Hashtag Salvideo
Gilberto Gil’s Sound Technician Who Spent 10 Years Building a Boat | Cut from #SAL #33
June 1, 2026 · 5 min · 29K views · Paraty
Waldir gazes at lush coast from his sailboat deck
What this video covers
Waldir, an electronics technician from Lages, Santa Catarina, spent 10 years building a sailboat called NUC after a chance encounter with a sailing magazine at a Tecnomarine event convinced him that owning a production boat was financially out of reach.2:22 He rented a dedicated space, bought tools, set up a small boatyard, and built the boat himself from plans — the same designer, Cabinho, who drew Adriano Plotzky's boat Brutus, and roughly the same size.2:01 Before the build, Waldir had a career as a sound technician for Brazilian musician Gilberto Gil, a path that began when he and a friend from Escola Politécnica in São Paulo built a PA system for student union events.2:46 That equipment was destroyed during a police raid on PUC during the military dictatorship era.3:46 He later met Gil's manager, restored Gil's sound system at a property in Jacarepaguá, and spent years on international tours — five-star hotels, dollar wages, constant air travel.4:15 The contrast between tour life and home eventually wore on him, and he left to pursue the boat-building project.5:03 NUC is now his home on the water.
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