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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Monday, November 30, 2015
Sunday, November 29, 2015
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
>
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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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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Saturday, November 28, 2015
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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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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Friday, November 27, 2015
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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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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Thursday, November 26, 2015
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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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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Saturday, November 21, 2015
Windarra at Ushuaia
Friday, November 20, 2015
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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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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Wednesday, November 18, 2015
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.
Thursday, November 5, 2015
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.
Monday, November 2, 2015
Springtime?
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.
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