Back to Itaparica
Author: Shirlz
Cacha Prego
Saturday, 7 January 2012
After returning from Jaguaripe I spent Friday night anchored at Catú. One needs to keep fairly well away from the beach as it is shoal near to the coast. Even in the strong afternoon wind it was a comfortable anchorage as the wind was across the current rather than directly opposed. Nevertheless I made a point of bunging up the exhaust. A new year’s resolution.
This morning I motored down to Cacha Prego, a popular beach town about a mile away very close to Barra Falsa at the entrance to the Itaparica Channel. It’s possible to anchor really close to the long beach as there is nearly 3m right up to the shore. But it was crowded with small boats for hire so I stayed a decent way off. Rowed ashore and did my shopping and Internet stuff. There are a few small but well-stocked supermarkets with good fresh fruit and vegetables. I was able to buy the weekly steak treat for Sinbad. The shops were quite crowded as it was Saturday morning. Live blue crabs and shellfish were on sale near the central Praça. Getting the dinghy ashore had been tricky with the wake from passing boats creating waves against the beach plus the complicating factor of hoards of bathers. Kids playing with inflatable dinosaurs and dolphins. Big people sitting submerged to the neck. I had just managed to stay clear of the kids when a bump and a shout told me I’d hit a sitter. It was taken in good nature and no harm done.
Had a refreshing ‘coco gelada’ at a beach bar before rowing back to Speedwell. I returned to the peaceful and more comfortable anchorage at Catú for the night.
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
On Sunday morning I had a long row over the muddy shallows between Catú and Cacha Prego. People were foraging for crabs and shellfish. I spent the rest of the day on board and made a new plastic curtain for the companionway. The old one was getting a bit tatty. It comes in very useful when the wind tries to blow rain down the companionway as it’s so quick just to roll it down.
I was busy measuring up for it when I heard a loud buzzing overhead and a microlight seaplane came low overhead and landed on the water nearby. It motored up to the beach and rolled onto the sand on small wheels. Very neat. Strange to see it parked there next to three dugout canoas.
Monday I sailed back to Tororó to do some washing and Tuesday returned to Itaparica. Able to sail all the way with the wind mostly forward of the beam but very variable. The sail was working well despite not being able to fully raise the bottom panel. Maybe I’ll just leave it that way. At one point we were hit by a short but torrential rain squall. Sinbad sheltered under the dinghy. I got soaked. Soon we were back with the fleet anchored at Itaparica.
Itaparica
Friday, 13 January 2012
On Wednesday I crammed myself into a minibus with about 18 others and headed for the big supermarket at Bom Despache for some serious shopping. It’s about a 20 minute drive and passes some popular beaches on the windward side of the island. There were many stops along the way. As I was sitting up against the side door, each time we stopped for a passenger interchange I needed to get out on the road so that my seat could be folded back to allow access.
At the supermarket I loaded up with all the things that are hard to find in the smaller shops. Italian pasta, drinkable wine, etc. The kerosene was R$16 per litre so I gave it a miss. I’ve become quite good at judging how much I can load into the trolley that will be able to fit into my backpack plus big shopping bag. There was an impossibly long queue at the checkout but eventually I found myself on the road again staggering along with my bags to the corner where the minibuses wait for passengers for the trip back to Itaparica.
Yesterday I was able to move Speedwell over to the stone wall at the old water-bottling plant near the marina. It dries out at low tide and is a good place for a quick antifouling job. Brian and Ron lent me some monster fenders as the wall is rough. They were there to take my lines when I arrived and helped me to tie up. We took a line from the top of the mast to a nearby tree to make sure that Speedwell didn’t fall the wrong way when she dried out. To be on the safe side I also moved the sail bundle as far over to the landward side as possible. I was a bit worried about tipping forward so I hauled the chain out of the locker in the forepeak and laid it along the side deck. As the water level started falling I floated alongside in the dinghy and started scrubbing and scraping the hull clean. It wasn’t too dirty. But the single layer of antifouling paint that had been applied in Goió was wearing very thin and patchy. By the time both sides of the hull were clean the water had ebbed a long way out. I started painting from the bottom up hoping to manage two coats. It worked, but only just. Towards the end I was holding the paint tin above the water which was lapping round my knees. The dinghy came in handy as my floating workbench but got very dirty in the process. I still had to fit the new anode to the prop shaft. Being very careful not to drop anything I screwed it on with 10cm to spare before the prop was submerged. Tidied things up a bit and went for a desperately needed hot shower to get the paint off myself.
Tags: cruising, Drying out