We have been sailing in Brazil for 3 months now, and I realise I have been very remiss about writing here. Just found that my last blog has sat here as a draft since May!
Last week we went to Parity. It is beautiful there, shame it was an overcast day.
Paraty – pronounced Parachee by the locals and spelt Parati on the chart is described in the Lonely Planet as an enticing blend of colonial architecture and natural beauty.
Without fail, every Brazilian sailor we’ve met (and even Uber drivers) have said – you have to go to Paraty.
Parati is situated at the end of a shallow bay. There are plenty of marinas but none with enough depth for us so we anchored about half a mile away from the public pier and launched the dinghy.
Our first impression as we looked for somewhere to land the dinghy was of colour. First we passed the pier full of colourful tourist boats, then colourfull fishing boats tied to the wall.
We found a space and I practiced my portuguese, checking it was OK to leave the boat. We'd chosen a good spot. We were right in the main square amongst the old buildings.
It was high tide and the water was just spilling over the top of the harbour wall into the street. Lucky it was neap tides, on big spring tides all the streets flood.
We made our way across the rough cobblestones, taking care not to slip on the wet bits towards the streets full of old buildings. We could see something was going on, the streets were full of bunting.
The banner outside the church told us it was the Festa da Padroiera Nossa Senhora dos Remedios. The festival of the patron saint, Our Lady of Remedies.... The Virgin Mary. A week long celebration with daily mass, processions and more.
We went inside this beautiful church and it was full of trays of blue and white silk flowers - I wish I had been able to take a photo – but of course we were inside a church. At first I didn't realise they were not fresh flowers, they looked so real, but now I come to think of it the church didn’t smell of fresh flowers and they were ready a little early for the festival starting on 30th August.
Apparently tradition has it that the ladies of the parish always hand make the flowers for the festival.
We weaved our way in and out of the streets some of the buildings recently renovated others not but all dating back to 17th to 19th century.
I had to do some reading to find out. Historically, Parity was the port at the end of the gold road laid by slaves to transport gold from Minas Gerais to the coast. It was a crucial thoroughfare from the 17 to 19th centuries. In Paraty the Portuguese would load the gold onto ships and send it back to Portugal. The wealth of this gold trade produced the many grand colonial homes as well as the central district with cobblestone paved streets.
Eventually, a new road was built and the gold went to Rio to be shipped so Paraty was effectively abandoned. No money, No work, so the people moved out. It is now a World Heritage Site. It is possible to take a tour and walk (all day) some of the gold road or Caminho do Ouro, but we settled for walking around the harbour instead.
It is the middle of winter! Low season and many of the boats were in the midst of refit, but there were still a few hardy souls offering us private day trips. This place must be amazingly busy in the summer. Next were the horse and carts. Some for taxi tours, others working as transport.
We crossed the bridge towards the fish market and found plenty of egrets waiting for scraps. We also found an ice cream shop!
The clock was ticking though. The forecast was for the wind to pick up in the night and be followed by 3 days of torrential rain. It was time to dash to the supermarket and back to the boat.
We lifted the anchor at 4pm to head the 8 miles back to our sheltered bay. By 5pm (open water between wpts 9 and 12) we had 30knots and white horses everywhere, by 5.30pm we were back in calm waters (14) but just as we dropped the anchor the rain started. What a great day out.
Monday now and the rain still hasn't stopped! Shame it is so overcast in the photos.
View from the anchorage when leaving and I've just tried brightening a few of the photos.
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