Rio Negro Day One
17/04/10 23:12 Filed in: Uruguay
The port of Mercedes is 60km upstream from Rio Uruguay.
Gilles and Dominique on Menkar returned late last night. We joined them this morning for a trip on the Rio Negro.
Menkar on a buoy between Isla del Puerto and the quay at Mercedes.
Looking upstream at Mercedes towards the pasarella. Lots of floating debris was trapped in the bridge superstructure.
The main quay at Mercedes.
The whole dock area has been restored. Mooring for yachts, alongside or on a buoy is free! This includes water and electricity. Although the entire area is open to the public there is 24/7 security and I saw nothing to indicate any problems.
Is there a catch to all this? Possibly.
This photo was taken back in february when we passed through Mercedes. This catamaran is lying more or less in the same spot as Menkar in the photo above. Flooding raised the Rio Negro to a depth of 8.8 metres at Mercedes. Sufficient to immerse the red building up to it's roof and flood buildings a block and a half into the town. They have 14m of chain on the mooring buoys!
Our plan was to motor gently upstream and do some fishing.
Mercedes rowing club.
We needed to pass under this bridge. Absent detailed information we needed to get up close and see if we could pass.
It looks pretty high. We should get through.
Hmm, difficult to tell.
Getting very close. Having second thoughts.
No indications as to depth or air draught.
Just port and starboard markings.
Will we make it? The people on the bridge can't see underneath. From our deck it's very difficult to tell. Gilles edged up close into the current.
Too close to call. Gilles drops back and returns down river to fish elsewhere.
A lovely day on the river. Little wind and 1-2 knots of current.
Autumnal colours, calm and virtually deserted.
Numerous beaches with fine white sand.
Gilles anchored about an hour downstream behind an island. Out came the rods.
Lot's of fish in the river. The bait (tiny fish) was attacked almost immediately. Something on the line here.
A small catfish with very big spikes.
Self with a yellow fish of about 1kg.
After a few hours fishing we made a night passage back to Mercedes. The Rio Negro is buoyed but not lit and with little habitation and no moon it was a dark night. Gilles has a very sophisticated computerised navigation system. He can overlay GPS data onto most maps, photographs or charts and even onto google earth which we were using tonight.
No problems apart from a small exchange of paint with one of the buoys.
Gilles and Dominique on Menkar returned late last night. We joined them this morning for a trip on the Rio Negro.
Menkar on a buoy between Isla del Puerto and the quay at Mercedes.
Looking upstream at Mercedes towards the pasarella. Lots of floating debris was trapped in the bridge superstructure.
The main quay at Mercedes.
The whole dock area has been restored. Mooring for yachts, alongside or on a buoy is free! This includes water and electricity. Although the entire area is open to the public there is 24/7 security and I saw nothing to indicate any problems.
Is there a catch to all this? Possibly.
This photo was taken back in february when we passed through Mercedes. This catamaran is lying more or less in the same spot as Menkar in the photo above. Flooding raised the Rio Negro to a depth of 8.8 metres at Mercedes. Sufficient to immerse the red building up to it's roof and flood buildings a block and a half into the town. They have 14m of chain on the mooring buoys!
Our plan was to motor gently upstream and do some fishing.
Mercedes rowing club.
We needed to pass under this bridge. Absent detailed information we needed to get up close and see if we could pass.
It looks pretty high. We should get through.
Hmm, difficult to tell.
Getting very close. Having second thoughts.
No indications as to depth or air draught.
Just port and starboard markings.
Will we make it? The people on the bridge can't see underneath. From our deck it's very difficult to tell. Gilles edged up close into the current.
Too close to call. Gilles drops back and returns down river to fish elsewhere.
A lovely day on the river. Little wind and 1-2 knots of current.
Autumnal colours, calm and virtually deserted.
Numerous beaches with fine white sand.
Gilles anchored about an hour downstream behind an island. Out came the rods.
Lot's of fish in the river. The bait (tiny fish) was attacked almost immediately. Something on the line here.
A small catfish with very big spikes.
Self with a yellow fish of about 1kg.
After a few hours fishing we made a night passage back to Mercedes. The Rio Negro is buoyed but not lit and with little habitation and no moon it was a dark night. Gilles has a very sophisticated computerised navigation system. He can overlay GPS data onto most maps, photographs or charts and even onto google earth which we were using tonight.
No problems apart from a small exchange of paint with one of the buoys.