Puerto Williams

Yes we are still here at Puerto Williams, waiting for weather, as usual.

Puerto Williams is a town of about 2000 people, or should I say a Chilean Armada base with a small town around it. A large section of the housing is military, similar to what you would see in the US, as well as a special commissary for Armada personnel and their families only. The town has four small grocery stores, which provide the basics with frozen meat, fresh fruits and vegetables which are replenished by the supply boat on Saturdays. I am assuming this is from Punta Arenas, on the Chilean mainland. The stores also have liquor and wine.

We were able to find a woman who does laundry, but charges by item, not by kilo. Our two thirds full bag of laundry including jeans, shirts, underwear and socks cost 38,000 pesos or $61 USD, ouch. Needless to say, I did a few pieces of laundry by hand using the hot water in the showers on the Micalvi but it did take two days to dry. Yes, it is summer here but not always very warm.

Today we got some diesel from the Copec station. Francisco, who runs the Club Naval de Yate Micalvi, schlepped us and our 9 jerry jugs to the station to fill up. The diesel cost 625 pesos/liter. Unfortunately we could only make one trip as there is not enough diesel until Saturday and the same supply boat replenishes the supply. Francisco also took one of our propane tanks to be filled at 9am and no problems with our American fittings.

The town also has a few gift shops and one restaurant that serves the menu of the day for lunch. There are also some hostals which will serve dinner, reservations only, and again, only the entree of the day, no choice. The club has wifi but very slow. The museum up the street has much better wifi, so we walk up the hill and use it there. Our Entel phones work for internet as well and we have recharged a couple of time as 100MB gets used up fast.

Most of the streets in town are dirt and are torn up now as the public works projects to install new water pipes and pave the roads is in full swing. Another project is building a cruise ship dock and a small harbor. Both will be a great addition to the town and should bring in more tourist dollars. Many backpackers come here to trek across Isla Navarino. We even heard of one intrepid fellow that brought a surfboard so he could surf in the southern ocean. Getting here and away is difficult to and from Ushuaia as there is no regular service between Puerto Williams, Chile and Ushuaia, Argentina. There is a large rigged inflatable that goes sporadically between the town of Navarino, 30 km west via dirt road from Puerto Williams to Ushuaia, weather dependent. There is also a small air field with irregular, again, weather dependent, flights, at $125 USD per person one way, which is a little out of the backpacker budget. Many backpackers try to hitch rides with cruisers or charter boats going back and forth. This is okay but as a cruiser, you are responsible for this 'temporary crew member' so if you get to Ushuaia and they are not allowed into Argentina for some reason, you will need to turn around and take them back to Puerto Williams, 25 nautical miles away, independent of the weather.

Another colorful element of Puerto Williams is a small herd of horses that roam freely through town. They have a penchant for leaving road apples on the sidewalk instead of the dirt road, so you need to be alert. I am not sure who is responsible for them but they seem well cared for and do eat the weeds and such around town.

The Micalvi is a retired munitions carrier that was beached in a small cove to provide a place for smaller boats to tie to. The Micalvi provides fresh water, showers, sometimes hot, and 220v electricity, the later costing extra. Boats are rafted up, sometimes several deep on both sides but the inside is fairly shallow. There are sailboats here from France, Germany, The Netherlands, United States and sometimes elsewhere. On the Micalvi is a small bar that opens at 8 pm serving beer, wine, mixed drinks including pisco sours but no food that I know of. On the main floor the ceiling and walls are covered with flags and burgees from the world over. Rich and I posted our signed CYC burgee to add to the collection.

On Monday, there was a bit of drama as the sailboat, Berserk II with Jarle Andhoy departed, which meant that five boats had to either temporarily leave and go out into the main harbor or move aside until Berserk maneuvered its way out to the anchorage. When they departed on Tuesday, this new inexperienced crew included a cameraman and a rock star who wants to play for the penguins. They had spray painted 'Born Free' on one of the headsails and the cameraman was jumping from one boat to another to film the action. Jarle Andhoy is rather notorious for having gone multiple times to Antarctica, without permission and, in one case, three of his inexperienced crew members died, the sailboat was lost, while he and another person were attempting to drive to the South Pole on ATVs and had to be rescued. For more information, look him up on Google.

Frannie B and Limbo left for Ushuaia this past Friday. Frannie B was to leave today to head east in the Canal Beagle to wait for their weather window to go through Estrecho de Le Maire and head north to Mar del Plata, Argentina. We wish them well. Our friends on Joyant are to be here soon with Storm Bay of Hobart behind them.

If a weather window does not open soon we may go directly to Ushuaia. In the meantime we are chillin in Puerto Williams and there is snow in the lower hills.

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