Paranaguá
Wednesday, November 17th, 2010
Paranaguá
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
My spot, anchored just off the historical waterfront, is lively. There are 5 or 6 small ferry boats that are constantly on the move between here and Ilha do Mel. The river, at this point it’s the Iticaré, is not all that wide so they pass close by. They kick up quite a wake and we roll around a bit. The drivers have got used to me now and wave or toot their horn as they pass. Passengers hang over the side to get a closer look.Sinbad is cool about it.At first he was a bit jumpy with all the noise. At times like this my poor hearing is a blessing.
Apart from the ferry boats there are the small open boats. These are quite beautiful. They are long and narrow with high pointy bow and stern. They don’t have a tiller but use two long lines tied to a yoke fixed to the head of the rudder. The helmsman can move all the way forward to the bow and still be able to steer using the lines. I’ve never seen that before. They all have very noisy inboard motors. Paddles only seem to be used for gentle manoeuvring. The boats themselves are very colourful. From bright shocking pink to shiny black with lightening bolts streaking the sides. And every shade in between. Sometimes the high pointy stern has colourful ribbons fluttering in the breeze.
These are not tourist boats. The owner of one that was beached next to my dinghy showed me the three or four big fish he had just caught out in the bay. Covered with wet sacking to keep them cool. Another boat nosed up onto the sand with a family on board. Dressed to go shopping. The man hopped out and lifted his wife and kids out onto the dry sand so they wouldn’t get their shoes wet.
I went off to do some shopping too. I needed something cool to wear and a shady hat.
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