Another year’s start, soon to be followed, on the 6th of January, by a second anniversary of our coming to Williams to buy Space Oddity. It looks like by chance this may also be the date, tomorrow or the day after anyway, of our leaving the world’s southernmost city. We’ll be spending a month or two sailing in the Beagle nearby initially. We’ll be back to Williams before we leave wholly.

We thought we’d be at most a year getting Space Oddity ready, but don’t all boat projects take twice the time? In fairness the unforeseen circumstance that was 2020 did a lot to delay us actually. Shops, boatyards, and suppliers were shut a lot of the time, and lockdowns occasionally confined us completely. And we couldn’t have sailed away if we were ready, with Chile and its neighbours restricting movement closely. All cruising boats passing through became stuck in this small place, even those who’d intended only to stay some days here. Most found themselves still in Williams ten months subsequently (one in fact found himself married with a baby…).

Many of these cruising boats have continued by this time, some forced to some biggish feats to find a non-closed country. Much of South America’s still shut to this day, neighbouring Argentina notably. One 20-something footer’s about to set out from Chile to Mexico in a direct 6000 mile journey. Another friend’s now made it to Brazil after spending two months at sea singlehanding for his first time.

We may meet in the Beagle with the boats which continued in that direction recently, but I think they’re too far ahead for that to be likely. And of course no new vessels are entering currently. So it seems we’ll be the one boat in the Beagle shortly, which even for somewhere so remote is a rarity. Then soon we too will have to reach Brazil in one journey.

Back in a month or so, and best for 2021, everybody!