Lat S 54 44 / long W 065 00

On our way to Mar del Plata.
It was not but the cove was a bit claustrophobic to lie waiting in.
So this morning when Th said, "Now I am tired of this cold, just want to get
away", I was glad that the weather report was right and we got away with the
tide just before lunch. Now we have 1100 nm ahead of us, and we are
motivated to sail in all weathers. From the armada guy on the radio, we were
charged with a greeting to his friend who has a boat lying where we
are going. Nice to have a greeting to bring along.

Low in Bahia Suceso

The forecast was a bit optimistic.
It has been "blowing hobnails" through the night and it is not much better now. But
the barometer has been rising so this is a sign that the wind will decrease.
Inside on the beach, there is an Argentine Armada Station, they
keeps track of boats passing outside. The workplace is quite
isolated, there is nothing else around it but more forest. We
have talked to them a couple times on the VHF and they provide us with
weather reports. They presumably are stationed here for two months at a time, so if we have to
stay for one more day, we should not complain.

Lat S 54 48°/ long W 065 15°

Bahia Buen Suceso
Whichever map or globe you are looking at, it's easy to accurately identify
where we are. We are anchored in a bay in the absolute southeastern point
of Tierra del Fuego and South America. We have reached the
South Atlantic, and we can see the islands of Isla de los Estados across the strait.
The barometer is in the bottom 969 hPa, as predicted. According to the forecast, it will blow over
tonight, so we can get away tomorrow, Wednesday.

Lat S 55 02,8 / long W 066 41,2

Today a transport, we sail for a fresh westerly and will anchor
in a bay here at Peninsula Miter, as this corner of Tierra del Fuego is called. This
should be a good spot to wait for good weather, it is in the
Pilot book.
The pilot book or Nautical guide as it is known, has been tremendously useful.
It is written by an Italian couple who have sailed in Patagonia for
14 years. They have mapped every little anchorage and passage. When we were in
Puerto Williams, they came in with their boat, we recognized
the name. Talked a bit with them and got a message written into our
book. Great!

Shifting the flag

Having had the Chilean flag up in 5 weeks, we changed the flag yesterday in the middle of the Beagle Channel; it is now time for the Argentine visitor flag. Now we are cleared in to Argentina after all the rules of art and form. One wonders why no one has introduced A4 in South America? All papers are a few inches too long for our folder.

Lat S 54 49° / long W 068 18

Ushuaia, Argentina

We have left the quiet of Chile in Puerto Williams, and ended up in a
big city according to our standards.
Ushuaia is very beautifully situated in a bay at the Beagle Channel, with the high
snow-capped mountains in the background, the city is made for beautiful postcards.
Today we had fantastic fair weather and it has been really warm.
We walked around town and found that they have many restaurants
specializing in King Crab. It looked very tempting and tomorrow
we will sample one of them.

Lunch in front of the glacier

Here we are in front of the glacier. You see roughly how cold it was. This was yesterday on our way to Puerto Williams. I will upload more images in Ushuaia where we sail tomorrow.

Lat S 54 56,1°/ long W 067 37,1°

Puerto Williams

Here we are, a milestone on our journey. I felt really good to
moor at the Club de Yates Miclavi yesterday. The club is on an old boat
settled on the bottom, you moor on the outside and go to the bar on
inside of the boat. Practical.
Today we walked around the city which mostly consists of houses exactly alike;
which apparently is due to all the people living here belong to the Armada, employment
including free accommodation.
The weather was perfect today, sunny and calm. Tomorrow we sail to
Argentina, Ushuaia, where the guests are to leave us, for further transport to
Buenos Aires.

Lat S 54 59 / long W 068 53

Soon we are in the world's southernmost town, Puerto Williams. Arrival in a
few hours. Right now we are sailing for a Westerly breeze in the Beagle Channel. We are
making good speed 9 knots, the sun is shining on the fabulous landscape. Snowy
mountain tops, the wind biting our cheeks.
Captain is preparing a Chile Con Carne for dinner, the bread is rising
life is pretty good for the crew.

Lat S 54 54 / long W 069 47°

Caleta Julia

We are now in a bay just south of the Darwin Cordillera mountains. Along
the entire Braso Noroeste, you can see glacier arms running down towards the channel. Some
go all the way down where we sail, and some are viewed only from a distance. Today
the weather was gray and rainy, which naturally diminishes the effect of the scenery. In all
photos in the books, there is sunshine, so we hope for sun
tomorrow.

Lat S 54 40° / long W 071 53°

Last night we anchored in a small Caleta in full storm. Anchor out;
rubber boat darting from edge to edge, we drew lines in all directions possible.
Good work done, it felt really good to sit inside the boat,
listen to the howling wind, eating dinner, playing cards. By chance
S looked out and said: "Seriously now, here comes another yacht."
We offered two windswept French people to tie down next to us and join in on our
ropes, even pulled out another prow line. It's so grim out here when the winds
rise so when you see another boat you offer all the help you can give.
During the night the wind subsided, and on our morning walk we saw two whales.
They blew a couple of times and then dived with the magnificent
caudal fin high up in the sky. A fabulous sight

Lat S 53 53°/ long W 071 40,3°

Magellan

We have just passed the Isla Rupert, home to 20 000 penguins or so.
Of this number on paper, we are surprised to have seen just a
handful. However, the wildlife was rich, with seals, dolphins and
waterfowl of all varieties. Also spotted two whales.

Otherwise, it becomes colder and colder every day. The writer
(Erik) carries about four layers on the legs (longjohns, trousers, jeans
and rubber gear) and six layers on the upper body (underwear, vest,
shirt, thick sweater, thick sweater 2, rubber gear). Socks, I have only
two pairs on top of each other, as no more can fit in my boots.

It's like in Scotland. The heat is defined by "one sweater day", "two
sweater day "or" three sweater day ".
guest blogger Erik

Lat S 52 57°/ long W 073 50,3°

Estrecho de Magellanes
Here we are, the wind blowing hard as usual. Magellan, the strait, which makes
it possible toto round South America without having to round Cape Horn . We will
sail as far as where it begins to turn to the north to Punta Arenas. There
we will instead go further south through some other channels to enter the
Beagle Channel. That is where you find Puerto Williams, Chile's southernmost city, where
we are clearing out. Then we go to Ushuaia 25 NM away, clearing in
to Argentina. We leave off rounding the Horn, this time. Our taste
for adventure is satisfied just by sailing here.
We are now leaving Patagonia, reaching Tierra del Fuego,
the Land of Fire.