Sao Jacinto

We lay at anchor blessed with light winds and a complete absence of the swell that had plagued us for weeks. We watched a festival of small vessels bedecked with flags and palm leaves along with the obligatory selection of religious statuary make its way from up river then have a small service at the end of the quay, we had to watch from the boat as we had not yet blown up the dinghy.



Later we went ashore to explore, the pilot had suggested that there wasn't a lot to see and indeed apart from some cafe bars and restaurants it seemed a very small place, it was however very busy!



We struggled to find a table to enjoy a celebratory beer but we did eventually.



We discovered some other things. The place was home to an air base, where a parachute regiment was established. This meant being woken by reveille and watching the sun go down to the last post. It never failed to put a smile on Lynnes face. The anchorage slowly filled up with other boats but it continued to be peaceful and calm.



The local boats were interesting, obviously reflecting the surf that would have been the normal conditions before the harbour had been established. A bit like a double ended canoe with an exaggerated sheer that made them look a bit like a banana!



The front facing the lagoon was very neat and clean, a cafe bar turned out to be a pastelería and paderia and sold some of the best bread we had tasted in ages and sold it for cents!



At one end of the front was a ruined factory that was home to a market, this is quite unusual as it was a Sunday so we put it down to the fact it was festival day.

The following day we explored a little more discovering several mini markets and after walking over the sandy peninsular found the beach we had been sailing past the day before.



This beach is 62 miles long and we were in one of the few ports of refuge, it certainly was big!



This was the feature that was absorbing the NW swell and we spent a couple of hours walking and watching the impressive surf crash on the perfect sand.



We also found a few pot buoys, the curse of this coast, and another thing that added to our stress levels, there are literally hundreds of these things even in depths exceeding 50 metres. It is a constant job to scan for them and in big swells they are not always easy to spot especially if they have lost their flags or worse the counterweight which means they lie flat.

All in all we loved Sao Jacinto, small, honest and welcoming. Slightly odd and seemingly obsessed with fishing ( everyone seemed to have a small boat ) ignore the pilots dire warnings it's a lovely spot.