Itaparica, Bahia, Brasil
The most uncommon-looking boat at anchor in Itaparica when I arrived was the Research Vessel Heraclitus. Heraclitus was built of ferrocement in California in 1974 and has sailed around the world several times, 250,000 miles in all. I’ve long been interested in junk-rigged vessels, and this is the largest (85 feet/26m, 120 tons) and most-sailed junk that I’ve seen. A friendly crewman from the Solomon Islands showed me around the boat, which, among other things, is equipped with a library of hundreds of books and a large laboratory area. Heraclitus does mostly environmental reseach for various organizations. More information on their website at http://www.rvheraclitus.org