[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-nsxtbZcMyc4/VGSjpsPEfDI/AAAAAAAAins/ryjisS9MCNM/s144-c-o/IMG_0569.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/112133179186774955122/SouthAmericaSection3Stage20Brazil3SaoLuisToNatal#6081165333501344818″ caption=”The sheltered river lagoon entrance of Rio Piranji” type=”image” alt=”IMG_0569.JPG” ]

Highlights: All safe today, thank goodness
Lowlights: late start, ugly rounding of point by Fortim
Launch: after 2 hrs the surf was low enough to get safely out
Landing: lagoon sheltered beach
Pos: here
Loc: Barro Vermelho
Acc: tent
Dist: 44,8 km
Start: 6:55 End: 14:30

I was suspiciously watching and listening to the high tide surf yesterday from my high campsite, will this be working tomorrow to get out here one hour before high tide?

What are people unloading from cars at 1 am, walking past my tent? And what are children’s voices doing at 3 am? The pleasure of sleeping in a public space. Besides the wind howling and the tent noisy shaking all good.

I got up as usual at 4.40 am to be ready to go at first light, I decided to give it a try…two local men took position to watch up the cliffs, maybe
if I’d have asked them to help me launching I might have got out safely at that time. But I had my pride…

I tried twice without even jumping in, I couldn’t hold my kayak straight in the side wash and backsurge long enough on a spot where I could push it in quickly from to jump on and go on a surf gap. Basically there was no surfgap, this sea is so different from the reliable Pacific where the surf rolls in in setsand you could even count the waves. Here the waves wash up criss cross and quickly one after the other that it is really hard to push in and jump on without getting the cockpit full of water.

The kayak got washed out of my hands and sideways up again a couple of times, I tried two stes, on the last on it washed against my lower leg with a painful bruise and upside down. No way I’d give it more tries now, if things go wrong when I am already in – a rocky reef is just some meters besides my tiny sandy beach spot and the cliffs just behind.

I have to wait, wait at least an hour over high tide to be able to handle this safely. Here can’t be try and error, means rolling up the beach again
with these rocks. I sat down and switched the surf TV on, watching the waves getting even more ugly at full high tide. Waiting more…my
spectators had already been gone disappointedly to miss some more good show.

Eventually, when the wash up was less violent and the breakers not trashy any more, I first time this section donned even my helmet and gave it the oneand only successful go. Clever enough, despite wasting lovely paddling time.

Winds were around friendly 16 knots today, but the sea state became slightly unfriendly when I was nearing the big river entry of Rio Jaguaribe. These places are always bumpy, and I had to watch. No way I’d have found the way in here, the coast was just trending at the worst NNW. Many kitesurfers were occupying this place anyway, what kind of water they were really on inside the rivermouth I couldn’t see from far offshore giving it a wide berth. In this way I was at least also ot of their way…

The ounding far out seemed to be endless, and I was really yearning calm quiet water again once behind the river and point reef. Getting closer
eventually proved also to be a bit tricky with unexpected breakers here and there, but finally I was in calm reef protected water and basically could have landed.

But y goal for today depspite the late launch was to reach a lagoon entrance at Barra Vermeho, and again I spotted many kitesurfers there…but
IN there, so the lagoon must be somehow sheltered and nice. I had marked two “entrances” through the surf, not sure if at this time of the tide they have been surf free. I decided to take the first one close to the southern point where not so many kitesurfers where around. Probably shallow here…the surf was there, but I was lucky to avoid the highest and could handle the rest of the lower breakers.

I was in! Now it was to avoid the many surfers, which worked all right as these ones rather seemed to be beginners to intermediate ones and not
riding on highest speed along. I sneaked on the outer sandbank to have a lookout for a campsite, but 2 hrs after low tide the way to dry sand was
too far for me. Also, the outer sandbar seemed to be motorbike accessible, so nothing won there.

I rather decided to take the other populated side with a steep dead calm beach, and made myself at home on a clean sandy spot. The rest of the beach had ugly lumps of clay lying around. Sure a bunch of locals came for a look, all good. I had to force myself to eat some lunch in the heat after this stress, or I’ll be running out of energy soon.

Two more days to Fortaleza! One more tricky lading at Barra Nova.