Jangada Show, Natal, State of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
According to archaeological studies, the first vessels built in the history of mankind are located in the Stone Age, in the Mesolithic period in the middle of 8,200 to 7,000 BC, were the canoes of trunk. Boats played an important role in trade, agriculture, fishing, and shipping over shorter distances. In the next phase, in the Neolithic period (4,000 BC), sailing ships emerge, and then the time of the great vessels, which then begin the expeditions, sea voyages with an extreme commercial value on the slopes of the Asian and African continents. With the colonization of Brazil by the Portuguese, Brazilian lands shelter different people and cultures, especially with the arrival of the slaves. In this context, we also received the influence of fishermen from the Indian Ocean off the coast of Mozambique,
When European vessels arrived on the Brazilian coast, they landed further south-east, not only because of the more favorable port conditions, but also for greater control of the Portuguese crown on the gold trade in Minas Gerais. The Brazilian northeast was uninhabited and without the control of the crown on the ships of that region, due to the difficulty of landing in ports where powerful sea currents coming from Guyana, prevented the landing.
And it was taking advantage of this situation that the fishermen of the northeastern coast, mainly of the states of Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará, begin to carry out the artisanal fishing, with these boats of trunk, with indigenous techniques of wild sowing, and the most peculiar, develop a A triangular sail style that allows navigation to withstand the strong winds of the Guyana currents, allowing the fishermen to advance further on the high seas and can develop the fishing artisan. The objective was of their own livelihood, remembering that the region was devoid of economic sources, because the greater interest of Portrugues Crown was in the Southeast.
It was already in the twentieth century, in the mid-1970s, that they began to improve and improve the construction of these vessels that had been taxed as typical of the Brazilian Northeast, which until now curiously is the only region that has them.
“It is true that the Brazilian raft is not the same as it was decades ago, it ceased to be bulls tied to give way to shipbuilding in planks coated with apparatus, hood and underlayer. Today’s raft is a flat-bottomed, unglazed wide boat that curves in the stern area to house a keel finished in rudder. The bow sharpens upwardly so as to reduce friction in the liquid member. The edges are low and close on a deck welded to the side with sheeps feet in the center, making the vessel a kind of float or almost a surfboard of larger dimensions, completely hollow and unsinkable. It moves thanks to a triangular Latin sail raised on a sloping mast and wrapped in crab. Uses ordinary rudder when sailing and paddling when maneuvering in lagoons or beach stick.
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