15 June Jacare

Jacare river - marinas and anchorage

There are five small marinas at Jacare on Paraiba river. (Jacare is the Portguese word for caiman.) The first two jetty's we saw are dedicated to power boats. The next two jetties are Jacare Village marina, owned and operated by a trio of Frenchmen, with a restaurant / bar, WiFi and dinghy dock. While we were here this was the most popular place for international cruisers. Boats are all med moored. The next marinas are PNJ, German owned and cheaper than Jacare Village, the local sailing club and finally, British Brian's pontoon which is so shallow at low water keels are sunk in mud.

After Brian's is the tourist centre of Jacare where people come every evening to hear the sunset performance of Ravel's Bolero by a lone saxophonist in a pirogue, or to take a trip on a river boat, or to visit a bar, a restaurant or buy souvenirs from one of the many shops.

souvenir shops

party boat

From our position anchored in the river near Jacare Village Marina in about 5m, heavy mud we could heat the saxophonist and watch the party boats glide up and down the river music at full volume and guests dancing a merry jig. Anchoring suits us; Polly is kept safe on board, there are less mosquitoes and NoSeeUms than if we were on a jetty near the mud banks. Jackster sails around her anchor depending on whether the tide or the wind is strongest and a one minute dinghy ride is hardly a hardship.