Born and raised in Matinhos, on the coast of Paraná, Jorge Polvilho has always been in contact with the salty water of the beach. His family is caiçara, all fishermen in the municipality. When he was about to turn 10, he received from his father the gift that would change his life: his first surfboard.
Since then, there have been more than 30 years of surfing, many boards, infinite waves and a shelf full of titles won. An experience, however, that needed to be updated so as not to make a bad impression on the students enrolled in the sports projects developed in the city.
After the start of work to revitalize the seaside resort last year, the sea in Matinhos changed. It gained new points for surfing, improving conditions for those who enjoy spending their lives challenging the oceans.
With this, the city that was already known in the surfing world for having the largest, longest and most extensive right (wave path) in Pico de Matinhos, has now gained at least three other points for practicing the sport: in Barrinha , close to the mouth of the Matinhos River, and in the resorts of Riviera and Florida.
“It was a surprise. The construction of these groynes helped to accumulate sand around the structures, which gave rise to new and better waves”, says Polvinho.
“We, surfers, know that the wave only breaks when it has a sand bottom, a coral bottom or a rock bottom. When they announced the work, I knew it would get better as the more sand there is, the greater the chance of the wave breaking”, he adds.
According to him, the thickening of the beach’s sand strip and the construction of maritime structures (two current guides, two headlands and a groyne) will allow the city to have the ideal conditions for surfing at all times of the season, reinforcing the Matinhos being one of the sport capitals in the country, expanding possibilities within the sporting calendar.
“In the past, the tide would rise and the waves would end. Not today, we have surf all day, all year round. Because of the sand, when the tide dries up, there are waves, and when the tide is high, there are also waves.”
NEW REALITY – In Barrinha, the new wave configuration is already a reality. “People now have a new option, good and full of waves”, comments pharmacist Bruno Salgado, from Curitiba, who has been going to Pico de Matinhos for two years and has now started to venture out to neighboring spots.
Bruno’s friend, also pharmacist Vinicius Ferreira, is from João Pessoa (PB). He liked the revitalization in Matinhos so much that he hopes they do the same in his state. “Back in João Pessoa, traditional beaches like Cambaú and Cabo Branco need infrastructure like this one,” he says.
TECHNICAL CHANGE – According to José Luis Scroccaro, director of Environmental Sanitation and Water Resources at the Water and Land Institute (IAT), the body responsible for managing the work within the State Government, the implementation of structures to contain floods caused by high tides meant that the waves break differently in the region.
Furthermore, the construction of the pieces using tetrapods – concrete pieces measuring around 3 meters high and 4.3 cubic meters in volume, each weighing between 10 and 12 tons – also contributed.
“Because it is concentrated and contains sand, stone and magnetite, which is a denser material, it can be more resistant to the impact of waves and storm surges, increasing the useful life of the structures and, consequently, of the sand deposited on the coast” , highlights.
NATIONAL REFERENCE – Matinhos trained several surfers for the country. Highlights include Jihad Khodr, two-time Brazilian champion and who was also part of the world surfing elite, Bruna Schmitz, present on the World Championship Tour (WCT), and Peterson Crisanto.
There is also a statue in honor of Peterson Rosa, a surfer born in Guarujá (SP), but raised as a child in Matinhos, and who has a collection of national and world victories.
In longboarding, the highlights are Thiara Mandelli and Marco Kamers. In bodyboarding, Cláudio Marques, Sanderson Trevisan and Lorraine Lima. The new generation has Luara Mandelli and Gabi Vaz.
EDGE – The revitalization of Orla de Matinhos reached 88.3% completion in October, in the work as a whole. Maritime structures such as the Praia Brava groyne; the current guide on Avenida Paraná, and the headlands of the Riviera and Florida resorts are completed. The construction of the Matinhos chain guides is at 92.5% and should be completed this year.
The work is carried out in two stages, with a total value of R$500 million. The initial phase, with a budget of R$314.9 million, covers services for fattening the sand strip through hydraulic embankment; semi-rigid marine structures; macrodrainage channels and microdrainage networks and urban revitalization of the seafront with the planting of native species.
The project is accompanied by improvements in asphalt paving and rehabilitation of urban roads. The objective is to minimize the impacts generated by the combination of sediment imbalance, poorly planned occupations and natural phenomena, such as heavy rains and storm surges that usually hit the Coast. These factors have compromised much of the urban, tourist and leisure infrastructure in Matinhos.
The interventions will be carried out along 6.3 kilometers between Morro do Boi and Balneário Florida. In a second stage, with no date yet set, the 1.7 kilometer stretch between the resorts of Florida and Saint Etienne will be restored. There will also be the installation of new urban equipment, such as cycle paths, walking and running tracks, accessibility tracks and sidewalks.
With information from AEN
