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Enero 18, 2006
Transatlantic Sailing Adventure Using Google Earth
Three men in Brazil decided to sail across the Atlantic Ocean in a 40 foot long sailboat (monohull) named "Mussulo". The reason is apparently based on at least one of them having always dreamed of returning to Angola, a country he had left 30 years ago. They chose to take full advantage of Google Earth both to allow people to follow the trip, and to provide and anaylyze weather data. They have been using amateur radio for communication, and I presume GPS for navigation. Most significantly, Mussulo completed the journey to Angola and they have begun the trip back to Brazil.
The crew of Mussulo have been posting updates to the Google Earth Community (in both Portuguese and English translations). The Google Earth file 
they have posted not only provides the track and weather information, but also shows placemarks with "log" entries (also in both Portuguese and English - make sure you scroll down to see the English). The file is a network link so it automatically updates when they provide new entries.
The crew of Mussulo have...
The crew of Mussulo have a blog which shows lots of screenshots of how they have been using Google Earth to document the trip and analyze weather.
The name of their web site: "Abraço à Vela", loosely translates (according to Babelfish) to "I hug to the candle". From what I can gather from the posts their objective was to join hugs across the ocean. It is surprising, considering my passion for sailing, I have not noticed this interesting sailing adventure. My only excuse is that the posting was in Portuguese, which I don't speak. Anyway, my congratulations to this valiant crew for having made it across the oceans, and I wish them fair winds for their safe return!
Enviado por FrankTaylor at Enero 18, 2006 08:50 AM
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Enviado por: Djorge at Enero 18, 2006 12:33 PM
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In the name of all of us here on land, following Mussulo´s daily reports and then posting on GE, and the crew members we thank your kind words and apreciate your enthusiasm!
As to the Expedition´s name "Abraço à Vela", really it has no direct translation to English, as such Abraço does mean hug, however, Vela does not mean "candle" in this sense but "SAIL" instead. It is difficult to translate into a catchy title but your deduced explanation has been correct, it means something of the following order, "Though this sail trip the crew plans to greet everyone they have not been in contact with for the past 30 years".
Best Regards,
Djorge