Well OK, so I'm not actually at Florianopolis, I'm on the other side of Santa Carolina Island - a 50km by 20km island just off the coast of mainland Brazil. Santa Carolina is best known for its surf breaks, and after a bit of mucking around I have successfully found a place to hire a wet suit and surf board from and catch a few waves before Rio. It is very quite here, being the off-season for surfing and tourism and a major fish migration season (which closes some beaches to surfing). In some ways this is good, as it means that there is no competition for waves - something which is most appreciated by someone crap at surfing like me!
A few days later I have realised that it is the smaller breaks that are closed, meaning that have been trying to drop in on waves that are just too big for my current skill level (somewhat scary and oxygen depriving). This, and the weather which has again turned to shite has made me decide to continue north tomorrow...