During our stay at Marina do Engeho , l popped into the local dive operation to organize a couple of o-rings for my dive tanks .While chatting to the guys one of them in his broken English enquired " you lika da music ". Hey man , is a sharks bum waterproof , l love my music . He proceeded to tell me that the annual three day Jazz & Blues Festival was taking place in Paraty and that l had timed my visit perfectly as it was well worth going to.
We had hired a car so staying out late was no problem . We headed off to check it out .
Paraty had been transformed with various venues set up in parts of the historic town and everywhere there were street bands and buskers playing various genres of music with solo acts performing tricks on the sidewalks all attracting their own audiences . Food and booze vendors were dotted around all over the place and there was a real festival buzz around the town . The restaurants and pubs were doing a roaring trade and although the weather did not come to the party , that did not dampen the spirit of the visitors enjoying the atmosphere . Urs and l discovered a local delicacy called a churro ( not those Durban fellas .) Walking around with a churro in one hand and a cold beer in the other was great .
There were the big names in Brazilian music circles and a couple of international artists including Patti Austin and Shemekia Copeland who has performed with the likes of the Stones , BB King , Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton .They even featured a blues guitarist who goes by the name of " The Legendary Tigerman " although having seen the likes of Dan Patlansky and Albert Frost playing on a number of occasions , personally l think he is a legend in his own mind .
All the same , everyone enjoyed the music and the vibe and it was well worth staying on for the extra couple of days in Paraty .
Allan & Ursula Ward: Port Owen, Cape West Coast, South Africa.
Shearwater 39:
- L.O.A. 43ft (13.22m)
- L.O.D. 39ft (12m)
- L.W.L. 34ft (10.3m)
- BEAM 13ft(3.9m)
- DRAFT 6ft(1.8m)
HOW IT ALL BEGAN .
I placed my order on Nebe Boats on the 19/10/1992 for what was initially planned to be a complete factory built yacht that l would sail home to Durban from Capetown once she was completed. Unfortunately due to the demise of Nebe Boats in the early days of her construction it did not turn out that way, so l decided to truck her home to Ramsgate on the KZN South Coast to finish building her in our garden at home.
For many years we could proudly boast that we had the most expensive piece of garden furniture in town, but at the time l had no idea of how massive this project would turn out to be. As anyone who has built a blue water cruiser will tell you, particularly if she is kitted out with all the systems and the equipment that a modern cruiser has onboard these days, it is a daunting task . Looking at the positive aspects of this project, l know the boat intimately in that l designed and installed the systems, so from a repair and maintenance perspective l have no issues carrying out the work that is necessary from time to time.
The big day arrived on the 29/8/2008 when we craned her out of the garden onto a rig to truck her through to Durban for launching . What followed was three months of preparations to ready her for the maiden voyage to our home port in Port Owen on the Cape West Coast.
We had a fast passage down the South African East Coast including a storm off the notorious Wild Coast and arrived in Port Owen in dense fog. Windward had passed her first test with flying colours and since then we have enjoyed some great sailing on the West Coast.
We had a fast passage down the South African East Coast including a storm off the notorious Wild Coast and arrived in Port Owen in dense fog. Windward had passed her first test with flying colours and since then we have enjoyed some great sailing on the West Coast.
The master plan has always been to go cruising, so our plans are to leave for Brazil via Luderitz and St Helena Island at the end of February 2014. So far everything is on track although the “To Do“ list still grows each day.
The purpose of this blog is to record our adventure for ourselves, family and friends. Although it will probably end up being a brief summary of events while we are cruising, we hope you will enjoy and share some of our experiences with us.
LIVING THE DREAM .
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment