It was a very short sail from the west end of Ilha Grande into the bay of Paraty. We skipped out on Angra dos Reis under the advice of our friend José, who said it was a disgusting place. We had to dig out our fouly jackets for the rain that was imminent. The scattered rain showers hung around for two days.
The bay is a beauty to sail into, with mountains in the background and small islands scattered all around. The marinas were all very much pricey, and we found the one recommended in the Brasil Cruising book. We were having difficulty communicating with the marina via radio, when lo and behold a familiar accent on the radio calling Ciao Bella. It was our friends from Alley Cat who we had met during out boat prep in Durbs. After we anchored a chap named Al came and fetched us on their ducky. Hoorays for not having to do the dreaded 2 person SUP!!
The mission was then to get into town, which was a 4km walk. We saw buses passing us the whole way, but no bus stops. We weren't too concerned at the time though, as the rain had been holding off for the better part of the morning. We found a guava tree on the way which had one or two ripe ones for us. We also found a chandlery on the way where we could get most of the boat stuff that we needed, as well as a nice razor sharp panga for skinning our coconuts.
While we were stopped off on our way to town, Gina and Max didn't wait up, but ventured ahead. The 'old town' is very tiny, so we really fancied our chances of bumping into them later. But we didn't see them for the whole day! We ask no questions. Just before the old part of town we found a supermarket where we could get some freshly baked pastries and cold drinks for breakfast - what a treat! Just before reaching the old town the rain began to bucket down, sk we took shelter in a little pub. It wasn't actually a pub. It was a bottle store with two plastic tables under an afdak. When the rain abated we did the last bit of trek into the old town.
We knew we were there because the roads were chained off to restrict entry for cars.
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