Northbound! We sail north from the world’s southernmost city

On 07/12/202207/12/2022 By Xoe Joanna SchinasIn Updates1 Comment

I’m writing from Ushuaia today, rather than Williams in Chile, as we’re now in Argentina on our northbound journey. Ushuaia (unlike tiny Williams) is a medium-size city, over the border formed by the Beagle, 45 km from Williams, and the only city nearby. Ushuaia’s pretty, in that it ascends the sides of snow-topped mountains seen behind the newish buildings continually, on a clear day. Skiers and ‘world’s southernmost’ seekers and hikers make the town very touristy. Catabatic winds spin dust spirals through its streets, down to the water of the bay. Windy constantly.

Our boat's berth in Ushuaia, Club Náutico — In our berth in Ushuaia (Club Náutico)

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Sailing in the glaciers: Space Oddity’s first journey

On 27/02/202127/09/2022 By Xoe Joanna SchinasIn Travel/Places, Updates2 Comments

After so much time in Williams, and after much work on Space Oddity, we started the year by taking the boat on what was (for us) her first long sailing journey. The famous Canal Beagle or Beagle Channel cuts through Patagonia slightly above South America’s most southern cape (the Horn of course). In fact it consists of two forking channels which have a landmass of reasonable size, Isla Gordon, in the middle. In the course of a month we ascended one arm and descended the other arm and went round Isla Gordon in this way.

Chart of Canal Beagle — Credits for this useful illustration to the Chilean navy actually, as it’s the permission they issued us for the journey

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On the move (finally!)

On 05/01/202119/04/2022 By Xoe Joanna SchinasIn Updates4 Comments

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.

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New year, new pets, same place…

On 12/01/202019/04/2022 By Xoe Joanna SchinasIn UpdatesLeave a comment

Hatch of boat with Gean and Xoe

With the start of 2020, our arrival in the Cape Horn province, which was I think 6th of January, is now a year behind us already. We weren’t planning on spending so long here, but as we bought a rather dilapidated boat in a rather distant place, a lot of delay was always likely. Gean has some work restoring another yacht locally, so raising some rather necessary money. But of course repairs to our own boat have decreased in the meantime. Still the area’s a scenic one, if sometimes limited and chilly. Not bad till we can be off on our journey.

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Officials and puppies

On 07/06/201919/04/2022 By Xoe Joanna SchinasIn Updates3 Comments

Since we bought our boat going on six months ago, it hasn’t moved from an inlet of the Puerto Williams bay, thanks to engine troubles of which our readers are aware. Or rather it hadn’t until recently. Thankfully we became mobile shortly before the temporary import permit’s expiry, enabling us to fulfil the requirement of re-entering the country. More detail in earlier updates. The standard solution is a visit to Argentina’s Ushuaia, 45 km distant on the Beagle Channel’s other side.

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