We are the crew of Ipanema. A couple and a dog from Brazil who decided to take a chance, live our dreams and see where it would take us.
We were living fine but struggling to stay afloat the water line. So we decide to run away from the rat race and experiment a new lifestyle. Now we live on a boat, produce our own water and energy, fish our own meal and decide today what we are going to do tomorrow (if anything at all).
Renato Matiolli
When Renato was 8 years old, he started surfing and got a subscription from Fluir (a surfing magazine). In every new edition featured an amazing destination. At that age, the only surfing spot he knew was Guaruja, but he started to dream about seeking his own preferred places to explore.
Renato doesn’t have a traditional “sailing family” background and has been learning on the go. His main sources are Google and YouTube on one hand and his good friends Daniel (the pirate) and Lorenzo (the pilot) as his trusted advisors on the other hand.
He is a bit of a nerd, who keeps trying to run away from his core. He is passionate about Sarinha, Feijao, exploring, marine life, boarding sports and gizmos (such as drones) in general.
Renato was born in Sao Paulo and in the last fifteen years has lived mainly in Rio de Janeiro. However he also lived in London, Philadelphia, Jakarta and Buenos Aires. He has a bachelor in engineer (which means that he likes to fix stuff on the boat, it doesn’t mean he can fix them) and a MBA/MA from Wharton/Lauder.
What do you do well?: “Sleep, seek for new places to explore, create useless theories about life and human behaviour, engage on random conversations with cab drivers.”
What you don’t do so well?: “Pizza withdraw, emotional stability while getting stuck in traffic or in any type of cue, long phone calls, cold weather and coping with the fact that big sharks exist.”
The joy of this trip?: “Try a different lifestyle for a change, spend more time with Sarah and Feijao, visiting family and friends, going to places, learning things and meeting new people he couldn’t even dream of, maybe manage to speak some Bahasa.”
Sarah Moreira
Sarah is the only daughter to an international couple in the hotel business. So she has moved around quite a bit when young and as she grew up the quest continued. She was born and lived in Brazil until the age of 12 and did middle school in Panama. Than she finished her high school in Lisbon and got Bachelor degree in Hotel Management from Les Roches in Marbella. Not satisfied she went to work in London, than Algarve and than Rio de Janeiro. In Rio she finally stopped wandering around and met the love of her live… Feijao, of course… followed distantly by Renato.
What do you well?: “Being nice at people even if they aren’t really nice at you, cook yummy food, being extra patient wih Feijao (even when he is eating my lovely shoes).”
What you don’t do so well?: “Spending more than a few minutes without nibbling something, accepting not having another biological brother or sister, lack of sleep, being cold and dealing with the limitation of having only one dog aboard.”
The joy of this trip?: “Squeeze Feijao like an orange 24/7, become a serious cook, spend more time doing sports, not having to pack anymore.”
Feijao Medina
Feijao (which means beans) was born in Rio de Janeiro and he is a true spirited carioca. He likes the beach, loves to socialize with every one and every dog and is always planning to do something wildly crazy and stupid. He has no sailing experience, but is excited to try some fish if his parents ever catch one.
What do you well?: “Eat, sleep, destroy stuff, poo and pee.”
What you don’t do so well?: “Early morning wake up calls, fetch (it is for dummies) and go for a walk.”
The joy of this trip?: “Learn how to surf, get more time with my non-biological parents and spend time outdoor.”