Paratí
Author: Shirlz
Paratí
Monday, 20 December 2010
I took Sinbad for a walk on the beach on Sunday morning. He had a great time scrabbling up the coconut palms and leaping about on the sand. Lots of excess energy to burn off. A junk-rigged Wharram catamaran was on the beach for repairs and they called me over for a coffee. They also have a cat and Sinbad allowed himself to be sniffed at and investigated before they strolled off together to the edge of the jungle. Susi and Tom are German and their choice of junk rig was largely due to the influence of Annie’s book ‘Voyaging on a Small Income’ and Pete’s experiment with 2 masts on China Moon.
Yesterday I gave them a lift across the bay to anchor off the town dock. I needed to do some grocery shopping and they needed to get cleared in with the Port Captain. It was a really hot day. The dock crammed with tourist boats painted in pinks and mauves, turquoise and clashing orange.
Cushions and fringed sun umbrellas. Crowds of holiday makers. Stalls selling straw hats and iced green coconut milk.
Thursday, 23 December 2010
The town is very old. The streets are made of enormous cobble stones.
Walking round the town reminds me of boulder-hopping. I need to keep my eyes glued to the ground to avoid twisting an ankle or worse. This makes admiring the buildings a bit tricky. Found a good place for a designer ice-cream. Enjoyed it sitting at a table next to the street while a potted palm tickled my ear. The streets flood at spring high water and this helps to keep the place clean. No cars allowed so horse-drawn carts are commonplace. It’s all a bit of a tourist trap but very enjoyable.
More boats have arrived. Except for one local Brazilian they are all German or Austrian. I’d forgotten how insular the cruising community can be. Tom and Susi came over for a while and I gave them a copy of my Argentinian and Uruguayan digital charts.
Three boats are leaving today, heading in a pack for Buenos Aires. The weather should be good for them as there is a week of nice north easterly wind forecast. Why did I get so much SW wind when I was travelling south?
Motored over to one of the marinas to buy some diesel and then anchored off the town dock. A Finnish boat is lying a short way off. In the evening some of the schooners are ablaze with strings of Christmas lights outlining the masts and rigging. More torrential rain. The outgoing tide runs quite strongly carrying lots of debris past the boat. Leaves and branches.
Friday, 24 December 2010
It’s 6am shortly after sunrise. The air is cool and fresh after last nights rain. Lying here in the gently rocking forepeak it feels good to be alive.
I went ashore later to do my Christmas Shopping. Couldn’t face the crowds in the supermarket so just stocked up with some fresh fruit from a roadside stall. No champagne available. A helpful woman who overheard me asking in the bookshop about wifi access took me to a pousada where a good signal could be picked up in the street. They were happy to provide me with the password and I sat on the curb under a shady tree and was able to get my email and a couple of ebooks.
Sunday, 26 December 2010
Had a quiet day yesterday. I hadn’t been able to lay in any special treats so it seemed like just another day. Did some odd jobs and painted a little watercolour from a photo of the Rio Paranaguá. Watched ‘In Bruges’ in the evening and so missed the fireworks which I would have been perfectly positioned to watch. Oh well. There’s still New Year to be survived.
Monday, 27 December 2010
Rowed ashore. It’s quite a long way past all the schooners and bright tourist boats moored stern to on both side of the dock. The schooners set an anchor way out and then power back quite quickly until the anchor suddenly stops them just the right distance from the wharf. They’ve obviously done it before. Lots of activity preparing for business. Cleaning and painting. Setting out bright cushions and sun umbrellas. Loading up with beers and ice. Arrangements of tropical fruit on tables. Music of course. The schooners are enormous and solidly built. Most have three rakishly-set masts adorned with ratlines and stagey rigging. Definitely for decorative purposes only. They motor out fully loaded with hundreds of holiday makers and head for any number of beautiful anchorages. Swimming, eating and drinking, music. Rain? No problem.