




Like a quarterback at the line, Mamede stood at the center of the transom. He checked both sides to see we were ready, crouched down and placed his hands under the hull.
“VAI! VAI! VAI!” he barked, and together we lifted, straining to raise the jangada’s stern off the back rolo and push the hull forward.
“VAI! VAI! VAI!” he shouted again. It wasn’t the lifting that was hard but the pushing—the front rolo was stuck in the sand.
“VAI! VAI! VAI!” once again, and we grunted like beasts to gain the first inch.
“VAI! VAI! VAI!” The rolo mounted the tracks and we picked up speed.
“VAI! VAI! VAI!” The center of the hull passed over the rolo and the jangada took off like a loose cannon hurtling forward. The flat bow then smacked the sand with a squeaking crunch and ground to a halt.

“Medonha!” João hopped up, swatting the air like a feather weight boxer. “The first one is always a son of a bitch.”


Time to load the ice. With a wolf whistle from Ze, the Toyota Bandeirante backed slowly down to our transom. Two teenage boys stood in the truck bed with their ice hooks, ready to pass the bars to Ze and João, now up on the deck. Mamede had gone to the market to get some fish, leaving his crew to perform this task.


Mamede returned and paid the driver for the ice. As the jangada’s owner, it was his responsibility to cover the costs for the trip (about $35). If the catch was good and the fishermen came back with a box full of fish, this could be sold at market for about $300. Not all of the profit went to Mamede. As an owner who fished his jangada, he was entitled to everything he caught plus a third of what his crew caught. That was the price they paid to use Mamede’s jangada.

If the three jangadeiros caught equal amounts of fish, Mamede would net about $130 for a trip – not very much for several days of backbreaking work in a risky environment. Mamede would only earn this, though, with a full load of fish. More often than not the fishermen didn’t fill the box, and sometimes they didn’t catch enough fish to cover the costs. Still, Mamede was better off than most jangadeiros. Most jangadeiros don’t own their jangadas. At $3,000 a pop, a jangada was more expensive than building a small brick house on the beach.







Next chapter: Vamos!