Wednesday 30th March 2011

Getting very frustrated by the weather ... departure delayed yet again - due to strong winds, forecast to give big seas over Thursday and into early Friday. So now hoping to leave late Friday , maybe Saturday.... a good week later, so far, than expected.

Winds blew up this afternoon - much stronger than expected - to 35kt, not the20kt or less that the gribs forecast earlier.... but a local radio forecast had predicted gale force winds.... When winds turn E of N, we bounce around a lot in the chop because of the shallow water hereabouts and the long 'fetch' across the water to where our bows face north on the east side of the FIPASS dock. If winds get up over 40 kt, boats normally leave the dock and go over to anchor on the opposite side of the harbour...

'Australis' left on Monday for S. Georgia with a BBC TV film crew, including divers, on board, hoping to complete filming of the wildlife there that they started nearly three months ago. I'd hoped to leave at the same time - but not being built like a tank for Antarctic conditions, as they are, I stayed .... and was glad I did when the forecast strong winds duly came through, gusting up to 40kt over Tuesday!

People around me here are being very helpful. Ben, from the Swiss boat 'Dira', presently waiting for the local aluminium welder to patch the boat after they were driven onto rocks on Islas de los Estados recently, volunteered to look at my Sigmar 120 heater which was clearly blocked somewhere. It turned out the carburettor was clogged with dirt particles and a white emulsion of water and diesel .. It was very useful for me to see the inside and get to know it - I shan't be worried when I have to deal with it in future! As it was, after he'd spent a time cleaning it and getting fuel flowing nicely to the burner, I found a pipe connection was leaking the next day - but had no difficulty fixing that small problem!

Chris, from 'Pelagic', had commented that my radar scanner was leaning a bit drunkenly and found a couple of screws on the support were loose - soon tightened. He also had a look at my VHF radio which was misbehaving - I couldn't hear the local Fisheries people talking to me on their high-power transmitter. He found a very loose connection in the coax aerial lead, which also had a crimped connector, rather than the soldered connector that should have been used. After he'd kindly gone & bought the right kind of connector in town, and then soldered the lead correctly, the radio was tested and found to be working perfectly - meaning I'll have a far better chance of connecting to ships getting close to us than recently.

Jerome, of 'Golden Fleece', heard that I'd lost my invaluable LED headlamp when I fell off a pontoon in the Canache one dark and very windy night last week and brought me over one of his as a replacement - I use it when sail-handling at night and had searched the town shops for one to no avail. He's become a British citizen and has an amazing place on Beaver Island, off W. Falkland, ... he lives on venison, geese, beef, lamb, fish, etc, .... all found or kept by him on the island, where he has a dock for his boats & lives with his sons and occasional friends who visit him over the winter there. (In the summer months, he, like Skip & Chris on 'Pelagic' and Ben and Skye on 'Australis', takes people to S.Georgia and the Antarctic on 'Golden Fleece'. It's been fascinating for me, both here and in Ushuaia, to see how sturdily these Antarctic charter boats are built, and how they are equipped and organized, and a privilege to have been able to chat to a few of these highly-professional, safety-conscious skippers and their crew, operating in very difficult waters, often in extreme weather conditions.)

Chris and Pete (of 'Kiwi Roa') were both unhappy with my washboard, saying that while it wouldn't crack, being Lexan, it could conceivably 'pop out' at the sides if we were 'pooped' by a big wave in bad weather, with a lot of water hitting it hard from astern and making it flex a lot. After discussing the options with them, I found a thick piece of wood to go across behind the Lexan as a support. Pete has cut and drilled both plastic and wood and I went on a tour of town shops today to buy the bolts, washers and nyloc nuts needed to fix it in place.... tomorrow's job! I also bought a tube of sealant to fill the slight gaps at the sides and base of the washboard ready for my next passage.... I'm bound to have quite a lot of rough weather going to Cape Town from here....

Going to and from town has usually involved hitching a lift from the occasional friendly local passing by in their four-wheel drive - I'd been advised to try it originally by Alan, the Customs official who cleared me in! They've often gone out of their way to make sure I got to where I was trying to get to. The Canache, where I moved to for a time last week and where 'Kiwi Roa', 'Damien II' and 'Dira' are berthed, is a long walk out of town and the commercial FIPASS dock, where I'm berthed now beside 'Pelagic' and astern of 'Golden Fleece', is a bit closer in but still a good distance away. Many people grow fruit and vegetables and keep chickens for eggs - not much fresh veg in the shops and invariably expensive, and eggs are often in short supply in winter - weather is often cold and windy here and it's a long way from Chile or the UK for produce to be brought in.

I was given a long length of rope this morning by guys working in the local fishery agents' warehouse nearby to use with my Delta drogue - another point of discussion with Chris and Pete - it was felt it could be useful for slowing the boat down in less extreme conditions (i.e. not breaking waves) not needing the series drogue to be deployed, and it should be easier to retrieve. I have to organize a bridle tomorrow and fix it in place, with a bag to take the flaked rope. Chris says he never uses a drogue but prefers to keep on sailing, occasionally heaving to - but he's in a far bigger, heavier boat, with two or more crew.

I'll post this update - and download the latest weather files to see what they're showing.....

Thursday31st March

British Antarctic Survey ship 'Ernest Shackleton' unloads at FIPASS dock, close to where 'Nereida' is berthed...

Was shown around the ship by Third Officer Duncan Robb and introduced to Capt John Harper who brought the boat in from S. Georgia before flying back to the UK via RAF Brize Norton for some some well-earned leave - 31 years of experience of Antarctic waters!  The ship is an icebreaker.with impressive storage and facilities...!

Later in the day, had a lot of help from Peter ('Kiwi Roa') getting 200m long line and bridle organized for a Delta drogue which could be useful if I need to slow down (if boat starts surfing too fast in big seas) while keeping going downwind.

Friday departure was looking very hopeful, although now  (writing this Friday afternoon) it seems maybe I'll delay to dawn Saturday, hoping for wind to abate,  having cleared out with Customs this morning....

Saturday 2nd April update .................   So much for that thought - I spoke to local Met guy and found my 'window' had shrunk to 12 hrs with nasty weather following close behind for several days - meaning even the recent plan to head ENE from here, rather than NNE, to avoid strong N winds to the north of the Falklands, wouldn't work - so having said my 'Goodbyes,' I'm back in the Seamen's Mission writing this update and looking at grib files showing my next 'window' isn't likely to be before late Tuesday into Wednesday....   so the next job to make the boat safer for really bad weather (i.e. getting 'pooped' by following seas) is looking at my cockpit locker - lets water in and doesn't close well - both bad news if cockpit were to fill with water!   But a 'plan of action is in hand...!!

Found 'Uhuru of Lymington' on the dock this morning (Steve and Chris were in Ushuaia with the boat a time ago) - they'd sustained damage after running E in front of 40kt westerlies, gusting to 60kt.   Their experience demonstrated why it was best I stayed here a bit longer - the gribs had looked fine for their passage, but strong winds spread over a bigger area than expected and meant they couldn't head N as intended, for them  to get to Uruguay from Le Maire Strait, and they had a problem with breaking seas.   So they're unexpectedly here in Stanley - but at least they're safe!

Thursday 23rd March 2011 

Went to see lots of penguins in a four-wheel drive (essential!) overland, past craggy stone heights and stone
 'rivers' in countryside covered in low-lying scrub, to Volunteer Point, with its beautiful, long, white sand beach in
 the N of East Falkland Island.

Stately, vividly-coloured King penguins, with their fluffy dark-brown chicks huddled with their parents in an
enormous circular 'creche,' cheeping away, in competition with the adults' noisy but somewhat musical
trumpeting:

It's a tiring life as a king penguin:

Vultures are never far away:

Smaller Gentoo penguins, with their vivid orange beak, a distance away, many in various stages of moult, all
standing stationary and silent (except for eyes which followed my every move!), with their 'creche' area now
virtually deserted. Occasional ones among them taking off at speed,with flippers held out stiffly, like little toy
soldiers ....

Magellanic penguins - with mum and one offspring beside, or partly in, their burrows dotted all over the area,
 many well-inland - often just peeking their heads out of the burrow entrance... Their young much bigger than the
parents and similar in markings but much browner. A few older ones seen in the open, often mixed in with the
Kings, standing or lying around outside the 'creche' area, in all stages of moult.

With some Upland geese....

The journey was interesting, through rolling countryside with frequent distant views of the highly-indented  coastline, occasionally close to the water's edge, and past many small ponds in the often peaty ground. Marked
wooden fence posts were pulled out in some more remote places to allow us to drive over the fence (laid on the
ground) and on - a simple 'gate' system relying on a system of wiring easily able to be slackened off. Each farm
(mostly sheep, but an increasing number of beef cattle) comprises an enormous area because of the rocky,
boggy terrain, with the wire fencing dividing it up into big 'camps'- like enormous 'fields'. There's only the one
proper road, only partly tarmac-ed, near to the town of Stanley - and I gathered that was surfaced relatively
recently. On the approach to Stanley, large areas on either side of the road are fenced off with warning signs of
minefields - vast numbers of unexploded mines, laid by the Argentinians during their 74-day occupation of the
islands in 1982. The economy seems to be thriving, with fishing and tourism (cruise ships often stop by in the
brief summer season) as recent additions to the farming.

A few more birds...      Ruddy-headed geese:

I moved over to the 'Canache' on Monday. It's a small protected area at the East end of the harbour and presently
just has three other boats with people on board: Peter Smithg on 'Kiwi Roa', Ben and Sebastien on Jerome's 'other'
boat, Damien II, while their own boat is being mended on the hard nearby, and Yoann Gourdet on  'Saturnin' 
 (although he moved yesterday down to the Town Jetty to be more in the centre of things!) . On Sunday, I was
invited out with Ben, Skye and Magnus of 'Australis' and Jerome Poncet of 'Golden Fleece' to spend another sociable evening - this time at Ian Bury's house in Stanley (where I also met Tony Smith who took me on my
Penguin tour). Ian runs the local steelwork company, and settled here recently, as have many others, from the UK.

I've still a few jobs to get done before moving on to Cape Town - hopefully next Tuesday, if not Monday ...
weather permitting.  It's all too easy to relax, especially with so many welcoming peope around...!

Sunday 20th March 2011

Writing this as I relax over coffee, enjoying home-made marmalade from friends in Victoria at the end of a full breakfast, after an excellent sleep. A beautiful sunny morning with no sign of the very strong winds of yesterday which made my entry 'interesting'!

Pairs of cormorants nest on the huge tyres hanging fron the wharf-side nearby:

Overnight and into Saturday morning, the wind veered from a light SW through NW to become a NNE headwind of 15kt as we got within a few miles of the entrance to Port William - the big bay outside 'The Narrows' leading S into the very enclosed Stanley Harbour.

With a long tack to close inshore, we passed well off Wolf Rock, tacked around to pass Young Rock and then tacked again to head inshore, leaving Seal Rocks, and then Tussac Islands, to the S at the entrance to Port William in slight rain and 30kts of apparent wind! Of course, by this time, needing to head W, the wind had slowly backed from NNE to WNW! After some more tacking, with motor running, it was clearly time to down sails .... too many anchored big ships around and a very narrow final entrance into Stanley Hbr to risk problems in the continuing strong headwind at that moment - 24-27kts true, regularly! But suddenly the sky cleared to give bright sunshine for our final approach - nice!

East side of 'The Narrows': 

Stanley is low-lying - and small! ....

I was in contact with Stanley by VHF on crossing the 'Reporting Line' at Pt William entrance and they were able to keep tabs on me via my AIS transmission - so finding my handheld VHF radio was still in US mode wasn't too big a problem. (Why is the States on some different frequencies from everywhere else in the world? They should conform to the International Standard for VHF frequencies...!!) As it was, I could not hear the responses - neither on Ch 10 nor on Ch 12.... And I'd switched to the handheld after problems with hearing responses on the ship's radio on Ch16 - very broken, despite being so close..... I thought I'd fixed my VHF radio problems in Ushuaia.... At least I've since learned they could hear me clearly! (Checking the VHF on 'receive' is definitely on my 'to-do' list here in Stanley)

Having been in contact with various people here, I was aware of the problems of the prevailing strong W wind in Stanley Hbr - and with strong winds forecast over Saturday night and again on Wednesday, the Public Jetty I'd hoped to tie up to, in the centre of town, seemed to be not such a good idea (boats have to leave the floating pontoon if winds get up to 30kt and also if a cruise ship passenger tender is expected). So I took up the option offered by Chris, skipper of Skip Novak's 'Pelagic', to go down to the commercial FIPASS dock and tie up alongside him, where it's very protected by the high metal structure of the wharf - but a good way from town.

So here we are - very peaceful, except for the occasional dull metallic clanging as vehicles drive onto the wharf from shore.

Bob, VE8LP, and his wife Janet had welcomed me on arrival, helping me to tie up to 'Pelagic', and later took me down to their boat for a social evening with some friends - doing a quick 'tour' of (little!) Stanley as we passed by. While waiting for Customs to clear me in, Betty and Luis, of the Seamen's Mission nearby, also came by to say 'Hallo'. I'll be seeing them again soon - I've laundry to do, there's wi-fi at the Mission - and it's only a few minutes' walk from here.

The Customs guy also did the Immigration honours and was very welcoming, relaxed and helpful - how often do Customs officials give you a big hug on saying 'Goodbye' when the formalities are over??!!

Well, it's now local midday on Sunday - I'm off for a walk in the sunshine to the Seamen's Mission with my laundry and laptop... and my British sterling.... I hope to see some wildlife & do a few boat jobs before leaving for Cape Town later in the week - that's the present plan!

Friday 18th March 2011

Overnight we hove to for a bit .... The wind had got quite strong (gusting to near 30kt) and the seas really got up - as they usually do... We were making such a good speed, I was worried we'd be making a night-time landfall but we were also getting knocked about by the seas . I'd wanted to test out heaving to with just the mains'l to see how that went - the idea being to heave to with bows just off the wind, not beam to .... I had to push myself to go on deck in the strong winds .... I definitely didn't feel too enthusiastic after my last experience.... but felt I had to try to improve the technique ... and there's only one way to do that - by practising it in strong winds! To my surprise, even with only two reefs in the mains'l, not the three I'd normally have in strong conditions, & with no headsails at all, we lay 60 degrees off the wind - not good enough in really bad conditions. With no breaking waves, I decided it was just about acceptable and got several hours sleep before moving on near dawn. I've been having a lot of useful email discussion with Beth and Evans on 'Hawk' about drogues and heaving to. As they pointed out, I needed to let out another reef next time, to head us up better - ideally, enough to produce an upwind 'slick' with our DDW leeway to smooth the waves and any occasional breaking crests which come along. (Heaving to like that is clearly not advisable in very large breaking seas - that's when the series drogue would be deployed.)

10pm LT - sky clearing overhead to show Southern Cross almost directly above, lots of tiny white clouds (alto cirrus?) with bright moon shining through and on to a far less rough sea than earlier today... A bank of grey cloud ahead, not yet cleared - over the Falklands.... landfall ahead! The nearest offshore islets are only 10 miles away ... Just before sunset, there were lots of albatross (yellow-nosed and other) gliding around us, and some prions - unlike earlier in the day which was noticeable for their absence.

Sunrise on approach to Falklands:

Just spoke on SSB MMNet to Fred, W3ZU and then to Bob, VP8LP - one in Florida, the other in Stanley, to give my position and ETA in Stanley Harbour - tomorrow afternoon, I hope. Already had two emails from people who'll be coming by to say "Hallo" and hope to see others here that I've been in email contact with in the recent past - none I've as yet met face-to-face, so looking forward to meeting them.

Bob worried me slightly by warning me that there are whales around ... certainly in and around Stanley Harbour and maybe further offshore, although, as in Alaska, they mainly feed very close inshore. I don't want to run onto one as it sleeps, as has happened to two people I know of, so I'm happy to be running the engine gently as we continue to head downwind, as we have since entering the Estrecho de Le Maire, with an increasingly lighter SSW wind abaft the beam. It's expected to get lighter overnight and veer to NW, before backing to the W by tomorrow evening.

I'm hoping the sound will alert any whales to avoid us if they're nearby! I'd love to see some as I get closer in daylight. The last time I saw some was on my approach from Hawaii to the Strait of Juan de Fuca last August - one big humpback surfaced right beside the boat - but must have taken fright because it dived deep and I saw no more of it, although the previous day, a pair were cruising not far away for quite a time. It always feels such a privilege to see them so close by - equally, the magnificent albatross and other birds I've been seeing so much of. (Don't think I mentioned how the white-chinned petrels dangle a foot as a rudder at times when banking - one black foot lowered to aid steering!!)

Missed my short nap, gybing the mains'l before the PacSeaNet at 0315 GMT/UTC (1215 LT) - can't sleep for long when getting close to land... and the Falklands are mostly low, so won't show up on radar too well... I'll sleep well, tomorrow night!

Thursday 17th March - Happy St Patrick's Day!!

Lovely sunny day today, until later this afternoon, when cloud slowly came over - but so did the wind..... We finally got up to S 22-26kt, occasionally 28kt, from the 4-6 knots SW over most of the day and night - so we're finally sailing nicely! But the wind strength is amazingly variable - so very gusty... one moment I see 14-15kt, a short while later, up to 26kt... but mostly around 23kt from well abaft the starboard beam. Of course, swell has come with the wind, as always, so my stowage below decks has been well tested!

Birds today have been many and varied. they come small, middling, big... very big ... and enormous!! Small, dark, white-rumped, storm petrels flit about, with rapid wingbeats, just above the water, legs dangling and often touching the surface. A (middling -sized) Cape petrel flew past today several times - distinctive and handsome in its black & white mottled plumage....bringing a lovely memory of my first-ever NZ landfall last year when I saw the 'long white cloud' on the horizon and a pair came to greet "Nereida" in bright sunshine at the end of our Tasman Sea crossing from the Bass Strait ... Also middling-sized: several Atlantic petrels - dark above, white below with dark breast, frequently swooping about the boat. Big birds ... the many white-chinned petrels... all dark except for the distinctive white around their yellow beak.

Very big or enormous ... of course: the many albatross gliding close by! Mainly yellow-nosed, not so many black-browed now, occasional grey-faced.... and later this afternoon, several magnificent Royal albatross (New Zealands, possibly) - distinctive in their enormous wingspan , with pure white bodies and dark upper wings... some wings all dark, others with white splashes or with dark wing tips, white with some black below. There was even a dark brown juvenile with its mum (or dad?)!! Last night, I saw several groups of black-browed resting in the water - to sleep in company?

I spent several long sessions in the companionway just watching them all - wonderful!

Weather forecast is for this wind to stay SW into tomorrow, becoming NW later as I approach the Falklands over Friday night - we're still on target for Saturday morning (210 mls to go at 2220 UTC Thurs). I made a thick bean & barley soup today to enjoy hot - but it's not been so very cold today ... or maybe I've become acclimatized after the cold winds of snowy Ushuaia?!

(Daily positions shown via links on my 'Travels' page)

Wed 16th March

Sunset over Puerto Espanol, with fog/low cloud to S.

1230pm LT
Been busy checking over passage plan ... Pilot says to leave Bon Successo an hour before LW to get safest transit NE through Le Maire Strait (not to be taken in 'wind-over-tide' conditions - with its strong currents and overfalls for quite a distance away from shore around headlands). Working back, that means I need ETD from here in Pto. Espanol of around 1600LT, assuming SOG 6kt. ETA 2 days 18 hr from start time, giving ETA 01230UTC on 19th March. So hope to arrive Pt Stanley in morning of Sat 19th March. Speed likely to be less than 6kt, on average, and would anyway prefer to make landfall in daylight, so not looking to go any faster and may well need to slow down nearer landfall.

Had good sleep again ... up at 0930am LT, having set alarm for 0315UTC (0015LT!) last night to speak to PacSeaNet - actually dozed off again after alarm went off, so was very late checking in but still managed to make contact.

Grey, rainy day with N wind which I'm hoping will back to NW by the time I reach the approach to LeMaire Strait tonight, since course then is NE so I don't want to be headed. forecast is showing that possibility, but land nearby could well funnel (and accelerate) the wind more to the N, to make life difficult! We'll see ....

Trying to make sure all is well-stowed - had a few books thrown around in rough seas Monday afternoon, so would be nice to avoid that!

Later:
wind died right down - and looks set to continue that way for next day or so - glad I'm not restricted tosail alone since what little wind there is is forecast to stay from SW - and I'll be mainly heading NE . so apparent wind will be zilch!! Raising anchor went fine, with rain having stopped earlier - that's always nice!

Lots of albatross when out in open water - and spotted two penguins in water soon after leaving - lovely to see them...

Approaching Cabo Buen Successo:

Cloud cleared away to give clear sky overhead - so lovely sunset over Tierra del Fuego, as we rounded Cabo de Buen Successo, making for Estrecho de Le Maire, carrying good tide with us... but motor definitely needed - pity!!

Monday 14th March 2011
Up before dawn to raise the mains'l and get away from Harberton in good time ... flat calm, motoring, no one else around.... but had to clear away kelp caught around the Hydrovane rudder before I could leave - used the boat hook.

A beautiful morning and I made good use of the calm conditions to sort the boat out as we passed down the deserted Beagle Channel - there had been so many things to remember to do before leaving Ushuaia very early on Sunday .... found the staysail sheets had to be re-run - but a good time to do it!

It felt supremely good to be at sea at last, in 'sailing mode', not 'shoreside mode', making the boat tidy and shipshape ready for the passage to the Falklands - and on to Cape Town.

But by afternoon, as we cleared the end of the Beagle channel, the wind got up gradually more strongly from the NNE so that eventually, even with motor-sailing quite hard, I was unable to make my course. With gusts of apparent wind up to 38kn from NNE, and more N-NEwinds forecast, it was clear that my passage to and through Estrecho Le Maire and on was untenable. We were due S of Bahia Aguirre at the time, in rough seas - short, steep waves knocking us about a lot, even though not very large - so I decided to make for Puerto Espanol - had to tack to make the bay, with P. Espanol (one of the few anchorages in this area) lying in its NW corner - nicely protected from N winds... good to drop anchor in flat water, with a large fishing boat sheltering some distance away, well away from the hazards in the bay further to the S - some rocks and an unnamed obstruction 'always under water, submerged, depth unknown'... - I'd previously marked that spot with a skull&crossbones!

Had to unwind some more staysail furling line from drum - had put too many turns on origianlly so now the line was a bit too short. Then had lovely meal of lamb shank, potatoes and broccoli - a delayed Sunday dinner!

Tuesday 15th March

Grey again, with rain and a lot of mist and low-lying cloud earlier.

Had an excellent, clearly much-needed , sleep last night - finally up at midday today!! (Was on radio last night to PacSeaNet after 0330Z, 12:30am LT, and Saturday night before leaving Ushuaia finally, Michael & I stayed up way too late on 'Drina' chatting, after Alex had cooked a welcome stew (I was frozen from working on deck earlier, trying to sort out the *?!@** reef lines...) so got to sleep v. late both nights and got up two days running before dawn to move away)

Keeping a constant eye now on wind strength and depth - wind switched direction at some point and got up to 15kn from SE earlier (not N, as was). We clearly dragged a distance with anchorage exposed to SE and some swell getting in..... My Delta, which I thought I'd set well yesterday, with change of wind direction from N to SE looked to have come undug - when I checked, we were 80m from where I set anchor on 35m of chain in 8.5m depth .... The wind then died and veered to the W more and has now gusted up to 20kn from SSW (- just let out 10m more chain but keeping good eye on position and boat motion). Might need to re-set the anchort to sleep well tonight!! I've set 'track' mode on display, as usual, to see how we do at anchor.... Depth is fine - still the same - so that gives no indication of movement... If wind strong from W, the valley at the NW head of the bay wouldn't give much protection.... Just checked route to next anchorage (Bon Successo) - 30 mls from here... Wind keeps gusting - from occasional 7 to frequent 20 knots...

Hoping for weather window to move on tomorrow. I've enjoyed having time to catch my breath, relax & catch up on sleep and make sure everything is well-stowed (had rough seas yesterday afternoon to show me not all was!) after more than two busy mths in Ushuaia. But wind strength and direction now is nothing like what the grib files are showing - just sent off for more to see what they say .... Problem is that wind is probably being accelerated by this peninsula - we're right at the very end of Tierra del Fuego and land affects local wind a lot.

Puerto Espanol, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

Cleared out of Ushuaia yesterday - but promptly had a major problem whien raised the mainsail - all the reef lines in the new boom sent ready from Sweden were too small...!!!  UNbelievable!!  What a pain.....

Spent rest of day changing lines and readying boat in freezing cold - and it snowed!!

Decided not to move until early morning, so left soon after 8.30am (was difficult after an evening of socializing with Michael of 'Drina' and his crew - Alex made a nice hot stew - very welcome!  No wind most of today, so motored down the Beagle Channel away from snowy Ushuaia, past Puerto Williamd and on to lovely Puerto Harberton, the oldest (existing) estancia (ranch) on Tierra del Fuego,  where I picked up a buoy and was brought ashore in a 'penguin-viewing ' rigid inflatable.

...so just a quick report - with mainly photos...!

Leaving snowy Ushuaia this morning...    on past Puerto Williams..... lots of life on a small islet, ...... Estancia buildings at Puerto Harberton...... "Nereida" moored in Pto. Harberton...

Last Friday, two of us went in a truck sent from fuel station a long way out of town to fill up empty 200l drums loaded at yacht club. Once back, we had to manhandle the drums on a cart to the dock and then use a 12V pump and some long hose to fill the tanks and jerry cans on board several boats - all took a time and a lot of communal effort!

While the cockpit locker was emptied of jerrycans, I got down below the locker floor to the calorifier (hot water tank), multimeter in hand, to access the electrical connections ... Hadn't had hot water for quite a time so, with difficulty due to pipe in the way, undid the end cover to gain access to mains power input and thermostat ... found power was clearly getting in but not heating the water.... Ray of 'Hortense' kindly came by to look at it and spent quite a time checking everything out - and finally worked some 'magic' because, for no apparent reason (except being dismantled and put back together), it started behaving. I'd also got my small fan heater working again the day before - turned into a simple 'fix' when I realized that a cut-out on the base was keeping the fan switched to 'off' with a part having gone missing ... I taped the swich permanently on .... so hot water and heater both working fine - just in time for the present cold spell - good news! I'd also spent some time putting instrument panel together & getting the shorecharger MICC panel back in place, having spent quite a time attempting to replace it - but the connections proved impossible to budge - so that's had to be left to Cape Town to finish.

Gaspar should have come by on Saturday with the repaired windscreen for me to clean it all up before fixing it on Wednesday - but he finally turned up, surprisingly , the morning of holiday Shrove Tuesday, with father Pancho and cleaned steelwork, to fix it in place along with the sprayhood frame above it - after which Teresa of "Artemisia' helped me place the canvas on the frame - a difficult job which had us struggling until Teresa had the bright idea of separating the bulk of the canvas from the strip above the windscreen - that step made the job so much easier - so now the hatch/companionway area is finally protected from dust, rain and wind - lots of people commented on the boat clearly looking so much better now!

Before the staysail could be dealt with, I had to cut off the chafed end of the halyard close to the shackle, re-do the knot and then seize the bitter end in place for security.
 
Staysail is now in place on new Furlex (although sheets have yet to be located, having hidden themselves somewhere on board!). The various reef lines for the mainsail were sorted out just before the wind got up too strongly to get the mainsail on, which is still in its bag - we're definitely looking far more tidy and ready above decks now, especially now the cockpit area has also been sorted out and tidied. Had a lot of help from Sam of 'Suvretta' - who also came along early that morning to the French bakery 'El Almacen' to order their specially-baked, long-lasting, brown bread for picking up Friday - supposed to last for 20-25 days and Swedish skipper Milo on 'Artemisia' says it lasted well when she got it recently. (Finally bought hammer, no.7 spanner and extra large, flat screwdriver - all needed in toolkit, having been on my 'shopping list' for quite a time!)

Have been impressed by local Chilean restaurant Chiko's - especially their calamari rings followed by king crab with Parmesan (I'm finally appreciating the local seafood!) and there's also plenty of fresh fish here, to add variety to the excellent Argentine beef and local lamb. Tonight had a farewell dinner for 'Artemisia' at my other favourite restaurant, the Bodega Fueguino - where we also dined with the newly-arrived crew of 'Drina', with whom I'd been in contact as I sailed down S towards Cape Horn and they sailed E from New Zealand towards Puerto Montt (Chile) in December.

Swedish 'Artemisia' has been ready to leave for several days now - but the wind has been gusting up to over 40 knots at times, with pressure really low (down to 975hPa) as a deep depression passes over... At least it meant they were still here to enjoy the local Carnival on Tuesday (and Teresa gave me a haircut on Saturday!) - and I was able to make them crêpes with maple syrup and lemon juice that evening (Pancake Day), along with single-handers Peer (Norway) and Sam (N.Ireland) - haven't celebrated that for several years.... 'Artemisia' are hoping to get away finally on Friday - when I'd also hoped to leave, but I'm not yet ready (maybe Saturday...)

Friday is 'provisioning & mainsail day' for me.... The winds are expected to abate from this evening - to die right down for several days, in fact - so I could well be motor-sailing away from here... making initially for Harberton and then on NE from the Le Maire Strait to the Falklands - a change of plan from S. Georgia in view of the lateness of my departure (and the resulting more frequent deep depressions that far S) and the ice that people tell me is likely to be met up with on the approach to S. Georgia (due to the Antarctic Convergence Zone).

Carnival in Ushuaia:

Sunset over Ushuaia after the Carnival:

Wednesday 2nd March - New boom and staysail furler in place...!

A busy weekend with lots of unexpected help from Nick Koot (in Ushuaia from the Netherlands) who happened to pass by two Sunday afternoons ago, saw the broken boom, heard the new one was expected soon and, with time to spare, offered his help .... Thanks a lot, Nick!   I finished dismantling the box containing the sprayhood & other items before we set to on Saturday ... After careful photos and measurements of lazyjack and other fixtures, the old broken boom was finally removed to the marina workshop by Nick and French cruiser Noel (of 'Enez')

.... and the job of removing fittings and preparing the new boom began - my electric drill came in very handy! Of course, not having done this before, every hole drilled was checked several times beforehand and careful thought was given to positioning of the lazyjacks, since I wanted to change them slightly.... They had been spliced into position originally, so that added a further complication to the proceedings. Danny, one of the marina workers here, was his usual helpful self on the odd occasion when we needed his help in removing difficult old fittings - his electric angle grinder came in very handy at times, too.

By Sunday the boom was placed in position (that made me beam at everyone - I felt really good!)...

 

and we turned our attention to the new furling system over Monday..... With Alain's help ('Uhambo'), the careful measuring and then cutting of the foil and wire was done - but a problem reared its head when he found it impossible to fit the lower fitting onto the cut wire.... Some wrong fittings had carelessly been sent by Seldén (Sweden) - for 7mm, not 8mm, wire..... unbelievable! Fortunately, my spares kit included emergency rigging fittings - among them the required 8mm fittings, so after a lot of wasted time and effort, and having finally to use one of the old 8mm bits, the furling system was finally completed and ready to be hoisted into place.

Climbing the mast to take down the old furling staysail system had given me the chance to try out my gri-gri and mountain-climbing harness as a safety back-up (I'd had it for a long time without making use of it when free-climbing the mast using the steps). The gri-gri, on a strong loop connected to my harness, was attached to the spinnaker halyard and I slid it up as I ascended,... and slid it down as I came down .... If I were to fall, it would only allow me to fall a very short distance before holding me securely from the halyard. While I worked at removing the split pin holding the clevis pin at the top of the furler in place, I attached myself via another, longer loop to the top spreader and was then able to sit in my harness - very comfortable!
 

I nearly gave up removing the split pin several times, but after having a couple more tools passed up to me, I finally managed to remove it, only to find removing the clevis pin also got difficult ... but I got it out eventually and then the wire, with its surrounding foil, was lowered down, to be placed on the dock and the job of measuring started. The staysail wire had always been far too loose, since first installed, so now was my chance to make the wire and foil a touch shorter than before, to avoid a repeat of that situation. I also found that it was adjustable to an extent - so can adjust it in Cape Town when the wire has possibly stretched a bit with use.

Darrel of 'Spirit of Sydney' holds the new foil ready to hoist :

While up the mast to fix the new foil in place, I took the chance to take photos of the view!!

The furler drum was fitted last and the sail is waiting for a suitably calm day - it's been gusting to well over 40 knots here today!! So this morning I removed the wooden hatch and side pieces (again!) - after a friend had knocked it hard and loosened the screws on the slider, making them catch with a loud screeching noise when sliding.... that job took a time and then l did some other smaller jobs down below. Yesterday, I'd also finally placed the mended carbon pole in place, after varnishing over the repaired area and then replacing the newly-repaired cover - with some hand-stitching needed where the zip wouldn't close.

Thursday morning I went to the Prefectura where my permit from Argentina to sail to the (British!) Falklands and S. Georgia was awaiting me - official Julieta was extremely helpful finding it where it was buried. The point is that if I visit Argentina again in the future, due to a new law recently passed, they will levy an enormous fine if I hadn't got this permit from them before visiting.... C'est la vie....

In the afternoon, metal-worker Gaspar turned up with the windscreen (after repeated calls and messages left.....at last!) Unfortunately, the windows need adjusting before they can be fitted, so more time needed - early next week? So on with other jobs in the meantime.... Actually feeling I'm heading to the finish now, although lots still to do to make the boat 'ship-shape' and ready for sailing away.

Have organized a 'fuel run' for Friday morning, along with several others here. Not exactly convenient, needing a truck to be hired to bring the fuel in drums from the far end of town to the start of the long jetty walkway, from where the drums have to be moved to the dock by pushing them on a cart to reach the boat ....but a borrowed big pump and long hose will make it easier to empty the 200 litre drum of fuel I need to fill my tank.

Friday 25th February 2011 .... The last lap begins??

(Very sad to hear of Christchurch earthquake deaths and injuries and also of 'Quest' deaths.... a dangerous part of the world to be sailing in or near...)

After a journey from Punta Arenas which was meant to have begun on Monday, but actually started on Tuesday because of Customs and agents' paperwork and border crossing complications, the two packages containing new boom and several other replacement items arrived in Ushuaia port on Wednesday, only to be held up again with 'Customs computer is down' .....! So instead of clearing soon after arrival early in the afternoon, which would have meant the same truck could have brought the goods on to the marina the same day, the goods had to be off-loaded and put into the bonded store (at a cost, of course!) - with abusive stevedores wanting two guys to be paid a ridiculous amount for what took one woman two minutes' work (with the use of an unnecessary forklift truck wrongly insisted on by the port official present) to carry two relatively light packages no distance at all. The truck driver was stupefied at what happened, saying nothing like that happened in Rio Grande (300 km away) where he was from, where clearing Customs was straightforward and easy.

The next day, it took all day, waiting around for an agent to appear to do the paperwork I was not allowed to do, to release the goods from the Customs store - and then a truck had to be hired, with the necessary permit to work inside the port area, to bring the goods the short distance to the marina...... phew!!! I was exhausted, having had little sleep over two nights - partly due to high winds buffeting the boats and partly from worrying about the situation and the stress of it all.... I've heard from several sources that Ushuaia has the reputation of being a bad port to bring things into. I have to say that Roxanna, the local OCC Port Officer, was excellent in dealing with the situation on my behalf - given that the situation was the result of her advice, which had turned bad, she worked long and hard to set things right, and I'm very grateful for that - but it turned into an expensive, time-consuming mistake....

But I slept well last night, knowing the parcels were safely here finally... and having begun to unpack them to check what was there.

Today was, naturally, spent in double-checking what had come .... mostly as asked for, but some not. The important items look to be OK - the boom has been pre-fitted with reef lines and outhaul, as requested, so once some (lazyjack etc) attachments have been transferred from the old to the new boom, it looks as though that can be placed in position fairly easily. The stays'l Furlex system has yet to be looked at in detail - but I'm hoping that will also be relatively straightforward to fit.

The relay I asked for was not sent - or, rather, inappropriate ones came - but fortunately I came across one in my spares which looks to be OK. Ray, on 'Hortense', checked it over for me and assures me it's working fine - so I'll be able to switch instruments and AP on/off from the chart table area again, once I've installed it under the aft cabin bunk where the old one was.

The new sprayhood frame and canvas is there, as are the windows for the windscreen which local metalworker Gaspar has mended - hopefully the windows can be put in place without too much of a problem and then the sprayhood will fit over the top. I started checking out the new Lexan washboard - it fits fine over the companionway but needs the handle attaching and a new sealing strip around. And a few other replacement items, some electrical, will be dealt with either here, if straightforward, or in Cape Town otherwise.

It feels good to be on the 'final lap' at last, even though it means a lot of work over the next week or two - the knockdown occurred over seven weeks ago....

Today, I saw several people putting up antennae at the water's edge by the marina - the Ushuaia Radio Club were preparing for a weekend trying to contact all the lighthouse keepers in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Brazil - a busy weekend .... they're hoping propagation will be favourable for them! In chatting to them, I was offered the use of a VHF set to make contact with ham friends in Canada and the USA (and maybe NZ/Australia?) using 'Echolink' - which I'm told will work worldwide if a suitable repeater station is nearby. I shot off emails in all possible directions ... we'll see what transpires!! (Photo shows Miguel and associates sorting out the grounds for the newly-erected antennae close to the nearby seawater - which they made good use of.)

17-20th February 2011

Photos show barbecue at the 'Estancia' restaurant ... one of the many long-eared rabbits at the marina, a duck (teal of some kind?) and a pair of kelp geese at low water here. Also, the night heron, skulking during the daytime below the gangway to the marineajetty.

Thursday

Today I determined to be positive and productive - so, after checking emails & posting yesterday's news on website (with more photos), I turfed out another locker and checked/re-organized contents (not as damaged by seawater as I was expecting...). Also unscrewed side of locker to get at wiring/connection between iPod and radio - that all seems fine but there's a clear area of corrosion on back of radio when I pulled that out to check -so will need to replace it at some point. The bad news is I can only play my iPod music now on my computer, to listen to while working, since I don't like using earphones... I was hoping to be able to fix it to be able to get back to music listening via the radio speakers.

I've not been able to take time off enough to do much exploring. If I can finish with organizing boat prior to (long-delayed) parcels arriving (hopefully next Wed/Thurs), I might be able to do some of the nice walks around here and up to the nearest Glacier &/or National Park before I leave.

Present vague plan is to head for Cape Town, possibly via S. Georgia - weather permitting, if I can get away soon enough. That would at least achieve something, if I could get there safely, since I left there last year on 9th March so getting back there would complete a solo circumnavigation via Capes Good Hope, Leeuwin, (Flattery) & Horn - 3 of the 'Five Great Capes'! Once there, I could finish repairs I can't get done here before moving on - which way, when and to where, are the big questions! I'd like to get back to B.C. - but clearly not a good idea via the S. Ocean in midwinter!

No progress on cargo - agent in Chile not answering phone ... and she's not on email.... So into another day's delay, probably. I'm trying to get an invoice from her, and also from the freight company providing truck to bring goods into Ushuaia.

Friday

Very disturbed sleep overnight - big spring tide & winds up to well over 30knots pushing us against fixed jetty, with chop building up quickly across the relatively short distance to shore. Eventually had to adjust fenders and stern line. Heavy rain at times over the day - with some brief sunshine in between.

Still having problems with Chile agent - no Customs paperwork done as yet but finally received a proper invoice by midday, so then I had to go into town to make a cash payment via Western Union. Hoping to confirm cargo will start moving on Monday now she's been paid.... Patience, patience.....

Having to keep very busy working positively on board to keep my spirits up..... Had intended clearing and sorting out two more areas in main cabin - below lockers and bookshelves (quite a few books got very damaged when soaked by seawater after ending up on port side of cabin)... but got side-tracked with emails and Internet once I got back from town - interesting to see discussion on my heaving-to and series drogue deployment etc - all giving me and a lot of other people plenty of useful food for thought!

Had an enjoyable time later that night - went with Dutch cruisers Petra and Corno of 'Simon de Danser' and French cruiser Gilles of 'Menkar' to a free concert in the 'Casa de la Cultura' near the water's edge within easy walking distance of here. Great alto sax (tiny woman!), with good keyboard, drums and guitarist, backing 3 singers (one of whom, in particular, was very good ) - songs of the 80's and 90's, finishing with Queen's "Radio Gaga"! Didn't start until well past 10 o'clock (hall was full of mainly local familes, including babes in arms, by then!) and finished gone midnight. Then back to "Nereida" for tea(!) and chat. Fabulous full moon rose between the mountain peaks across the bay as we made our way towards the concert - regretted no camera with me - but will try for the shot on Saturday....

Saturday/Sunday ....

Hazy sky all Satur day - so no view of moonrise for photo shot at nightfall, as walked into town for a meal, followed by visit to Irish Pub (busy!) for chat with others there, and finally back to marina - to find a birthday party in full swing - so very late to bed, having been made very welcome! Sunday morning hardly existed ... but later in afternoon met up with party-goers again - very nice people - sat on grass in warm sunshine after my work, chatting over wine, fresh bread and chorizo - good to relax in company!

With good weather forecast for several days, decided to deal with jobs on deck - so weekend job was to remove wood tops from around sliding hatch area and the hatch itself & clean area of dust and last remnants of broken glass. Thoroughly cleaned PTFE runners of hatch so it moves a lot more easily now and replaced it (there's a lot of dust in the air here, picked up by the frequent strong wind from the nearby unsurfaced road. Also took apart spade connections behind cockpit instruments - some beginning to show corrosion from the seawater dousing they got in the knockdown, so needed attention to avoid them getting any worse. Painted cleaned connections with a protective lacquer. Brushed a protective 'first aid' coating of varnish onto wood where varnish had been damaged by broken glass.

Sunday was another amazingly sunny, warm day - most unlike normal Ushuaia weather, but definitely feeling like summer with no cold wind blowing - so very pleasant working in the open. Lots of people visited the jetty on a Sunday walkabout - slowed my work progress at times since many stopped by for a chat and to ask about how the boom had got broken.... But all very pleasant ... and that evening, over by dinghy to 'Simon de Danser' for a meal ... to finish a very enjoyable,but productive, weekend!

Wednesday 16th February 2011

On the way into town this week, I took shots of several birds ... Kelp geese, a small brown bird always by water (name?) and a pair of sea ducks (name?) ... also of the wreck of the 'Saint Christopher' which has become host to a noisy tern colony (they're beautiful, graceful birds!) and of some local dancers in their bright costumes, the men sporting trouser legs which made a good noise, from bells sewn on, when they stamped their feet...:

"Esto es el radio Argentina!" I hear daily proclaimed proudly on the radio, in between the tangos and songs I listen to regularly ..... but I'm now getting caught up in the nightmare I'd hoped to avoid in getting things brought in to Argentina for my repairs and replacements...! Plan A - fetching in to Puerto Williams (Chile) and taking the boat the short distance down there to pick it up with minimal problem and cost has fallen through, so now we're in to plan B - goods having to be brought from Punta Arenas (Chile) 'in bond' to Ushuaia direct by truck, taking a day - but with S. American paperwork, 1 day extends to 2-3 days (ouch!!!).
 
To avoid weekend overtime charges, plan is to pick up on Monday and arrive in Ushuaia (Customs warehouse) on Wednesday, from where, with an agent, I'm able to collect goods and bring to boat, which is considered a 'yacht in transit' so no import duty levied - sounds simple...? This is Argentina - so tell me when I see it all safely on board here.....! Trucking and agents' fees are costing a small fortune... (Cost I quoted to someone today was, he told me, 'cheap'!!) I've had several people trying to help me with advice and contact with people they know and trust - but invariably their ideas involve sending goods to P. Williams and collecting from there - people here will do anything to avoid bringing goods in to Argentina directly!!

Monday was a definite low point in my stay here - when I first got the bad news on the goods I've been waiting so long for... A pity because Saturday and Sunday had gone quite well - Corno came for Saturday morning tea with Petra ('Simon de Danser'), spent quite a time on board and managed to resolve my Simrad VHF external speaker problems (having the pedestal-mounted VHF radio in position turned out to be crucial to adjusting the VHF speaker volume in the cockpit but he had to 'tweak' the wiring at the main unit down below to be sure all was well both up and down. It's quite a relief to have the VHF speakers both working properly since it's very difficult otherwise to hear the radio if being called on it. It got quite amusing when I went around the nearby boats trying to find one with both AIS transmit and DSC on board to make a test DSC call to - most people with the facility have no clue how to work it! And when we tried to test the DSC, the Ushuaia Prefectura radio officer jumped in with a response, ruining our test...! (He was probably only too delighted to have something to do!)

I'm not sure where the rest of the day went, although I was busy - but I've been trying over several days now, mostly early mornings and in the evenings, to catch up with the latest batch of outstanding email replies. Having to walk into town each day to visit the ATM for cash also takes quite a time - paying the agent in Chile requires cash since people here expect cash transfers for payments (often quoted in dollars).

Barbara on 'Taurus' helped me by using her sewing machine on the Jordan Series drogue bag straps - I had to abandon the idea of changing over the broken clips because the bag was so sturdily made that it proved impossible for me to undo the stitching around the clips on the straps - so I decided on loops at
the strap ends which could be used to tie the bag in place - far simpler and workable. On Monday, I machined the pole cover which had got badly torn when the pole was broken in half after the knockdown.... that took a long time. So another job now is to replace both pole and series drogue in their places on deck, having walked to 'Rombo Repuestos' today to buy a replacement length of chain (15lb/7kg) and a (floating) polypropylene length of line for retrieving the drogue. (They kindly gave me a lift back to the marina in their van when they gathered I intended walking back with my load. This was my second visit today - I'd arrived the first time just as they locked up shop for their early afternoon lunch/siesta closure...) The drogue will need to be flaked carefully into the bag, so it runs out easily when deployed, and the chain at its end will go into its own separate pocket - that's the first thing to be sent out overboard on deploying the drogue.

Sunday evening I cleared up - and had dinner guests - to thank 'Simon de Danser' and 'Taurus' for their help ... A big ratatouille with potatoes and garlic chicken, followed by pineapple and cream - I'd found some fresh cream in the local 'Anonima' supermarket! They all tested the Argentinian whisky I'd been introduced to by 'Uhambo' (actually has a basis of Scotch, the makers claim...!) - and gave it the 'thumbs up'! - and then Christoph fetched over some 'Dolce di Leche' liqueur - rather like "Bailey's".... late to bed!

'Taurus' left for Puerto Williams, as planned, on Tuesday, after an early check-out and Petra and Corno are staying on, expecting Dutch friends this weekend.   I'd hoped the friends would be able to bring a credit card for me - but long sessions on Skype this week failed to sort out debit/credit card problems with my UK bank to enable that.... what a mess!! I'm managing so far financially - but only just! Of several cards, just one debit and one credit card are working!

Friday 11th February - Photo shows view East down Beagle Channel from AFASyN Marina, Ushuaia:

Several bits of good news over the last few days - the main one being the confirmation that the parcels from Sweden had definitely been received by the receiving agent at the airport, unfortunately not early enough to be cleared through Customs in time for the weekly ship on Wednesday. That means they're not expected this way until end of next week and then it will be a few more days until I can see them on board 'Nereida'. This being S. America, let's say within two weeks I hope to be able to start work on the  replacement boom etc ...?

My Skype problem of last week has caused a few comments - and friend Laurie Miller even got Skype management to contact me with an offer of help - but since my last re-instal, it seems to be fine, although I've not allowed it to start up automatically with each computer start up as I used to - not sure if that's  relevant, but it seemed a sensible step to avoid possible problems... I wondered if the OS being Windows 7 Starter on my Acer netbook contributed to the problem, but don't know.

Yesterday, 'Kilico', with Kåre & Lillian on board, headed down the Beagle Channel for Puerto Williams - as do most boats leaving from here to head up the Chilean Channels towards Puerto Montt, just over 1000 miles away. ( They all check in to Chile at P. Williams, having checked out from Argentina here in Ushuaia on the day they leave.) It's been lovely to have them so close by for the last week or so and Lillian kindly used her sewing machine to repair a torn halyard bag for me the day before they left.

I tested out the Eberspacher heater again just before they left - and found, to my delight, that it finally seemed to be working. Kåre had looked into the heat-exchanger end to see if the flame sensor had come loose - as instructed by the S. England UK Eberspacher agent, who kindly emailed me with things to check out when the heater seemed not to be behaving properly after our previous efforts.... I told Kåre he must have a 'magic touch' since he'd actually done nothing but take photos of the heat sensor to send to the agent- not needed, as it turns out, since it's heating the boat fine now. I also got an email confirming that maybe all that had been needed was to prime the system by repeated efforts to start it up (now that the original air leaks had been successfully dealt with).... The Sigmar heater is still awaiting my attention but I think, without strong wind, that's just a matter of my getting used to the lighting sequence - it can't be so very difficult since so many people I know love them and use them regularly!

Tuesday saw several of us headed into town for a meal together - Dutch, Austrian, Norwegian and Brit cruisers - very European! We had an 'eat as much as you want' meal for 78 pesos ( £13/$21) - excellent food and choice, including delicious lamb (speciality of this region)! Other boat neighbours were Polish (Andrej on 'Panicka' sailed over solo from Australia but was joined by two friends - they sailed off this afternoon) and there's even a Turkish boat! There's still a high proportion of French boats here, most of which are aluminium or steel, with very few glass fibre.

Wednesday and yesterday morning were remarkable for true 'summer weather' - the sun actually shone with enough warmth for me to strip off my fleece layers and ski socks, needed since arriving here, and don teeshirt and thin cotton trousers - lovely!! I made use of the big sink and plentiful hot water in the clubhouse for a major clothes (hand)washing session - all dried in no time in the strong wind of late Wednesday afternoon!

Propane ran out just as I finished making coffee yesterday - it's easily obtainable here for refills, but means a long taxi ride to beyond the far outskirts of town....

An east wind kicked up unexpectedly yesterday afternoon - amazing how quickly a nasty chop kicks up from the long fetch down the Beagle Channel, making for difficulties for boats moored up on the East side of the jetty, against which the surge pushes them - often violently and dangerously.... forcing them to move away to avoid damage.

Picked up my repaired mains'l this afternoon, after a long walk out (but taxi back!) to beyond the main airport to reach the upholsterer who did the repair. He also provided me with replacement clips to replace all the broken ones on the canvas bag holding the Jordan series drogue - my new Austrian neighbours are letting me use their sewing machine this weekend to do that work. They also had an accurate barometer reading available - so I've calibrated my barometer which was reading nearly 30hPa too high since replacing the batteries after the knockdown. Final good news was finding out that one of the Dutch couple used to work for Simrad in the Netherlands - Corn offered to come by in the morning to see if he can help with my external speaker problem on my VHF. Since my UK Simrad/Navico contact has surprisingly failed to respond to my last (repeated!) 2 or 3 emails, having previously been very helpful, his offer was very welcome.

 Night heron - confused timing... a regular daytime visitor to the marina at low tide, of late!   (Behind is one of the tracks used for hauling out boats .. a rather dodgy-looking, aged system using rope and a capstan to pull boats out (- at high water, preferably) - up to 10 tons, they say)

South American gull ......  only found around southern tip of S. America and offshore islands...
 

Handsome black-backed gull....

Saturday - Monday  5-7 February 2011

Making use of my new camera - some lovely birds seen regularly by the marina - totally different from Europe.

Visited by friends of mutual  friends on Sat evening - passing by Ushuaia on board one of the frequent cruise ships which dock across the water from the marina.  When I saw them off to their ship, I passed beside the 'Europa' - an old 3-masted barque - very interesting, but had no camera with me!

On Sunday, I spent a lot of time walking with my Norwegian neighbours to the largest of the supermarkets well outside town - clearly Sunday was not a good day for that, with a long wait, due to very few taxis around, to bring us back (free) with all their food.  (They're getting ready to leave for Puerto Montt via a slow, long passage through the reputedly very enjoyable Chilean Channels.)   But it was useful to see what was available for provisioning for when I finally leave here - there was a good selection.

I stopped by the Prefectura to get forms to fill out on the way out of town - if I want to visit the (British!) Falklands or S. Georgia on leaving here, I have to get a permit from the Argentinians to go there (they claim the territories although no Argentinians have lived there for a long time - if ever).   Although not essential now, I could have a problem in the future since if I were to sail back to Argentina at any time, I'd risk a very large fine.   Checking out to sail away is done in town on the day of leaving, but getting that permit requires ten days since it's dealt with in Buenos Aires....

I cooked my favourite ratatouille when I got back on board - and invited my neighbours over for the evening - so Sunday definitely became a 'no boat work' day - my first, I think!   An enjoyable evening, but I noticed I was going down with a cold - my first for a very long time....  All these people I'm mixing with!!

Sure enough, on Monday I was not inclined to get up at all early & was very tempted to stay in bed -but despite sneezing all day, I was pleased to finish getting the portside settee area dealt with (and the food stores kept behind its back checked over and listed).    The work (not really that much!) included stapling the long velcro strip which was meant to keep the settee cushion in place - the strip had been glued down but it came unstuck when the wood of the bunk got wet with seawater in the knockdown.  

I believe my parcels are now in S. America - but the last email I got, in response to my request to DHL in Sweden to be kept informed of their progress this way, was an 'Out of Office Auto-Reply' message  " Vacation, gone skiing, back 14feb" ....  Not exactly helpful...!! 

Tuesday-Friday 1st-4th February 2011

Friday was an excellent, productive day - mainly calm and sunny, with occasional short periods of strong, chilly wind.... and lots of help from Jo and Will, on leave from the 'Ernest Shackleton' - the British Antarctic Research vessel. They'd initially arrived on Wednesday, with Will delegated by his father (Chairman of the OCC Awards Committee) to present me with the OCC Award of Merit medal - totally undeserved to my mind, but that's by the by...! We later went to 'Chez Manu' situated high above the town, with a great view East over the Beagle Channel, to celebrate .... and I was also able to thank Barry, who joined us, for his invaluable help in bringing a new series drogue & camera etc from the USA for me to replace those damaged items onboard (he'd come to Ushuaia to join 'Alaska Eagle' for their next trip to S. Georgia and on to Buenos Aires). The meal and local wines were thoroughly enjoyable - a good evening!

During Friday, Jo and Will did a great job repairing the base of my PTFE mast track insert so that when the repaired sail is replaced (once the new boom - on its way now - has been installed), the sail slides will run up and down OK. They also spent a long time struggling to remove the shore-power isolating transformer - made very difficult by two of the screws refusing to budge.... a combination of muscle, drill, hack saw and Vise-grips finally overcame that problem! Of course, once removed and opened up, no hoped-for loose wires were found, so the transformer problem still remains, to be dealt with under warranty once the boat arrives somewhere suitable.
 
Jo and Will in the Irish pub - no Guinness available...!

Earlier in the morning, Norwegian neighbour Kåre, on a Malö, had helped mend a drunken locker door in the galley - thicker screws and some filing of their points soon had the door set to rights from its beating when hit hard by a flying object in the knockdown.

Changeover of boats also, on Friday - a few leaving, several others newly arrived - including 'Podorange' - fresh from Buenos Aires where they'd been trapped for around seven months with a totally unnecessary major problem due to corrupt, money-grabbing, Argentine customs officials.... Never try to import anything into Argentina and expect to see it, despite having paid for it in full..... I keep hearing the same message - from locals, as well! (First thing Saturday morning there was another 'boat dance' when 'Alaska Eagle' left and several other boats changed position - with strong West winds coming in over the next two days, it's best for big heavy boats to be on the inside of a raft of three boats, not on the outside where they would crush the others as the wind pushes them towards the dock!)

Thursday had turned into a wasted day, although not for lack of trying... Kåre spent a long time trying valiantly to get my Eberspacher heater to work and, after a lot of effort, got the fuel flowing nicely through the pipework, having fixed several air leaks, only to find the heater was clearly faulty since it comes on just twice for a short while before stopping completely... Without the computer connection and relevant software, it's impossible to find and fix the fault.... so I still won't be able to run it for heat on passage.... In the morning, I'd tried, with Barry helping, to re-light the Sigmar heater to no avail - later hearing that the strong winds over the night and day were probably the reason why the heater had gone out and was then so difficult to light - we'd managed it the day before but the flame had gone out while I was asleep - presumably when the wind had got up - but it had been running fine for most of the evening.

Wednesday afternoon, Barry had arrived with the drogue etc and stayed to help with lighting the Sigmar diesel heater - we finally managed it and left it running gently while we went for our meal and on Thursday we were able to bring on board the long settee cushion I'd thoroughly washed on Monday and had left drying in the warmth of the clubhouse - I still have several other smaller settee cushions to wash to get rid of the salt water they were soaked with... and sorting through stowed items is lengthy and ongoing, in between other jobs.

I've spent quite a time on the Internet, chasing the parcels from Sweden - DHL not being very helpful in supplying useful tracking info so I could see where the parcels had got to... hopefully they're now in Santiago de Chile, about to make for Punta Arenas.... but nothing's confirmed (LAN Chile server has been unhelpful every time) ... and it's weekend now....   (Sat: Just got email from Sweden telling me flight delayed - expected in Santiago de Chile Sunday...)

Wednesday - Monday 26th - 31st January 2011

Well, considering that over Wed - Fri there have been several 'get-togethers' on boats, I'm amused to think that I was concerned when several friendly French boats left!! We all had drinks & 'nibbles' on a charter boat on Wed night ('Pelagic Australis' - Skip Novak's old boat), a 'dock party' given by a French boat (the relatively small 'L'Esprit d'Equipe', which was the outermost on a raft-up of boats) on Thursday (with invitation to dinner by crew of Australian charter boat 'Spirit of Sydney' afterwards) and another general 'get-together' on the British boat 'Uhuru' astern of me on Friday, - almost got to be too much, since I ended up feeling guilty for not getting on with more work (or emails) of an evening!!

There are quite a few large charter boats (taking clients to Antarctica regularly from here). Several are tied up to the dock just now, often with helpful, mainly English-speaking, some French, crew... all doing maintenance/cleaning/provisioning in between trips.

I've even been here long enough to greet one or two smaller boats returning from Antarctica. I'd not realized before arriving here that a permit was needed for a boat to visit Antarctic waters. Under an International agreement, I would need one issued by the UK authorities since 'Nereida' is British-flagged. They have been known to take several months to acquire, but that time has been reduced drastically of late, to help smaller boats wanting to visit Antarctica to get the permit. It's basically an attempt to protect the delicate environment and inform boats of what changes they need to make on board to do just that. Nothing whatsoever is to be discharged or thrown overboard - all to be bagged or held in tanks, with bags taken to a suitable port well away from Antarctic waters and tanks discharged only when well away from the area or emptied when suitably connected in port. Also guidance is given on which places may be visited and how to behave so as to leave the wildlife as little disturbed as possible - especially since it's breeding season over the Southern summer. Weather can also be a big problem, with sudden strong winds to add in to the problems of ice. The shortest time taken from here (on a large cruise ship) seems to be ten days.

My camera had been playing up for a time since my knockdown - and finally died on me early last week. Fortunately, not too late for a replacement to be brought in for me by Barry, who's also bringing my replacement drogue - so photos will be resumed when the new camera arrives - on Wed or Thursday this week! (In the meantime, I'm posting a photo of my arrival at the dock here in AFASyN Marina, Ushuaia, on Saturday 8th Jan, taken by Alain on 'Uhambo'.)

Friday started well, with blue sky in the morning and lovely sunshine for most of day (I got a pile of hand-washing done!) ... until arrival of strong wind in the evening ... another Low passing by!! The good news that afternoon was that the paperwork for my replacement parts was finally cleared so the parcels could start on their journey from Sweden (only two weeks later than intended..) - although not expected to be on a flight until today (Monday). With the 'normal' delays in transit or Customs, I don't expect to see them for another two weeks.... this is S. America... so nothing is simple and straightforward - especially with bringing items in to Ushuaia.... "the end of the world".... Then I have to fix it all, of course... with only other boaters for help with that - no other local expertise, apart from metalwork ... The few marina workers are not sailors ... and there's not even a chandlery in town. If I get away by end of Feb, I'll be very lucky!

The weekend was particularly productive for me - I worked hard clearing and cleaning - mainly in the forepeak (making a comprehensive list as I sorted out the lockers) but partly also in the main cabin. I've felt much happier as a result, although I still have several lockers to deal with - cleaning and drying out. Today, I spent some time sorting through my fresh food stores - I still have potatoes, onions, eggs, apples and cabbage from Canada and the USA!

Skype is causing me a problem - I've had to uninstall and re-install it four times so far! I keep finding an unresponsive 'hidden' icon in the taskbar - won't respond to clicking on it to let me load up Skype - but when I try to open up Skype from Start menu and sign in, I get message,: 'Can't sign you in because you're already signed in"... grrr!! Such a waste of time..... but I need Skype to talk to people to discuss my various problems and how to resolve them....

I also spent a time over the weekend evenings catching up with email replies - I'm pretty well up-to-date for the moment - phew!! (Oh well, I happened to go back to the New Year - lots of them, hopefully most in reply to my greetings sent earlier... Please know they were all happily received - and accept my thanks with this note ...)

I'm often asked about where I'll be moving on to from here - lots of options, but none looking ideal, since weather, as usual, will become a problem quite soon... Heading W around Horn or NNW through Chilean Channels are not sensible options for me, to my mind, so that leaves continuing East (my preferred option) or heading North (a possible weather-induced option)... in each case with a variety of possible passages and its own set of weather problems...

 Saturday 22nd January 2011

Gaspar came to look at and discuss stainless windscreen - to be removed for repair on Monday....

Barbecue (organized by Nicolas, 'Fleur de Sel' - Swiss couple). Sociable, enjoyable evening - mainly speaking French!

'Spoke' beforehand to David ('Lenseman') Wheatley on Skype - he exchanged text messages with me from the "Ring 'O Bells" in Ashcott Somerset - lovely old pub with a sailing Landlord and wife!! We had an enjoyable, long chat - seems that he had played a major part in helping the contact between Bill, KI4MMZ, (of the Maritime Mobile Net in the US) and Falmouth CG, after I'd had my knockdown.

Spent a lot of time during the day, replying to lots of the many emails I rec'd a time ago - long overdue and still lots waiting for a reply.... apologies to those still waiting...

Sun 23Jan

Lovely warm morning - took my time removing 30 screws from windscreen - holding it onto the coachroof.    Pleasant to be able to work in nice sunshine for a change.

Time spent later on cleaning out an underfloor compartment ... full of wet bubble wrap (used for bottle protection) - can't replace, so having to clean and dry...

Planned to meet up with 'Uhambo' for a last meal together after my evening shower - but arrangement went pear-shaped, so I ended up in town having a (very tender, tasty) steak in the Bodega Fueguino.

Mon 24Jan

'Uhambo' left for the Falklands for 2-3 wks, before sailing back here for Jeanne & Bernard to fly back to Nantes - I'll miss their cheerful helpfulness and hospitality.   "Nereida" is now alongside the dock.

Gaspar took the stainless steel windscreen frame away to repair.  I put up some canvas over the hatchway area to try to give some protection from the frequent rain.   Got email to confirm new series drogue was finished and now on its way to California to be brought here next week.  More cleaning of area and items below cooker.

Took mains'l by taxi with Roxanna (12 pesos each way) to upholsterer for repair - the nearest to a sailmaker that Ushuaia can offer...   Has Dacron, so will be able to repair rip and other damaged, chafed area close to where boom broke.   I was thinking of sewing it myself - but just too much else to do and I don't have enough sail material for the area of chafe damage - quite a few small holes.

Fred ("Serenité") had his 40th birthday -' bubbly' and birthday cake with candles in clubhouse later in evening with other cruisers, after brief visit to Heidi and Nicolas on "Fleur de Sel" for chat before they leave, as does "Serenité", on Tuesday for Puerto Williams.

Tues 25Jan

Not a lot achieved today - although I have cooked a thick bean & barley broth - soaked the dried beans etc overnight.     It's been very welcome, with a cold wind blowing off the snowy mountains.   Had to adjust mooring lines several times with a very low tide, to make sure we didn't end up hanging off the dock by our cleats...!!   An adjacent boat had to delay leaving yesterday- a fender got jammed between the vertical wooden slats beside the dock - and the stanchion it was tied to gave way completely under the strain as the water rose and it ended up totally bent down - doubled, in fact.   Alerted me to the danger, so I've tied a couple of mine so they're horizontal now.

Listening to the local radio station while I work - found one playing very Argentinian music all day long... lots of 'pasa doble' and accordion playing, and plenty of amusing Latin high drama and emotion in the singing - frequently two vocalists harmonizing...  all good for my Spanish, trying to catch the odd word or phrase!

The local charter boat beside me just now is 'Ksar' - which was the boat who first saw me in Caleta Martial, where I anchored soon after I'd rounded the Horn, and shouted over to me that the Chileans wanted to me to contact them to confirm I was OK.   'Ksar' regularly takes visitors out for a weeklong trip to Cape Horn via the Beagle Channel & some of the many island anchorages on the way there and back.  Lots of wildlife to see - penguins and birdlife galore in the Beagle Channel and many albatross around the islands and sea closer to the Cape.

Lots of French boats here - all came down from Europe via Brazil.  But by tomorrow all except one will have left - mainly to head up the Chilean Channels , having checked in to Chile first in Puerto Williams, a short sail away down the Beagle Channel from here.  Then they'll make for the Pacific. probably from Puerto Montt.   The exodus leaves me without most of the friendly people I've met with recently ....

All port locker contents, especially low down, of course, were coated with seawater along with some diesel mixed with bilgewater (had a split, leaking jerry can cap in cockpit locker)  - taking a time to deal with, along with other things that have to be done (Trying to figure out why my FM radio has stopped 'seeing' the iPod - think maybe there's water got into iPod/radio connector tucked away behind portside upper lockers .... add getting to that to the joblist!)

I found this little spot full of gay-coloured flowers near the waterfront in Ushuaia.  The town also has an abundance of different-coloured lupins everywhere - they clearly love the wet soil and rainy weather here!

Monday 17 Jan 2011

Summer came briefly to Ushuaia - a lovely warm sunny day today - everyone was out on the dock chatting or getting on with outside jobs!! That included me... busy on the Hydrovane windsteering - I managed (see photo!)
 
  

to free and remove 3 of the 4 bolts and all 4 nuts, with a bit of help at one point from English cruisers Roger and Vicki ('Le Vagabond') who came by in their dinghy - their boat is on a nearby club mooring. Roger will come by tomorrow to help me remove the unit from the stern so it can be worked on in safety - without losing any more tools in the water - as I did today (I dropped a lovely shiny, new double-ended number 17 spanner/wrench into the water...) We had a little teaparty in the sun on "Nereida" with some of my French friends when I'd finished removing the bits and pieces...!

Then, in the evening, an East wind came - bad news for boats on that side of the dock, since the fetch along the Beagle Channel is several miles - so a nasty swell built up quickly. The best thing for those boats then was to move off the dock that they were being pushed up against and bouncing about on...

Tuesday 18 Jan

Heavy rain all day..... and still some swell/chop. Hoped Swedish parcel was on its way - but boom still not arrived from Selden... Photos being sent so I can see if correct items in parcel.

Fortunately had talked on Skype to John at Hydrovane (Vancouver) - was doing the wrong thing trying to remove complete unit - not necessary. He put me right and talked me through what had to be done - so when Roger came to help, we were able to replace bolts wrongly removed and then take off just the top of Hydrovane unit. Later Gaspar came by to take it to his workshop to remove the embedded end of a bolt belonging to the knob which had broken off on way down here - my wiring 'fix' had worked fine but now I'm hoping to replace the missing part once the friends flying out to 'Uhambo' arrive from France...

Decided it was time I came to grips with my Sigmar diesel heater ... eventually got it going - but then it died -no more fuel coming through .. likely suspect is the needle valve in the metering valve in supply line - have a spare - so that's on the joblist now....

Wed 19th Jan

More rain all day....

Boom finally arrived in Henan, Sweden, from Selden - so parcel should be sent from Najadvarvet tomorrow - reckon I should expect it to take a fortnight or so of journey time to get here. Looked at photos sent - not all correct so took photos and sent to show what I needed... Internet connection slow... camera playing up...

Found my spares kit for metering valve in Sigmar heater but busy with other jobs- another day.....

Spoke to Mastervolt in Netherlands - confirmed that I definitely have to remove input/output cables from transformer in order to bypass it and confirm if transformer is the problem.

Alain helped to wrap carbon pole in glass fibre to protect from loose strands of carbon where pole broke in half - repair looks good and strong and this is more cosmetic and protective than strengthening. When dry, will need to paint it.

Evening - relaxed with Vicki and Roger on 'El Vagabond' - nice to chat with fellow cruisers!

Thursday 20th Jan

Rain finally stopped mid-morning - nice sunshine later

Phone call from Najad just after 7am - parcels (two) being sent by road today to airport - will take well over a week for flights to final airport... Then more
time needed before I get all parcels on board after waiting for agent to organize Customs clearance etc - and then plenty of time needed for fitting parts and final repairs..... Patience... patience....

Found shop to buy shore-power cable and ends - had been lent one by Fred, who's leaving soon. With sunshine and a dry cockpit, climbed into cockpit locker and finally by-passed transformer by joining its input and output cables together - so now have shorepower into boat - hot water and fan heater now working as much as I want!! (Had help from Fred with shorepower input - standard European input connector not right for the boat - it's perfectly normal for a simple job not to be straightforward on boats...!!! Murphy at work again... he just loves boats...!)

Friends of 'Uhambo' arrived (only a day late!) - with my Hydrovane part .. We all had a good evening together. My contribution to the meal was an English
Christmas pudding (Anne had found some cream to go with it) - we flamed it in true Christmas style to bring it to table and everyone loved it!

Friday 21st Jan

Downloaded photos taken by Bob Potter (visiting from Portland, Oregon) from local boat 'Ksar' which moored near me after I'd rounded Cape Horn and was anchored in Caleta Martial to rest before continuing on to Ushuaia.

Day started with sunshine, although occasional slight rain and grey clouds by afternoon - a Low is coming in. Several boats leaving, or already left, now - so I'll be missing quite a few friendly faces very soon...

Had been told where to buy a fan heater - so walked to town and got that - good news, since (when battery power permitted) had been occasionally using one lent to me by 'Uhambo' - but they are hoping to sail to the Falklands on Sunday.

Spotted someone in divegear working on a prop underwater nearby - "Por favor, ...."  - would he mind looking at my rudder, to remove the end of my furling line which I think is caught on it?  Wish my Spanish were that good!  But with a piece of cord in my hands to show him, a bit of arm-waving, lots of smiles and a few words of my broken Spanish, he got the message - and kindly agreed.    Took him no time at all to retrieve the knotted end of the line and pass it up to me - that's quite a relief, to have it freed from the rudder....

Washed saltwater residue out of loose carpets in clubhouse big sink, hosing them down on the grass slope outside to rinse them off.

While they were draining, got help to replace heavy Hydrovane top part after metalworker Gaspar returned it with broken bolt end extracted, so it's now all back together and looking fine - rudder alignment turned into a simple fix as part of replacing of top part on shaft.

Then back to clubhouse to hang up carpets to dry - and came upstairs to 'wi-fi' room to compose this and send it off to website.... I'm looking out over the water, with the snowy mountains wreathed in mist and low grey cloud behind the town. A family below are organizing a birthday party and I'll get back to "Nereida" to cook a meal shortly. The town had a delivery of fresh fruit and vegetables on Wednesday and I coincidentally got to the nearest small supermarket for the first time yesterday - to find everything I needed for ratatouille .... mmm! Now I've hot water and heating, I'm slowly beginning to make better progress in cleaning up and sorting out the inside of the boat and drying it out - which feels good, because I 've been getting fed up with being in a mess still..

It's also been very heartwarming to receive more 'well-wishing' emails via my website link ... several of which have offered help from people coming to Ushuaia willing to bring items for me if that will work out - which, in one or two cases, I think it will. One such offer came from Barry Hutten who emailed to say he's coming out to sail on 'Alaska Eagle' at end of month from California - he's very kindly agreed to bring out a replacement series drogue, being put together in time for me by Ace Sailmakers in Connecticut -very much appreciated, Barry!

Sunday 16th January 2011

View from the AFASyN marina clubhouse to the dock (Nereida's mast is on the extreme left at the beginning of the dock with a dark red genoa cover) and on past the cruise-ship terminal (for cruises to Antarctica) to the nearby mountains behind  the town of Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego - a typically grey, cold evening!!

View from "Nereida" over her missing awning and damaged windscreen to the anchorage and town beyond, on an unusually calm morning (notice the fresh snow on the mountains nearby!).....

It's quite a long walk to the shore where the town lies.  I walked it the once last week, with Alain and Anne of 'Uhambo', when we went for a nice meal in town one night.  More usually, it's a taxi ride with Roxanna - she took me to get a local simcard for my mobile phone (so incoming calls are free to me) and we went for a quick coffee and pastries to the local French patisserie in one of the first shops established in Ushuaia - suitably set up as a very interesting 'living' museum. 

I commented on a native in an old photo having bare arms and shoulders - and it was pointed out to me that they greased themselves to protect from the often bitter cold - I can definitely relate to that!!! ....Especially since I've still not managed to get any heat on board...  A priority for tomorrow, I think, although there are still so many other priorities, such as getting the Hydrovane off the stern for safer shore access - I tried undoing the nuts holding it in place - managed one, the others didn't want to know - so I've 'treated' them with a release oil and will have another go tomorrow - time to smile sweetly at a man with muscle, maybe.....!  (In fact, I've had two offers of help already, should I run into a real problem there, as I expect....)  I need to put right the rudder which twisted through 90 degrees in the knockdown and I'm also hoping to replace the broken part I wired recently on passage.  Time is running out if I'm to have help before the people offering it move on - later this week, they're hoping. 

And I still have no shorepower on board - seems the isolating transformer is not behaving (power coming in from shore supply, but not getting out to the shore-charger) - so I'm relying on my solar power (long days  here still) and wind power (strong wind a lot of the time) - just like being on passage!   I spent a lot of time last week, often with Alain helping, chasing around the wiring of the charging system, trying to find where that problem lay, with Skype calls to the Netherlands and U.K. trying to get help - TG for wi-fi here....!  Without Internet access, getting help in sorting out my many problems on board would be impossible. 

John Curry at Hydrovane has been his usual helpful self - and sent out urgently to France last week the broken part I need to come in the luggage of friends of 'Uhambo' this Tuesday, hopefully.

Time seems to be passing fast without much to show for it, but Najad have been very helpful in getting sent out a variety of parts I need urgently - the main ones, of course, being replacements for the broken boom, windscreen windows, awning and framework and staysail furling system, along with smaller items, several of them electrical, all of which are unobtainable here....   This is the Southernmost town in the world - as signs all over Ushuaia proclaim (actually they refer to it as a 'city', which it clearly is not!) - and it certainly feels very remote from even the smallest of ship's chandler or DIY store....   My pole is being mended by a metalworker here who I'm hoping will do a good job on mending the distorted steel framework of the windscreen when the windows arrive.

The freight leaves Henan in Sweden on Tuesday, will go by plane to Punta Arenas and then by ship/barge to near here, ready for collection in early February - well over two weeks' time, easily, before I see it, I think...  and then it all has to be fitted....  I'm trying not to think too much about that side of things .... one step at a time....

 I'm still sorting the boat out - everything that wasn't thoroughly soaked was coated in drops or a film of seawater, so it's a major 'Spring-cleaning' job, really....not helped by a lack of hot water due to no shore-power (I'm thinking I must bypass that transformer...).   The settee cushion I sent off for washing came back unwashed a week later - too large for their machine - so I'll have to do that by hose and hand, although they say they can dry it - which will be useful in this cold climate... 

 The cooker keeps giving a problem - I took it partly to bits last Wednesday, to see to one of the top burners which was not giving off gas and I also thought I'd try to get the piezo-electric system working - but when I realized how much of the stove had to come apart for access to that, I backed off & put it all back together... I've more important things to spend my time on just now!   Of course, the very next day, the burner wouldn't give gas again .... so I had to re-do my 'fix' of the day before ... and again this morning ... seems there's some dust in the fine feed pipe and jet - but eventually, it must all come out, surely...??

We all enjoyed a typical 'boaters' get-together yesterday - a Saturday night barbecue (inside the warmth of the clubhouse!).  All very sociable, with Pierre doing an outstanding job at the barbecue pit, and it was good to relax and take time off to chat and joke with everyone.   There's a real mix of boats here, with a lot of French, the sail-training US boat 'Alaska Eagle', Swiss, Korean, Spanish, Argentine... and the one other British-flagged boat here has a Polish family on board!