Coqueiros – Saveiros and pottery
Author: Shirlz
Thursday, 22 December 2011
On Wednesday the tide was big enough for me to head back downriver. I had enjoyed the enforced delay as Cachoeira is an interesting place and São Felix which lies on the opposite bank is a gentle unassuming little town with some decoratively run-down old buildings. On the odd morning when I was feeling energetic I would take a healthy walk across the bridge and stroll to the end of the promenade. I had admired a crumbly two-storey facade draped with green creepers which faced the main road next to the river. Next time I passed it, all that was left of the second storey was a pile of rubble cordoned off on the pavement. I don’t even think that a particularly strong wind had been blowing. All those graceful arches and iron filigreed balconies. Rather sad.
So, at about 11:00 when the tide was halfway up I set off bravely. It was much easier getting back of course, as I had my track saved on the GPS. If it got me there, it should get me back. It was a pity that I hadn’t marked the places where I got stuck. Fortunately as the tide was against me on the return trip I wasn’t racing along almost out of control and had no problems nudging my may past the two tricky places where some sharp turns were needed.
This time I planned to stop at Coqueiros for the night. I got there just at the top of the tide so the timing was good.
Two interesting things about the place: it’s the home of many saveiros and there is on old lady who has spent most of her life (I’m told that she is 95) turning out pottery bowls which are fired stacked at the side of the road. I paid her a quick visit and hoped she had some small bowls for sale. Unfortunately she had been concentrating on larger ones. So I acquired a nicely glazed terracotta fruit bowl. Ideal for the chart table display. She has been happily turning out her pottery since she was ten years old. Always in the same spot in her little house overlooking the river.
When the saveiros come home for the night they arrange things so that with a final flourish, the sail comes down as they turn up into the wind and gently slide to a halt on the muddy riverbank. With a falling tide. Anchors are also set out in the mud. This way regular maintenance is easy and the hull can be kept free of weed. No need for a dinghy.
As the tide ebbed an extensive sandbank in the middle of the river became exposed. A saveiro that had anchored on top of it at high tide was now aground and the crew were shovelling sand on board to be transported to a building site.
I waited until it was floating again, now heavily loaded with sand with only a few inches of freeboard and decided it was time to leave. Raising the anchor involved first hacking away the enormous heavy lump of weed that had floated downriver and become entangled with my chain. I slashed at it with my breadknife. It took two hours of motoring against the strong current to negotiate the channel through the shoals and then on to the anchorage at Ilha dos Coelhos. I found a good place to anchor NW of the small island then relaxed in the cockpit with a mug of coffee. It was quite a relief to be back in the deeper and more easily navigable part of the river. I decided to leave my trip ashore to see the waterfall for tomorrow.
Tags: cruising, Rio Paraguaçu, Saveiros