23 February 2011

Day 413: Gamboa, Brazil – 23/02/11

Jutta does the morning broadcast at 9 am complete with music.  With just four boats in the bay and all of us within shouting distance, there’s no need to announce our positions.

We arrange to go ashore around 10.30 am and as Mike is staying on board to do boat bits, I scrounge a lift over. 

Having visited and already seen most of what this village has to offer, I act as unofficial tour guide as we wander down the main street with Rosemary, Matt, Annie and Jim, which, given that there isn’t actually much to see, doesn’t take much effort.

We wander back along the beach and notice that Bill, left alone on Crazy Horse, is trying to move the boat away from the recently arrived fuel barge and Mike has gone over to help him – the boat is long and it’s difficult to keep running the distance from the helm to the windlass when in a tight spot.

P1060851 P1060852 Photos:  I like this house on the beach – its fence is made from old painted gas tanks stuck together

As we round the corner of the beach we find Jutta, Jochem and Eline and stop for some caipirinhas, idling away the time until we can legitimately order some lunch.  Matt, ever the shopper, manages to find a pair of swimming shorts in the tiniest beachwear shop I have ever seen opposite the bar.

P1060853

P1060855 P1060857 Photos:  A riot of colours on the beach

Eline and I keep trying to get photos of one of the porter/taxi drivers.  He wears a huge hat tied under his chin and has very short legs, scuttling along pushing his wheelbarrow piled high with produce and luggage from the ferries, but there are always people in the way.

P1060860 Photo:  At the ferry dock

Rosemary and Matt to back to the boat to see if Bill wants help re-anchoring and obviously they decide to move down to Morro de Sao Paulo as we see them motoring off shortly afterwards.  We move to the restaurant next door and order a leisurely lunch.  Eline, Lee and I share two moquecas and when they arrive with all the usual accompaniments (beans, toasted manioc, bread, salad and rice), we realise that we could have got away with one between the three of us.  The food is cheaper here than in Salvador, is every bit as good and the setting on the beach is wonderful.

P1060863 P1060865 Photos:  Bright colours and hard work

By 3 pm I am almost ready for my sleep.  We suddenly notice that Crazy Horse is back in the bay and minutes later Matt arrives in the dinghy.  Bill hadn’t been impressed with the other anchorage as there are a lot of rocks close in and his boat has a very heavy anchor that he really didn’t want to get caught up.  Matt gives Eline and I a ride back to our boats and then brings Eline over to us for a beer before going off to explore the sandbanks and mangroves.

I fall asleep, waking too late to go over for drinks on Ocean Jasper, so Mike and I have a quiet night to ourselves.  I am still full from lunch but Mike only had a piece of cake (despite me giving him instructions on what to eat if I didn’t reappear) so I quickly make him a huge pile of baked beans on toast.  Sometimes, stodgy British comfort food just hits the spot!

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