Resumo:
his study focused on understanding the articulation of the trajectory of saveiros present in
Todos-os-Santos Bay (BTS), Bahia, since the 16th century, with the socio-spatial transformations
of their surroundings and surroundings, based on narratives and reminiscences of saveirista
masters. To understand the reasons that led to changes in the use of sloops as technical objects
and integral parts of local culture. The analyses and descriptions have been made considering the
perspective of the technical system of Milton Santos (2020 [1996]), revealing the historical
production of reality in its entirety. In this sequence, the notion of technique linked to saveiros
was used as a mediator between man and the environment, as well as from a historical perspective
of Walter Benjamin’s open materialism, which considers a construction of past experience. The
sloop was an element of unification between the old region of Recôncavo Baiano and the capital,
it was the maritime vessel responsible for fulfilling several functions in transporting production
from the interior to Salvador and, later, exported to other states and countries. The dominant
techniques in the region were essential for its economic development; the physical configuration
of the Bay and the surrounding municipalities required techniques that made exploration of the
area viable. The end of the 19th century was a period of intense technical transformations that
were consolidated as milestones in the modernization process: railways, steam engines, new
transport infrastructures, more advanced vessels, in addition to new production and cultivation
techniques that made up this new scenario surrounding the Todos-os-Santos Bay. In this context,
capitalism expanded its borders and imposed the need for adaptations both in spaces and in the
practices and behaviors of individuals, stimulating a reconfiguration of social and economic
relations. The geographic space of Todos-os-Santos Bay and the surrounding municipalities began
to be redefined based on the new techniques installed. The movement that previously took place
via sea and river routes now takes place within these municipalities via highways. The narratives
of the saveirista masters evoke a past in which saveiros played a central role in the landscape of
Todos-os-Santos Bay; demonstrate a clear awareness of the historical and economic relevance of
saveiros to the city of Salvador and its neighbouring municipalities; recognize the technical
transformations that contributed to the gradual decline of this vessel and admit, nostalgically, that
if it were not for their role in transporting construction materials to islands and other difficult-to
access areas, saveiros would probably have already disappeared. In this hiatus, reminiscences of
a recent past still sound in the municipalities of Maragogipe, Jaguaripe and “sail” through the
waters of Todos-os-Santos Bay.