Tremembé
Author: Shirlz
Monday, 27 June 2011
I had started feeling restless anchored off Maraú. Such a convenient and comfortable place to be but not overly exciting. Jens and Blanca had flown off to Germany and apart from my occasional visits to the cyber café, social contact ashore was pretty well non-existent. Friendly waves from passing dugout paddlers never got further than that. I didn’t feel that I had all that much in common with the friendly butcher who was amused to be supplying Sinbad with his twice-weekly treat of steak. (Cheaper than canned pet food in Brazil). It was time to shake things up a bit and move on. I was keen to try to reach the anchorage close to Tremembé and the Cachoiera Veneza. My guide book provided a sketch chart with waypoints but it had been prepared more than 10 years ago and muddy river bottoms tend to change over time. Depths in the navigable channel were shown to vary between 2 and 20 metres. So it could be interesting. The French catamaran that had been here for a few days had motored up and said they had touched the riverbed in a number of places. The fact that their draft was only 1m didn’t inspire much confidence.
So this morning I set off as soon as the tide bottomed out. Not too concerned as it was a beautiful day and if I ran into really shallow water I’d just wait for the tide to lift me off and run back to Maraú. Quite happy to concede the point. There was no wind so the engine got some necessary exercise. A few days ago I had had to repair the coolant tank inlet as the weld had corroded away. I didn’t rate my chances of finding someone to weld bronze to aluminium (!) very highly, so had used some wonderful gunge purchased in San Isidro which can withstand high temperatures. I was interested to see how effective it would be.
A few sunny warm hours when the state of the tide provided clean water for diving, had given me an opportunity to clean the propeller and freshen up the hull.
I followed a winding route up the river in between waypoints. Straight lines not being a good idea. The echo sounder becomes your most important data source. Depths were very variable which meant cautious zig-zagging to find the best route. I thought wistfully of the reassuring red and green numbered markers set out all along the Intracoastal Waterway in the US. Well at any rate my boredom had evaporated. A bit more than a mile from Maraú there is an enormous humped slab of rock in the middle of the river which just breaks the surface at low water. Aptly named Pedras da Baleia. The water was still low enough for me to spot it easily but it was reassuring to notice two makeshift buoys marking the safe channel. One a green plastic bottle and the other a smallish red float. Then a curving stretch of water going round an invisible sand bank and soon I was approaching the last and shallowest mile. The engine was just ticking over and we crept along at just under 2 knots ready to stop if necessary. But no problems. Never less than 2m and soon I was anchored off the inlet leading up to the waterfall.
While I was enjoying the peaceful sunset a big white ketch crept slowly round the last bend to arrive at the anchorage.
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
With the tide to help me, I rowed nearly a mile up the shallow creek to the waterfall. A family heading up to the village of Tremembé paddled their dugout a little way ahead of me. As I approached, I could hear the waterfall. Not terribly big but surprisingly lovely. Some promised waterfalls that I have visited have turned out to be not much more than a trickle of water over a boulder.
As I was slowly drifting about at the foot of the cascade, enjoying the surroundings, a local wooden boat motored up to the small dock. Three people and a dog on board. They’d come from upriver to have lunch with their friends who run a simple restaurant near the waterfall. The local speciality is Pitú, a fairly big, hard shelled prawn. It sounded like a good idea. But first a short hike to the top of the cachoeira with a guide to gallantly help me over the slippery bits. A plunge pool in the middle with a reputed depth of three metres. I was content to settle into a smaller rocky basin with cool fresh water cascading over me. The river falling away and the rainforest continuing for ever. The guide pointed out Speedwell’s mast in the distance, just visible above the mangroves on the main river. It was easy to kid myself that I was in the middle of nowhere and not just a day trip away from Salvador.
Some kids arrived to let us know that the food was ready. I joined the people from the wooden boat at an outside table. Chickens pecked about and the dogs were being sociable. Ada, from Puerto Alegre, served up rice and feijoada. The beer flowed. The skipper of the wooden boat was a rasta with dreds long enough to sit on. My Pitú arrived a la moqueca and I spent a delicious messy time indulging myself. Orange coloured dende oil dripping to my elbows. A side dish of heart-of-palm salad with an interesting minty dressing. Bright scarlet and black birds were feasting on some berries in the trees nearby.
Tags: Cachoeira Veneza, Camamu, cruising, pitú
July 5th, 2011 at 15:00
Looks like you are still having a lot of fun!! Next stop should be the UK 😉
July 13th, 2011 at 14:46
Hi Shirlz, you’re an inspiration!..I’ve just bought a 25footer so spending time fixing her and changing the rig to junk and then sail to Australia (my homeland) from UK (my current place) mid next year…anyhow great read and great inspiration 🙂
April 12th, 2017 at 13:15
Hi Shirley,
your blog is amazing. PLEASE get in touch when you are next in the UK. would LOVE to see you.
CherylAnn