Colonia, Uruguay - Back in time

Yesterday Rich and I decided to continue to play turistas and take a ferry ride to Colonia, Uruguay. The Buquebus terminal is next door to the Yacht Club Argentina at Puerto Madero, a short walk away. I went on the web the day before and purchased tickets via www.buquebus.com. You can choose your language on the website. Even with having e-tickets in hand, and arriving 2 hours early it was a lot of standing in line, one to check in, two for immigration and three to board the ferry. The ferry was late leaving since so many people were doing one, two and three. There are two choices of ferries, the fast one which takes 1 hour and the slow one which takes almost 3 hours. We opted for the slow and cheap. It was okay but due to the heat and lines, it was a long day.

The old section of Colonia reflects its Portuguese and Spanish pass of the 18th century.  Parts of the original wall build around the city is still standing with the gate and drawbridge. There are many examples of the original Portuguese homes. We walked down the tree lined main street.

 Colonia is not completely stuck in the past. Current events are evident even with this advertisement in the window of the restaurant where we had lunch.

Tango and bus tours

We had a great dinner before the show at Almacen in San Telmo

The tango dancers moved swiftly and gracefully across the stage

The open air and hot seat bus tour

In Argentina, it is not a White House but a Pink House

Caminito the birthplace of the tango

The cemetery in Recoleta. Eva Peron was here but not now

Jesse & Rae visit

Jesse and Rae flew in from Los Angeles arriving on Wednesday. We took a walk here in Puerto Madero plus a long walk into downtown including a stop at the Galleria Pacifico with the bright red Christmas tree.

Windarra at Buenos Aires

Windarra is berthed at the Yacht Club Argentino, Puerto Madero. You can see some of the buildings of downtown in the background. Puerto Madero once was the principle docking and cargo area for Buenos Aires. Unfortunately it soon became too small and other areas were developed. Since then Puerto Madero is now an upscale neighborhood with condominiums, sidewalk cafes and upscale restaurants. It is still a mixture of old and new where building of glass stand near the old cranes used to move the cargo. The main yacht club building was commissioned in 1913 and designed by the French architect, Eduardo Le Monnier. It features a tall tower or lighthouse topped with a sphere of iron and glass. You can see it on the right side of the photo below.

The last few days we have been cleaning and rearranging stuff inside to prepare for Jesse and Rae's arrival. They are coming down for a visit and to spend Christmas with us. We are sorry that Sarah will not be here too but hope to have her visit while we are in Brazil.

We hope all of our friends and family will have a wonderful holiday season.

Cheers,
Elaine and Rich

Arrive Buenos Aires

34 35.737 S, 058 21.650 W

If you read last night's blog entry, you would know we were complaining about the wind and sea conditions. Well, they continued for most of today. We had hoped that a river would be relatively smooth and slow flowing. Not the case here. It is shallow but still worked itself into uncomfortable conditions.

The river is a wide, flat expanse of brown water. We had to go a long way before we saw the buildings of downtown Buenos Aires. The channel where large ships may pass is relatively narrow, and it is not separated into two lanes and there is no separation zone. A few times, we went outside the channel to avoid getting close to some of the large cargo ships. We saw the ferry to Montevideo, zipping by at 50 knots!

Now we are docked at the Yacht Club Argentino at Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires. It is a relatively new section of town but the yacht club is old and established. Mario, the lancha driver, helped us get settled.

Doug and Nancy, this is the yacht club we saw from the deck of your cabin on the cruise ship, when we visited you here in Buenos Aires two years ago in March.

We walked to the Prefectura office to check in and what did we pass, a Starbucks! Now we can have good coffee for breakfast, plus some pain au chocolate! The Prefectura officers seemed a little confused by our paperwork. They did not have us fill out the forms in quadruplicate like we did in Ushuaia and Mar del Plata. They just took the form we got when we check out of Mar del Plata, signed it and made us a copy. Okay.

Tomorrow we will do some cleaning and scouting around the area.

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Day 2, Roll, Roll, Roll in the Hay

35 39.977 S, 056 29.570 W

For the last several hours we have been sailing on a port tack on a beam or broad reach, with 1-2 meter seas on the beam. While it is great to be making between 5-8 knots speed over the ground, the occasional roll from 30 degrees to starboard and then back to zero and 30 degrees on port, is getting a little old. Add a splash of salt water on the port side, just for fun!

Most of the things below are secured but there have been a few missiles flying around, like some pillows and crackers and a loaf of bread.

Are we having fun yet?

Soon we will be entering the channel to take us into Buenos Aires, up the Rio Plata. We have about 120 miles to go.

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Day 1, Leaving Mar del Plata

37 33.063 S, 57 00.271 W

This morning while the winds were light we lowered the staysail and put tape on the sail where it was starting to part. It was one of the many items we found during the last passage. Rich bought new belts for the alternator and installed them, we had the main sail repaired and have ordered a new one which we will pick up in Brazil. Rich also has the heater working but it has been so warm that we are only running it to heat water for washing.

We walked to the Prefectura and did our paperwork to leave and head to Buenos Aires. Even though we signed a paper saying we would not stop at the Falklands, we had to sign another. Who would stop at the Falklands on the way to Buenos Aires? Whatever?

Paperwork in hand we left the yacht club taking advantage of the high tide and tied to a buoy for lunch and to wait for the winds to switch from northeast to south. It did not take long and by 1:00 pm we were on our way. We tried to sail for a while but the winds were around 4 knots, so we fired up the iron spinnaker and we are motoring along up the coast. The total passage should be about 280 nautical miles to Buenos Aires.

Cheers,
Elaine and Rich

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Main sail repair

Oscar and company are taking our main sail off to be repaired. It has many, many miles on it.

Photos from passage to Mar del Plata

Ushuaia to Mar del Plata recap

Yacht Club Argentino

This morning we got the lancha into the YCA. They were very helpful and had the paperwork for the Prefactura plus carbon paper. We filled out the 4 necessary copies, got a map and headed out. Two local sailors were also going to the same place so we walked with them and got some of the local scoop. Today and tomorrow are holidays so many things are closed except for places catering to tourists so we will have to put off laundry until Wednesday. After checking in, Rich and I treated ourselves to coffee and wifi and waited until lunch time to try one of the local restaurants. It was a slow walk back after so much food at one time.

The tide has risen sufficiently to allow us to enter the yacht club and tie up to the dock and plug it.

I have to say that it was nice last night to sleep in our bed, enjoy calm waters and not have to worry about watches.

So, the nitty gritty of the trip:

10 days, 9 1/2 hours from dock to buoy.
1315 nautical miles
Averaging 126.5 nautical miles a day, maximum for one day was 172nm, minimum was 92nm.
Winds - max 45 knots,
min 0 knots - note least winds were in the Beagle Channel.
Seas - max 3 meter, short period with 3-5 feet of wind waves on top
min flat - also in the Beagle channel
Sailing - we sailed 8 of the 10 plus days. We tacked twice, spent most of the time either on a broad reach or into the wind on port tack.

Damage report
Main sail split from leech almost to luff below the top batten. Some of the leech line tore below and above the split
Lazy jack line for main sail on starboard side chaffed and need to repair. May need new line.
Staysail has a tear near the luff and should be sewn or patched.
We are looking to have sails repaired in Buenos Aires and we will be able to go to get there without the main sail, just maybe not as fast.
One of the alternator belts broke and the remaining is stretched and not tight enough. The two spares on board are not tight enough either so need to buy more belts, install and adjust. Universal spare that we had in storage deteriorated and had to be tossed.
Watermaker was working fine then stopped producing water. Suspect water temperature was too cold. Need to verify operation
Toilet switch for aft head is not working properly. Sensor indicates holding tank is full but output is not to holding tank. Cover of switch has torn, needs replacement.
Water in exhaust system of Webasto heater. Suspect one of the many waves we took on the stern caused it even though there is a loop to prevent this. Need to suck out the water and clean system to get heater back operational.

Tomorrow we will continue cleaning and putting the boat back in shape. Oh, and also getting our internet fixes.

One other change. During the trip we were wearing long underwear, fleece and foul weather gear. Now we are in shorts and t-shirts. Glad to be farther north!

We would also like to thank everyone for their words of encouragement!

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Day 11 - Arrive Mar del Plata

38 02.599 S, 057 32.208 W

At 9:24 pm, local time we tied up to the YCA buoy with the help from the Prefectura and a fellow from the yacht club. We are glad to be here, tied up and looking forward to sleeping in our bed and not the cockpit.

We are tired so I will end this. More in the days to come.

Cheers,
Elaine and Rich

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Day 10 - What is that ripping noise?

40 31.930 S, 057 08.758 W

We have been having strong winds, 20-35 knots and 3 meter seas.

Last night after dark, I heard this ripping sound and then the flapping of sails. We turned on the deck lights at there was no moon and it was dark as Hades. I looked up at the main sail and it had ripped across below the first batten.

With harness and tether and boat hook I went to the mast, while Rich manned the helm and tried to turn us into the wind so we could take down the sail. The 3 meter swells did not help nor the blast of cold water that hit my face. we finally managed to pull the sail down enough so I could lash the free parts to the mast and put tension on the halyard to keep it from slapping the mast. All the while Rich and I are trying to communicate what next.

Since then we have been motoring. As the seas and winds are mostly from behind we are making good progress, including 172 nautical miles in 24 hours.

Today Rich braved the rolly deck and moved fuel from the jerry jugs to the aft tank.

We have less than 160 miles to go and hope to arrive at Mar del Plata either on Sunday or Monday.

Wish us luck.....

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Day 9 back on the rhumb line

43 25.970 S, 56 45.108 W, Hdg 354 T, SOG 6.0 Winds 13-18 SW

Last night and early this morning we continued northeasterly then the winds started to clock around to the west and then southwest. Now we are on the rhumb line to Mar del Plata, with about 335 nautical miles to go in a straight shot. Not sure how long our weather window will last as it is supposed to build and swing around to the north and we do not want to be caught in an easterly as they may close the port.

So we are motorsailing to maintain speed, especially when the winds were very light, read 3-7 knots.

The lazy jack lines on the starboard side of the boom broke but we did a temporary repair. The leech line of the staysail needs repair also.

Looking forward to Mar del Plata and ice cream!

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Day 8 - Are we there yet?

45 11.787 S, 056 50.218 W

Today was a bit of a disappointment. After having several days of good progress, today fell short. We crept along at 2-3 knots in sloppy seas, closer to Mar del Plata but not alot. We are now closer in longitude but still have about 430 nautical miles to go northward.

The gribs look promising for tomorrow and the day after.

Soon......

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Day 7 Putting in some Easting

46 02.371 S, 059 09.186 W

Most of our passage so far has been on the continental shelf. Today the winds suggested we head east, which is good since Mar del Plata is at longitude 57 W. As we crossed off the shelf and into deeper water we suddenly had all sorts of AIS targets. At least 4 Chinese fishing ships, each over 270 feet long and running just off the shelf in a line. Most of the targets were fishing but there was one tanker and a cargo ship as well. Most we did not have to worry about which is always good, and no surprises.

Rich added more fuel to the aft tank. We are have been running the engine only to charge the batteries. As the alternator is not running full, since only one belt, it takes a little longer. And we are not running the heater since it appears we took a wave from the stern and have water in the exhaust. It never ends

But, we are making progress and look forward to arriving soon.

Soon...

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Day 6 - crossed the 48th parallel

47 19.311 S, 061 14.127 W

I spoke (wrote) too soon last night when I said that the winds and seas had lessened. Last night the winds got up to 50 knots and we were screaming along with speed over the ground as much as 11 knots! FLYING

This morning it was in the 20-30 range and over the course of the day it has dropped down to 10-20. the seas are about 1.5 meter swells and have come around from SW to more westerly. We are taking advantage and heading NE.

The water temperature is only up to 8 degrees C. We are hoping it starts to warm up soon.

Cheers,
Elaine and Rich

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Day 5, Red sky at morning....

49 22.819 S, 062 24.723 W

The saying goes, "Red sky at morning, sailors take warning, red sky at night, sailors delight". Sailors are a superstitious bunch and we are as well. Now some will say that the red sky pertains to the red light district, where sailors would spend their money and their shore time. If they were still there in the morning, they may have missed their ship leaving. Other sailors believe it is pertaining to the weather.

This morning we saw a bright red sunrise that lit up the sky. Uh Oh, what now? As it turns out, the winds started from the north and then clocked around to the west and then to the southwest, all the while the winds built to 32 or so knots and the seas built from 1 meter swells and 1 foot wave chop on top, to 3 meter swells with 4-6 feet of wave chop! Yes, Mr. Toad's wild ride. The good thing is it pushed us along in the direction we wanted to go, but it was a little uncomfortable at the same time. The birds enjoyed it, swooping and diving around Windarra. I tried but unsuccessfully to get a picture since they were so close, but a few feet from us. The picture in my mind will have to suffice.

Some have asked where we are going. We are headed for Mar del Plata, Argentina, which is on the coast and south of Buenos Aires. We had two choices, either to follow a coastal route, similar to what we did in Peru and on the Chilean coast or to head directly there from the Estrecho de Le Maire, also known as the rhumb line. Everyone knows that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, well for sailors, we refer to it as the rhumb line. If you were to look in detail of our course so far, it is more like a rum line, with a few strange turns as the winds clocked around or we had to tack to take advantage of a wind shift.

The winds have eased a bit and are in the 20 - 24 knot range and the seas are back to 2 meters. Hopefully tomorrow it will ease some more.

We continue north bound...

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Re: Day 4 Passing the Falklands

Fingers crossed for alternator belt(s).

Seahawks beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 39-30 in a nail biter.

Sent from my iPhone

>

Day 4 Passing the Falklands

51 10.435 S, 62 54.074 W

We had reasonable sailing this morning but this afternoon it petered out so we started motoring. There is supposed to be some nasty weather soon so we are hoping to avoid it.

There were intermittent showers today, hopefully washing some of the salt off the deck. More bird sightings, including the Cape Petrel.

One of the belts for the alternator broke. This means that the alternator does not put out its full output. The remaining belt also squeals and the RPM display is not correct since it is connected on the output of the alternator. The engine is fine but it takes longer for the batteries to be charged and with the overcast we are not getting any help from the solar panels. We have two other belts but we know they squeal as well. It is always something.

The water temperature has risen from 6 degrees C to 8 degrees C! Looking forward to some warmer weather!

Cheers,
Elaine and Rich

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Day 3, Sailing in the Atlantic

52 42.732 S, 064 10.958 W

For most of today it has been a lovely sail in the southern Atlantic Ocean, a first for us. We had winds 8-16 knots from the NW and speeds over the ground from 5-8 knots with the main at the third reef, the yankee and the staysail. Beautiful sunny skies, and greenish blue water. This morning some dolphins came by and did tail stands to look at us in the cockpit. We had spent many moments watching albatross, petrels and other birds skimming waves and swooping up over the bow and back down to skim the waves again.

Right now we have winds 20-23 knots and rolly, confused, beam seas which send the boat rocking wildly from side to side. What a change a few hours can make.

Onward....

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Day 2, Through the Estrecho

54 17.447 S, 064 47.667 W

Yesterday and this morning we were careful about our speed so we did not arrive at the straits too early. We wanted to catch the Low and then ride the flood north. Sounds like a good plan. The last few days we have also been watching the winds to make sure we had the winds going in the same direction, north, with the flood so we would not have lumpy, bumpy, big seas from wind over tide.

Well, best laid plans. As we started into the straits, the winds were light and our timing was good. When we reached the middle the winds built and were coming from the north, so we had exactly the situation we did not want. Luckily the winds abated as we neared the exit and we were moving along at 8 knots, speed over the ground. This lasted for a while.

Now we are sailing north, northwest. Not fast but moving and comfortable and in the right direction. We had a few hiccups with the sails and lines. The yankee halyard rope clutch opened and the sail started to come down, the main halyard got wrapped around the shrouds and a few other things but all is good now.

We have a little over a 1000 nautical miles to go....

Cheers,
Elaine and Rich

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Day 1, On the road again...

54 55.153 S, 067 10.192 W

This morning we had calm winds so we were able to get the dingy on the foredeck, deflated and secured for passage. The office called a taxi for us and we went to the Officina Antarctica and met with the Prefectura to get our zarpe to Mar del Plata. The Prefectura is the Argentinian Coast Guard. We had to sign paperwork stating that we would not go to the Falklands or Malvinas as it is called by the Argentinians. Ok, no problem, not where we want to go anyway.

We returned to Windarra and after saying goodbye to Emma and Christof of SV Venus, we departed Ushuaia at 12:10 pm.

Now we have passed Puerto Williams and Isla Navarino and headed for Estrecho de Le Maire. We plan to time it for low slack at 1:10 pm tomorrow and ride the flood north. The tricky part is having the winds cooperate as well and be going in the same direction or there are nasty overfalls.

It is 9:20 pm and still light out which is great for passage.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Wish we were there with you and not on passage!!!

Cheers,
Elaine and Rich

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Windarra at Ushuaia

Windarra at AFASyn, Ushuaia, Argentina with the mountains of Tierra Del Fuego in the background

Ushuaia, Argentina

54 48.826 S, 068 18.360 W Ushuaia, Argentina

This morning we got up early had showers and we were ready to leave at 8 am. Unfortunately, two large rigged inflatable boats were rafted behind us so we had to wait until the owners arrived and they moved so we could get out of the taggle of boats and lines. By 10 am we were leaving Puerto Williams. As our luck continues with wind on the nose we motored our way to Ushuaia about 28 nautical miles west of Puerto Williams and across the Beagle Channel. Rich and I had visited here last March when we went on the cruise to Antarctica. It was our first time on Windarra.

After some confusion communication with the Argentinian armada, we docked and then got a taxi ride to the Officina Antarctica, aka the Coast Guard office, and checked in. All forms in quadruple but they supplied some carbon paper to help. First time I have used carbon paper in a long time. The officer was very nice, he stamped our passports and then sent us on to Customs or Aduana, which was across the street. We gave them two of the four copies, the officer kept two and after a bit we had a temporary import permit for Windarra, good for 8 months.

To celebrate after a stop at the atm, we went to the restaurant/bakery we had found on our last visit. We had great bread, excellent salad and we shared a lamb dish that was wonderful. We also bought some croissants for brekkie and a betard. Argentina bread is so much better than Chilean.

We walked back to Windarra and relaxing. Tomorrow we need to buy some new fender as ours are pretty sad and there is supposed to be some strong winds on Sunday and Monday. We also plan to do some provisioning as well.

We are watching for a weather window to start heading east towards Estrecho de Le Maire. This strait is fairly notorious so we want to make sure we not only time it correctly but had the right weather pattern. Then we head north.

Cheers

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Weather window

A wish for more days like this one....

We are waiting for our weather window to leave Puerto Williams, go west to Ushuaia, check into Argentina. After some more provisioning we will head east in the Beagle Channel, find a spot to wait for winds and current in the right direction to head through Estrecho de Le Maire and on to Mar del Plata.

But now we have strong winds and snow. At least we are able to do some projects inside.

New Batteries

Before we leave for Argentina and beyond we have some projects to do.

With help from James Burwick of Anasazi Ltda., we were able to purchase 3 Toyama AGM batteries, 200 amp hours each, from Joachin at Imre in the duty free zone of Punta Arenas. The batteries were delivered to the same ferry we rode to Puerto Williams.

On Nov. 5, James and his friend Sam helped schlep the batteries from the Micalvi, over Anasazi Girl then onto Windarra. At 142 pounds each, we were grateful for the help. We had taken the aft stateroom bed apart so that the old Lifeline batteries could be removed and the new Toyamas installed. One of the three batteries was installed under the Nav station as well.

James has been very helpful to us. Not only has he helped with the batteries but also with getting fuel and other services. It helps having someone who is fluent in English, his native language but his command of Spanish is far superior to ours making him an invaluable resource for the cruising community here at the Micalvi. You may reach him at Facebook.

Springtime?

Puerto Williams

According to the calendar it is springtime in the Southern Hemisphere. It does not feel that way as the snow accumulates on the deck and everything else. I think we will stay inside and continue with projects.

Snow in Los Dientes

Club Naval de Micalvi, Puerto Williams.

This morning at was clear, sunny and crisp. Since we arrived on Saturday morning we have been working on Windarra, testing systems and cleaning after the six months of cold weather in the Southern Hemisphere. We are glad that there was much less mildew than we expected but still requires a wipe down with diluted bleach. Today was a bit of a setback with the heater, as it decided to stop working, but Rich persevered, got out the vacuum cleaner and cleaned the burner can - a sooty job, replaced the injector and did some other magic and we are back being toasty again. The time is perfect as the winds have piped up to the 20 knot range and there are raindrops too.

The ferry ride was comfortable as we were in Cama class, meaning the seats fully reclined to flat horizontal. The movies were the exact same as the trip we made last April but not a loud. The weather was perfect and great daylight views of the glaciers in the Beagle Channel. The ferry skipper even diverted to provide a closer view. After dropping off a few passengers, the ferry anchored in the flat, calm harbor and we enjoyed a good night of sleep. Saturday morning was busy, offloading our luggage - 4 suitcases, 2 backpacks and 4 boxes of food from Punta Arenas. Later in the morning Rich went with Francesco to pick up our 3 AGM batteries.

Still plenty to do.....

Above is a photo of Los Dientes from Windarra's bow and then looking astern at SV La Cardinale and the mountains of Tierra del Fuego in the distance.

Passing through Punta Arenas

53 10.021 S, 070 54.785 W Punta Arenas

After almost six months in the United States, it was time to return to Windarra and cruising.

Monday afternoon we left Seattle and Tuesday evening we arrived at Punta Arenas after stops in Dallas, Santiago and Puerto Montt. James of SV Anasazi Girl met us at the airport with his friend, Dan, who lives in Punta Arenas and has a truck to help us get our 4 suitcases and 2 backpacks to our hostel, Rentahome.

James and his wife, Somira plus kids Tormentina, Raivol and Pearl have been taking care of Windarra in Puerto Williams and are visiting Punta Arenas. They are a big help to us. Today James helped us coordinate having our new AGM batteries transferred to the Yaghan, the ferry we will take on Thursday to Puerto Williams.

This afternoon we went to the Hiper Lidor, one of the large supermarkets here in Punta Arenas. We stocked up on items that we can not get in Puerto Williams, like Heinz ketchup, cream of mushroom soup, peanut butter and dry salami. Now in addition to our luggage we have 4 boxes of food to take along.

Even though the calendar indicates it is spring time in the Southern Hemisphere, the air is nippy, wind and whitecaps on the straits of Magellan and snow on the mountains of Tierra deal Fuego. Tomorrow we will board the ferry for our two night journey through the canals.

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House and pet sitting - New Friends

This summer we have been house and pet sitting in the greater Seattle area, in between trips to the East Coast, Vancouver and recently to San Francisco and Bend, Oregon. Sometimes we are sitting at homes of friends and also from contacts via a website for matching house sitters with people who need someone to take care of their house and perhaps a pet or a garden or both. It works out great for us as we not only have a place to stay but we also have a chance to experience different neighborhoods as well as getting either a dog or cat fix. We miss our cat, Katmandu, but this is a great way for us to have time with a pet even if it is temporary

Here are some of our new friends we have made this summer:

Macy from Auburn

Finnegan from Greenwood

Molly from Greenlake

Sasha from Magnolia




Artemis from West Seattle



Loki from Bothell





Southern winter

We are back in Seattle after our trip to the east coast and enjoying the northern summer as we house sit around Seattle.

Meanwhile, James and Somira of SV Anasazi Girl are taking care of Windarra. Somira took these photos of the recent snow. You can also see the ice forming in the water.

I feel a little guilty enjoying the beautiful weather in Seattle.

New earrings

Rich with his new earring in his left ear

Elaine's new earring

As part of the tradition of going around The Horn, Rich and I had our left ears pierced. Sarah took us to a piercing and tattoo parlor at Alderwood. We will wear these studs for 6 weeks, then we will be able to switch to gold hoops. Another part of the tradition includes the right to put one foot on the table. I think we will have to be judicious about exercising this right.

Besides enjoying the lovely spring weather in the Pacific northwest, we have been making the rounds of our doctors and dentists. Everything is checking out fine so far.

Returning to Seattle

After our arrival in Punta Arenas we spend the next 2 days checking out the grocery stores and some of the local sites. We were interested in the grocery stores for provisioning on our return. The selection in Puerto Williams is a bit limited and Punta Arenas is a city on the 'mainland' with a lot more goods available. In Punta Arenas we were able to find items such as maple syrup, pancake mix, refried beans, Heinz ketchup, decent canned tuna, canned cream of mushroom soup, real cheddar cheese. All of these items are readily available in any store in the United States but rare in small towns in Chile.

We stayed at Rentahome, just west of downtown. It offers rooms with small kitchenettes which are convenient for us to make some of our own meals. It is operated by Guido and Monica, both of whom speak some English. They also have laundry facilities, do it yourself or have it done. One block away is a nice bakery and there is a Unimarc grocery store within walking distance.

On Wednesday we began our trip back to Seattle, an expected 23 hours as Punta Arenas is a long way from Seattle. When we are sailing we pay a lot of attention to the weather. When flying we just assume that it will be fine unless we know there is a big snowstorm or something like. Arriving 3 hours early for our first flight with just cloudy skies, we were not concerned. As the day progressed our flights did not. Foggy weather in Puerto Montt meant that our plane would not be arriving in Punta Arenas. The 23 hours turned into 50 hours including an overnight stay in a hotel in Punta Arenas that the airline paid for and another round of colds. Rich and I are sick again but glad to be back in Seattle. Hopefully we will recover quickly and be able to visit soon.

It is amazing that we have been sailing on Windarra for the last 5 years from Seattle to Alaska to the far end of South America and we have only be sick twice and both times within the last month.

Go figure.

Sent from SV Windarra iPad

Ferry from Puerto Williams to Punta Arenas

On Saturday afternoon, Francisco gave us a ride to the ferry dock at the far end of Puerto Williams. It is a 30 hours ride up the Beagle Channel, Brecknock Channel and part of the Straits of Magellan to Punta Arenas. We had semi-cama or sleeper seats next to the square windows on the upper (beige) level of the ferry. They serve 3 meals a day as part of the ticket price. There are TV screens playing most of the time. It started with soap opera bloopers in Spanish and switched to movies including Elysium and Jonah Hex. On board we met some backpackers from Switzerland. Residents of Puerto Williams may ride the ferry at a very reduced rate and were kind enough to make sure we knew when the meals were being served.

We passed the time watching the scenery and reading the new Erik Larson book. Snow is covering the mountain tops and most of the hills. Time to head north.

When we arrived at Punta Arenas, the front end of the ferry opens, you grab your bags and walk of the ramp. We looked for a taxi to our hostel but most were already occupied. We saw a woman we met on the ferry and she offered us to share as it was her cousin driving. It worked out for all of us. It was nice to wake up in the morning and have the room warmer than the 51-53 degrees that the boat has been in the morning.

Our new plan

We have a new plan. As our friends on Frannie B and Limbo have headed north and checked out the marina situation in Uruguay with disappointing news about the hard stand there, we have decided to form a new plan. We will leave Windarra here at Club Naval de Micalvi in Puerto Williams and return to the US for the northern summer. Of course, it is also a bit of an adventure in the returning. On Saturday we will take a ferry from Puerto Williams in the Beagle Channel to Punta Arenas in the Straits of Magellan. From there we will catch flights to Santiago, Dallas and Seattle.

We look forward to visiting family and friends on the west and east coasts.

Cheers,
Elaine and Rich

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Rounding Cape Horn

A quick photo of the Horn as we went passed.

Back at Puerto Williams

Wednesday was a long night after a long day. We pulled into Puerto Toro expecting to see some of the lights on at the pier but it was very, very dark so we anchored in the harbor and right behind us was a sailboat at anchor with no lights on, faintly looming in the dark. After they heard us anchor they turned their lights on, a little late.

Thursday morning we hoped to go all the way back to Puerto Williams but the 30 knots on the nose in the channel discouraged us so we anchored at Caleta Margarita, for a calm restful afternoon, reading and relaxing. A much better alternative to pounding at 3 knots.

This morning we had little wind and smooth water to Puerto Williams and we are tied up at the same place where we left on Monday morning.

I looked up traditions concerning rounding the Horn. One tradition is that a sailor who had rounded Cape Horn was entitled to wear a gold loop earring, in the left ear, the one which had faced the Horn in a typical eastbound passage - and to dine with one foot on the table. Sounds good to Rich and I. There is also something about tattoos but I am not going there.

Cheers

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Rounding the Horn

55 59.515 S, 067 15.424 W, Cabo de Hornas

Today was a special day, a day of bucket lists and t-shirts. At 11:24 am, we rounded Cabo de Hornas, The Horn! We even had dolphins cheering us on.

It is late now as we traveled all the way back to Puerto Toro and it is time to get something to eat and go to bed, but we just wanted to share our news.

Good night

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Caleta Martial Sur

S 55 49.509 S, 067 16.883 W, Caleta Martial Sur, Isla Herschel

The crab fishermen left very early this morning and we have the pier to ourselves and Carlos' dog, who gave us sad dog eye looks as we castoff.

For most of the day we had little or no wind with flat seas. We enjoyed the view, watching the cormorrants and penguins, bobbling along as we passed. It seemed idyllic until this afternoon when the winds picked up to 25 knots and the seas as well. Not quite on the nose but close. I had hoped that the winds would abate as we got closer to the islands ahead of us but no joy. In the distance we saw 3 sailboats who must have gone passed the Horn on their way to Antarctica.

Now we are anchored in Caleta Martial Sur, the winds howling through the rigging at 26 knots. A group of dolphins swam by to say hi and went on their way. Originally we planned to anchor in Caleta Martial Nord but there was a sailboat already there. No sense in crowding.

We will look at the gribs tonight and decide what the plan is for tomorrow.

Cheers

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Puerto Toro

55 04.915 S, 067 04.423 W, Puerto Toro, Isla Navarino, Chile

We are on the move again as we are on the downhill slide of our colds, with just the residual cough.

This morning at 10:10 am we let loose our dock lines as left the Micalvi at Puerto Williams. The winds were light and the sky had promises of sunshine. Surprisingly enough after over a month sitting the speed log started working right away. I guess not much grows in these cold waters. As we headed east in the Beagle Channel we saw Magellan penguins, the flying variety of steamer ducks, Wandering Albatross, giant petrels and dolphins. Besides the wildlife the channel was quiet.

This afternoon we tied up to the tall pier at Puerto Toro. If Ushuaia is the southernmost city and Puerto Williams is the southernmost town, then Puerto Toro is the southernmost village. We are sharing the pier with 3 fishing boats, loading up on crab pots as it is now the season for centolla, or king crab. Carlos, one of the fishermen, helped us tie up.

Can you guess where we are heading?

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Back on Windarra

Antarctica was spectacular and the photos don't do justice to it but we tried. We did not see a another cruise ship while we were at Antarctica just during our crossings of the Drake (1 on the way out, 2 on the way back). It seemed like we were the only people there. We saw the wildlife up close and personal, including curious penguins trying to bite my walking pole or my pants. The views of the mountains, glaciers and icebergs were stunning, especially the bergs that were definitely larger than the ship!

We had a great time. It was nice to take a break from Windarra even though we were still on the water. And we definitely have a healthy respect for the Drake Passage. We wish you could have been there with us.

Sunday we arrived in Ushuaia and disembarked just after breakfast. We took at taxi to our hostel, relaxed and checked the Internet. Rich got a cold the last part of the trip. That is what happens when you are in close confines with almost 200 people. Now I have it too :( In the evening we got together for drinks and dinner with some of the folks we met on the cruise. It is a nice mix of younger people and I guess they don't mind hanging out with us.

Yesterday we took the zodiac back to Isla Navarino and the van to Micalvi and Windarra. Apparently we missed a system that went through while we were gone that included 85 knot winds at Micalvi and the Chilean armada recorded 97 knot gusts. School was closed at Ushuaia as well. James, who looked after Windarra, says everything is a-ok. The lines to and from the boats are like a spider web.

It is good to be back on Windarra as we nurse our colds. Hopefully we will recover soon.

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Neko Harbor, Petermann Island and Crazy Hat Night on board

Penguins march down a well worn path at Neko Harbor. We saw the elusive Adelie's penguins on Petermann Island as well. One night on the ship we had a barbeque outside on the back deck. A crazy hat was required for admission. Modeling our hats is Rich, Elaine, Will, Skye, Rebecca and Donal. Will and Skye are from Australia. Rebecca and Donal are from Ireland.

Lemaire Channel, Pleneau Bay, Petermann Island

We had beautiful, sunny skies for our passage through Lemaire Channel. This photo does no do it justice. At Pleneau Bay we rode around looking at the icebergs. You can tell Rich is having a good time. There were more penguins at Petermann Island like this fellow resting on a rock.

Portal Point, Enterprise Island, Cuverville Island

We all wore our yellow jackets on shore and marched like penguins. We also had a group of 10 kayakers. You can see the Sea Spirit holding station during our shore excursion. At Enterprise Island there were humpback whales feeding in pairs, circling the krill for big mouthfuls. At Cuverville Island we saw Gentoos, up close and personal.