[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-b9To1Mx5QRs/U2Sr647H5fI/AAAAAAAAbyM/OcKIhN8OUv4/s144-c-o/IMG_0030.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/112133179186774955122/SouthAmericaSection3Stage20Brazil3SaoLuisToNatal#6009116831020213746″ caption=”Camp at the arrival house at the jetty at Itapera” type=”image” alt=”IMG_0030.JPG” ]

Tough crossing with tide pushing in and strong headwind
Pos: here
Loc: Itapera
Acc: tent
Dist: 41,8 km
Start: 7:05 End: 16:30

I was not keen to start on lowest tide at 6 am, so I gave myself an hour to sleep in… if I could have slept in, as the local beach donkey once more brayed at me and my tent while passing .

The local beach cows did not bother me, they were even pushed toward the village by just that guy who didn’t like to help me with my kayak. He advised me to camp a bit higher as the surf would get me… wrong, Senor…this night’s high tide is 30 cm below the last high tide whose line you could clearly see, and I was well behind. Locals don’t know everything…

I still had to give the shallow point a wide berth, meeting the same cow herder now fishing. Multiple skills required here… 🙂

I somehow had on my mind I may make it to cross the bay to reach the smaller northern passage… but the strong tide directed me toward the southern one. Not only that, I had even to do a wide dogleg, no chance to keep direction in the incoming 2-3 km/h current which was soon topped by a solid 15 knots headwind. All in all the good idea that the tide may help may have been true for the first few km until I was so much off course I was going perpendicular and eventually against all current and wind.

But I reached eventually the channel entrance, with no precise way point as I only saved, clever enough, the exact position of the northern passage. But the big shift of these precise points compared to the chart position I could eventually transfer to the southern end, and then my chart was ok again and the entrances were obvious. Still, there is always a bad feeling worrying whether I am right or paddling in vain.

[pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-mYmVKM7mWKg/U2Sr93GpnFI/AAAAAAAAbyc/wtTjhBZcBCM/s144-c-o/IMG_0031.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/112133179186774955122/SouthAmericaSection3Stage20Brazil3SaoLuisToNatal#6009116882071297106″ caption=”River at Itapera at low tide” type=”image” alt=”IMG_0031.JPG” ]

I was aiming for Itapera, a village positioned correctly on my paper map, but I guessed it was wrong on the chart, despite shift. So it was, I reached the landing site where it should be. Fortunately, different to the landing at the big city of Carupera, this village had afforded to build a solid concrete jetty reaching with a nice staircase all down to lowest tide. I saw many boats, mostly dry on the mud, but few houses. They must be mostly further inland, as the village has road access.

[pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-mYmVKM7mWKg/U2Sr93GpnFI/AAAAAAAAbyc/wtTjhBZcBCM/s144-c-o/IMG_0031.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/112133179186774955122/SouthAmericaSection3Stage20Brazil3SaoLuisToNatal#6009116882071297106″ caption=”River at Itapera at low tide” type=”image” alt=”IMG_0031.JPG” ]

The second thing I saw was a man in  blue pants coming down the jetty, great, I thought, someone to help me with the kayak. But the man suddenly was bare of his bright blue pants, and walked simply in his dark brown skin down the staircase and finally into the knee deep shallow water, dragging a fishing boat behind him, obviously in need to free the staircase. Thanks for my now easier landing and attractive welcome view, but did he expect a woman in the UFO (unknown floating object) he must have seen approaching?

[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-dXHUi_miFTk/U2Sr79yHo2I/AAAAAAAAbyU/GenvLaAARwY/s144-c-o/IMG_0032.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/112133179186774955122/SouthAmericaSection3Stage20Brazil3SaoLuisToNatal#6009116849504494434″ caption=”The concrete jetty at Itapera” type=”image” alt=”IMG_0032.JPG” ]

I smiled to myself, took my time to unload while I was trying to politely not to look at the guy now desperately hiding somehow behind his boat. Eventually I carefully dragged up my poor, mostly empty, kayak up the rough concrete staircase, as other than the naked man in the water there was no one around to help. I grabbed two of my gear bags, walked up the long jetty to kind of a arrival house, and saw the poor guy eventually running for his pants which he had dropped somewhere in the middle of the jetty. I was polite to give him time for that before I was walking a second time for the other bags…

I even could convince him after greeting him to help me carrying my kayak up to the end of the jetty where there was some dry sand I was planning to camp on. Obrigada! Not sure if he was embarrassed or not…

[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-To2IhfhYloo/U2SsDMNi46I/AAAAAAAAbyo/ULTipB6CaiQ/s144-c-o/IMG_0033.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/112133179186774955122/SouthAmericaSection3Stage20Brazil3SaoLuisToNatal#6009116973636707234″ caption=”Some local boatyard at Itapera” type=”image” alt=”IMG_0033.JPG” ]

Amazingly this is a village without a bunch of curious locals, just a few fisherman walking down to their boats barely taking a look. Thanks! I am just hoping there will be someone around for tomorrow morning’s return tour…