourist place on a island without cars, and the small streets are covered with sand. Galeão is a small fishing village located in the river Canal de Cairú. We were the only ship moored outside Galeáo, except small local boats. The local people, and especially the children, gave a very warm welcome. At the western side of Canal de Cairú (at the opposite side of Galeáo) and further up a side river is Valenca. The river up here is so shallow, that we took the ding, and left Empire moored outside Galeáo. Valenca is known for its boatbuilding traditions. It was interesting to meet one of the old boatbuilders, and to see his latest ongoing project. Next stop was Abrolhos and “the sea of whales”. We will remember this islands… The Humpback whale close up in kayak and from Empire was great. The whales are huge animals. In addition to the whales there were lots of birds, corals, fish and turtles around us.