Jeri day five

Time for some scene setting. Jericoacoara is on the north coast of Brazil, in the state of Ceara. about 250k east of Fortaleza, I think. It's on the western side of a itip of land consisting apparently entirely of sand, and marching sand dunes. So it's a rare bit of west-facing coastline giving a sheltered launch into the easterly trades, cross off wave sailing but still basically cross shore conditions, if you drift downwind far enough.

Sorry, that was for the benefit of windsurfing readers. I'll try to keep the technical bits for a separate end-of-blog update, if I can, but for the moment bear with me..for those who don't view geography in relation to the prevailing winds, it's a big village/small town in the middle of empty coastline, at the eastern end of a 10 mile sweep of bay, and looking towards a succession of very big sand dunes.

Jeri has no tarmac, just sand, with three “streets” running down to the beach, itself in essence another pedestrian street. Club Ventos, the main windsurfing and kite centre, is at the top of the beach. My pousada (Brazilian for B&B) is at the other end of town, on the quietest street, overlooking the famous sunset dune. The inconvenience of an extra 10 mins walking is more than made up by the advantages of tranquillity and the view.

There is one proper 'hotel' Mosquito Blue, and about 20 pousadas like mine. There could be 40 restaurants, it's difficult to say. And craft shops, and beachwear, and all the sorts of places you expect when there's lots of tourists around. So.. it is less of a fishermens village and more a tourist spot, with a few fishermen still fishing, apparently regardless.

One of the main guidebooks to Brazil moans that Jeri has been ruined; that it used to be an unspoilt fishing village but now it's dominated by tourism, that the locals have been squeezed out and lots of foreign-run businesses are raking in the reals. Well, d'oh! I really haven't much sympathy with these purist traveller types in search of the perfect undiscovered beach. I daresay there are still plenty of Brazilian fishing villages where Brazilian fishermen get to do their thing without the bother of outsiders. The best way to keep them like that, if you care, is surely Not To Go There. Because as soon as you do, and tell your new, welcoming but naïve hosts: “Well gee, I'd like to come back with some friends, but they're going to expect European sanitary arrangements, hot showers, imported liquor and wifi, and by the way, one of them is vegetarian,” you're going to change the place, are you not?

Hum, that may have been one of my rants. Anyway, I'm glad I took no notice of that guidebook, whatever it was. I didn't come halfway round the world to bother Brazilian fishermen; I came looking for a perfect windsurfing resort, and from what I've seen so far, they have the balance here just about right.

The sun goes down at about 5.30pm (we're almost on the equator) and people watch it from the big dune at the bottom of the village. Then the beach tables fill up for sundowners, and people head off about 7pm to eat.

It's got that nice Latin vibe, though, with the smell of barbecue chicken and locals gathering at the end of the beach to race their ponies. And there are a myriad of restaurants competing for your appetite. Mostly pizza, for some reason. Not wildly cheap, either, - we had pizza and a round of capairhinas for 30R a head last night, which I later realised was about 12 pounds – not much less than you would pay for a pizza and a beer in London. So if any of those Brazilian fishermen have diversified into pizza production, they're probably not doing too badly out of it.

Sailing report: I chilled/moped yesterday after my downwind extravaganza the day before. No sailing, had a massage. Talked to the centre manager, who said they had seen me downwind the day before, but they had to prioritise other rescues. Not sure I totally believe him, but it was certainly the right thing to say.

Today I got to the centre early enough to use the fabled 85l freestyle wave, but it did not prove to be the answer to my prayers in flukey light winds. Gave up after three runs. Afternoon session, 98l and 4.7, bit small, still flukey. Made all of one run, little bit downwind,thought I'd do the wise thing and come back to the beach, ran right into the wind shadow and ended up walking back from the dune.... not traumatic like before because I was much further in on a bigger board. But still a long walk. Not feeling much like a windsurfer...but tomorrow is another day.

toodle pip.