Posts tagged: Massaguacu

Every now and then you come across a person or a group of people that remind you that there is something called humanity out there. This story goes back about 5 weeks now, to when I was still in Massaguacu in Brazil, but I didn’t get around to blogging about it (in full) when I was there, so now is the time.

Rose and I had visisted Breeder surfboards on the second day we were in Massaguacu to look at boards, but as I wanted to check out some of the other shops in the area, I didn’t actually make a purchase.

A month later after breaking the fin off my board and being on the search for a new set, we returned to Breeder to see if they had any in stock. Unfortunately they didn’t, but Renato (Casimiro) the owner said he knew someone who could make some. It was going to take about a week for them to come through from the shop up the coast, so whilst I was there I had a second look around the shop and got into the mindset to buy another board.

After having a tour of the shop and the shaping room, I went for a tasty 7’0 fun board (see previous blog post about Clyde) which was the best purchase I made whilst in Brazil. What I didn’t realise was that this board came with a whole lot more than just a thruster set-up, sock, leash and board bag. It came with the Casimiro family stoke.

Rose and I had walked to the shop, as we didn’t have a car and the buses are a little thin on the ground in those parts. As well as going to the surf shop, we were also due to go to the supermarket to buy food and supplies for a few days.

After purchasing the board, we asked if we could leave it there just whilst we popped up to the shop. Joao (Renato’s dad and business partner) asked us if we wanted a lift to the supermarket (about 10 mins walk up the road) but we said we’d be fine.

15 minutes later, whilst walking around the shops, we bumped into Joao, who had driven up to the supermarket with the sole intention of picking us up, taking us back to the surf shop and then driving us back to the apartment, all to save us the hassle and effort of taking back all our stuff on foot.

This was one of those moments, where you thought, man, there are still decent people out there who will go out of their way to help you. He was just stoked to help and happy that we were grateful for his help.

So anyway the moral of the story this time, spend £350 or more in a Brazilian surf shop, and you might get a free lift home – joking!

But seriously, in a world with more than its fair share of assholes, it is just nice to be reassured that there are decent people out there! Thanks again Joao and Renato.

And so the quiver extends itself to 6! Yep that is 6 surf boards, spread over 2 hemispheres, you could even say it is an intercontinental quiver!

This is the 7’0 fun board that I brought from sharper and owner of Breeder surfboards, Renato Casimiro, I’ve named him Clyde (after Clyde “the glide” Drexler).

After breaking my fin on the 6’3 fish over at Itamambuca, I had real trouble in trying to get a replacement. More frustratingly I was getting used to the board and also the waves. I had taken off on a wave and half way into the drop, the tail of the board flew out to the side. I immediately knew it was the fin that had either snapped or come loose. Either way when I resurfaced, I was left with one fin and as it turned out it had snapped off right at the base due to the pressure of the water from the wave. I was really pissed off out of desperation I hired a 9ft soft top board for 30 minutes, only to break the leash on it and have to swim back to shore to retrieve the board and replace it. After that I called it a day!

We returned to Massaguacu that night and made a plan to visit the local shaper Renato over at Breeder surfboards the following morning. It is funny, most of my mates know that I don’t really spend a load of money on material things. I mean, I have a nice Mac laptop, some cameras, some skis etc, but I don’t have a super flash car or anything. But when it comes to money and surfboards, I go all out.

We went in to the shop looking for some fins and left with a new 7’0 surfboard, leash, wax, board sock, travel bag and fins. Either Renato is a good saleman, or I just can’t say no to a good looking board. Ironically Breeder was the first shop we went into when we arrived in Massaguacu 3 weeks ago, but I didn’t make a purchase as I wanted to check out a few other options.

Renato said the fins on the other board were poor quality, and I have to agree with him as in 6 years of surfing, I have never broken a fin on a wave before, I simply don’t go that fast, haha!

To sweeten the deal, Renato chucked in a nice little wax container, a few bars of wax and gave me a discount on some of the gear I had bought. If that wasn’t enough, his father (parter in the business) then offered to drive us back up the road to the apartment as we had too much stuff to carry on the 20 minute walk back. Two top blokes, 1 great new board and a renewed stoke!

Pics of the new board, Renato and the shaping room coming soon!

On our way back from the beach today we stopped in at the padaria (bread shop) to stock up on a few supplies. On our way out we spotted a truck full of fruit. Yep you guessed it, the fruit man was in town.

Rose had a quick word with the owner of the van and a few minutes later we were checking out the mountain of fruit he had stashed on his truck. The results of our purchases can be seen in the pictures below, and yeah, the whole watermelon must of weighed at least 10kg!

Our third day in Massaguacu was spent relaxing on the beach and enjoying the glorious sunshine, check out the pics below, they came straight from the camera, although from the colour of the sky you’d swear they’d been through PhotoShop.

I awoke on our second full day in Massaguacu to see desmonds out front and had a pretty good feeling that there might be a wave to be had up the coast somewhere.

I convinced Rosana that I had to get to a surf shop asap so we spent the morning hunting down a new surfboard. Before travelling to Brazil, I had checked out a place called Breeder surfboards (more on the cool folk at Breeder later on), based in Massaguacu. It turned out that is was only a 20 minute walk up the coast road, or a 5 min drive. Rosana’s mum leant me her car and I cruised on down with Rosana to check out what they had. After looking around and seeing some nice boards, we decided to go to Lagoinha up the coast to see a few other options (it is always good to see what the options are).

After going to 3 shops I bought a second hand 6’3 fish (with leash, board sock, fins and wax for £130.00). This wasn’t exactly the board I wanted, I should have gone for a more versatile fun board, but I was so desperate to surf that day that I bought it.

The afternoon was spent at Lagoinha testing out the fish in the 3-4ft surf. I got a few nice waves and was stoked to be back on the board.

Our first full day Massaguacu was spent chilling out, doing a little shopping and walking around so that I could get a feel for the local area. A trip to the supermarket, a stroll along the beach and some sun bathing and a churrascaria (BBQ) in the evening with a few beers pretty much rounded off the day!

We set off from Sao Paulo on the 24th February and took the Rio-Santos highway up the coast and through the Serra da Mantiqueira (mountains) to Caraguatatuba, a medium-sized beach town on the northern Sao Paulo State coast. The journey took us about 3 hours and with Rosanas’s mum doing the driving, we could sit back and take in the view.

Rosana’s family have a small apartment just outside Caragua in a place called Massaguacu. They have been coming here (to escape the city for the beach) for the past 20 or so years. Massaguacu is a pretty low-key place with a few small supermarkets, apartment blocks and a surfboard shaping house, amongst other things. The apartment itself is situated on top of a hill (morro) with a view over the sea. Unfortunately there is no surfing here in Massaguacu, as the waves break directly on the shore, but you can get an idea if there is a wave to be had up the coast in neighbouring Lagoinha (small lake) if any swell lines are showing.

Our first evening was spent relaxing, having some food and playing cards.