Sailing Schooner

Camamu, Bahia, Brazil
This is a typical Brazilian (built by Estaliero Camarada in Camamu) schooner under sail (many never sail, the masts are just used to support the canopies that keep the hot sun off the passengers). I was told that before engines were around, 2 and 3-masted schooners were commonly used to transport freight (in the north of Brazil).

Sail Repairs

Itaparica, Bahia, Brazil
The mainsail and fisherman sail were repaired by the sailmaker in Itaparica. In the picture, I am inserting one of the troublesome (for many reasons) plastic battens into the mainsail after it had some rips repaired. My posts are behind a fair bit, because I found a lot of things to take pictures of in Baia de Camamu (south of Salvador and Itaparica). I will be posting some more pictures from that area later. I am in Maceio, in the state of Alagoas (Brazil) now. Maceio is a few hundred miles north of Baia de Camamu and Salvador. Del has returned to Rio for work and I am singlehanding again. Del got sick while offshore and went to the hospital when we got to Maceio. He had a private supplemental insurance plan (60 USD per month) so we went to a hospital that is not for the public only (he said the public hospitals have long queues). After queuing for about 15 minutes to provide all his payment information, he was seen by the doctor. I had it even easier (I lost some sensation in two fingers a few weeks ago and wanted to find out if it was a real problem or something that just needed time to heal)–I asked at the ever-helpful yacht club (Federacao Algoan) and a member who was a doctor immediately looked at it, told me my wristwatch strap was too tight and probably caused the problem, and gave me some exercises to do. By phone, another doctor member (I think he’s a neurologist, I didn’t quite understand the word) arranged for me to come to his hospital office the next morning and see him there, in case I needed an xray. The following morning, the yacht club manager took me to the hospital, called the doctor from reception and we missed the queue entirely. After examining and discussing it, the doctor thought that no xray was likely necessary, and gave me a prescription for some vitamin B pills.

Schooner Yard at Camamu

Camamu, Bahia, Brazil
Two 25m wooden schooners under construction in the boatyard Estaleiro Camarada at Camamu. The owner, Elpidio Caetano, kindly gave us a lift to the boatyard (Camamu is very shallow) and showed us around.On the schooner in the foreground, the frames (ribs) are made of piki, the middle, yellow plank is tatajouba, and both the upper (brown) plank and rubrail (red) are massaranduba. Though the keel cannot be seen, it is made of oiti. Massaranduba is an extremely strong, rot-resistant wood, which is quite difficult to put nails into (it dulls them). Tatajouba is rot-resistant and strong. Oiti is resistant to both rot and worms “after the boat dies, the keel continues”. All fasteners are galvanized.

 

Update, June 3, 2012:
I received an email from Antonio Candal Garcia, who has one of Estaleiro Camarada’s schooners for sale.   The ad shows a great looking boat.  More information is available at http://www.facebook.com/schoonerresort