Catú to Jaguaripe
Author: Shirlz
Catú
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
When I woke up on New Year’s day I noticed that the big catamaran had dragged quite a long way down the channel. They all still seemed to be asleep. The anchor must have reset itself as they had stopped moving. The wind had picked up and was fairly strong NE. Passageweather had forecast an offshore gale not far south of here. Glad I’m not out there.
After breakfast I decided to move around the corner of the island and explore the anchorage just before the bridge. The chart showed the water shelving rapidly from 20m to nothing. I rounded up in the centre of the bay in deep water and edged cautiously shoreward dropping the anchor in 5m. It still seemed a long way from the water’s edge. It was more sheltered than Tororó and I sat down to enjoy a mug of coffee in the cockpit. I had a good view of the bridge that connects Itaparica to the mainland. Lots of road traffic. As I watched, a catamaran with tall mast approached from the other side. It would be interesting to see them sailing under the bridge. I had read that there is enough room for a 17m mast (at low tide). The catamaran seemed to be waiting for the water to ebb. Before long a fleet of about 8 or 10 other yachts arrived. Must have spent the weekend at Cacha Prego. They started negotiating the bridge. For the smaller ones it was no problem but most seemed to have only inches to spare. After passing under the bridge they still had to clear the powerlines that appear to droop lower than the bridge. Most boats moved diagonally to where the curve of the drooping cables was higher above the water. I had been assured that the power-lines are higher than the bridge but they give the impression of being a lot lower. All the boats got through safely. I admired their panache.
I spent the day pottering about and now and then thinking that I might make some New Year’s Resolutions. Maybe next year. It was too windy to row about the bay as I had hoped to do.
Next morning the north wind was still blowing but the tide was right for the short run down to Catú. I had noticed that the incoming tide runs with one as far as the bridge and then its against you for the rest of the way to the entrance to the Itaparica channel. The ebbing tide does the opposite of course. It’s quite strong at times and is worth taking into account. Getting under the bridge was no problem for Speedwell as we don’t need much more than 10m. Keeping to the middle of the channel I found deep water all the way. When I rounded up to drop the anchor in 4m off the little village, I realised that the wind had really picked up and the water was quite choppy. Put out 30m of chain and went below for a cup of coffee.
Later I rowed ashore and found a small grocery shop which had a last one-litre can of kerosene. I make a habit of picking some up whenever I see it as it’s not that easy to find here. The price varies wildly from R$7 to as much as R$14 per litre. This was in the low range so I snapped it up. My Primus uses a bit less than a litre a week so it’s not a major expense.
Catú is tiny village with a scattering of bars and restaurants along the shore. My search for an Internet connection was not successful. I was happy to forget about it and wandered along a pretty path through the trees. Some free range horses grazed peacefully in the open spaces.
Jaguaripe
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
The wind had dropped over night and it looked like a good day to head down to Jaguaripe. Only about 7 nm from Catú but it involved a slightly dodgy unmarked route through the shallows near the entrance to the Itaparica channel. Pete had given me some waypoints and I was eager to have a bash at it. I waited till half tide and started out. The rain that was threatening held off. Still in deep (6m) water, I passed close to the big green buoy marking the main channel and headed across to the Rio Jaguaripe taking a gentle curve round the big sandbank that extends off the SE corner of Ilha da Carapeba. The tide was rising and I was motoring slowly against the current. The waypoints were good and I had 4-5 m all the way to the entrance of the Rio Jaguaripe. From there it was an easy run up the middle of the river in about 6m most of the way.
There was a scattering of fishing buoys in front of the town and it was tricky trying to find a good place to drop the anchor. I ended up a bit too close to a cluster of plastic bottles acting as a buoy. Just before sunset two men paddled over in a canoa to tell me that I was on top of their net. I hadn’t realised that there was a submerged net connecting the float close to me to another one far away near the opposite bank. The tide was ebbing strongly now and they said they would be back at slack water to sort things out. When they came back I tried to raise the anchor but the net had floated over on top of my chain and it was impossible. After trying for about an hour, in the dark, to pull the chain past the net we were getting nowhere. I offered to buoy my anchor and drop it then re-anchor with the Fortress which was ready to go, but the fishermen very kindly decided to untie the net from their buoys and haul it in.
Thursday, 5 January 2012
This morning I saw the net fishermen again and offered to move to a different spot. They said I should stay where I was and they chose a new place further away from the town.
When I went ashore a little later I discovered a good free wifi spot in the main Praça and was able to catch up with emails and a new book to read. It’s a neat and tidy little town. Very pretty with it’s big church perched on a hill, it’s glittering onion-shaped dome sprouting some green foliage round the edges. Neatly clipped shade trees in the central square. There was no fresh meat for sale so I bought two small fish for Sinbad.
When I got back on board I made some breadrolls as the ones they had for sale in the town looked a bit tired. Full of enthusiasm for getting things done in a fresh new year, I also got the sewing machine out and made a sturdy bag to hold the 10m of chain that belongs to the Fortress anchor. It also had 80m of rope in a separate bag. Too heavy to move if I put the chain and rope in one bag. I used to leave the chain loosely bundled behind the mast but it had a nasty tendency to slide about.
Every afternoon on onshore wind blows strongly from the east. At Jaguaripe the river runs in an E- W direction which means that if the tide is ebbing (which it does at a rate if 2-3 knots) in the afternoon it creates a very uncomfortable anchoring situation.
Friday, 6 January 2012
I left Jaguaripe a 7am. Flat calm with an ebbing tide. Stopped for breakfast at the pretty beach near Pta Garcia and waited for the tide to start coming in before heading back to Catú.
Tags: cruising
January 16th, 2012 at 17:04
A new years resolution should be: Learn to fly fish 😉 Then I can send you a rod and reel for your birthday.
Glad everything is looking good so far the new year.
So when are you planning on sailing in this general direction?