BEAGLE CANAL
13/02/07
This morning brings the most beautiful sunrise. The air is so still that the
mountains are mirrored in the water. Half the crew get up early and go over
to the shore for a walk. The area is so peaceful and still sound carries from
the boat clearly to the shore. We walk along the waters edge for some way
then up on to the road and back toward the Estancia Harberton which is one
of the oldest ranches in Tierra del Fuego. Its size is 22 000 hectares and
it is still managed by the descendants of the original owners, the Bridges
family. On the way we see a fox as he patrols his paths he has worn in the
grass. The first building we come to inside the Estancia grounds is a museum,
Acatushun. We go inside and are given a guided tour by Andrea who is a volunteer
biology student working there. It is most interesting and well presented.
Most of the exhibits are skeletons of mammals which have died from strandings.
They include all types of whales and dolphins. This museum has one of the
rarest skeletons of a Beaked whale. We get to go behind the scenes and see
how they catalogue the bones and also into the boil house where they boil
all the flesh from the bones and clean them ready for assembling. Then we
continue on to the Estancia. There is a restaurant up on the hill with a fantastic
view and we have lunch here. It pours rain so we stay and have a coffee. Once
the rain has stopped we venture on and find the coffee shop where we hope
to ask if they will have us for dinner. The owner agrees and says they will
make us dinner for 1930. After our simple but delicious dinner we retire back
to the boat where our resident musicians treat us to a night of music and
song.
14/02/07
Today we leave to move further down the Beagle to Estancia Remolinas which
is the second oldest Estancia in Teirra del Fuego. This is past Isla Gable
and Puerto Williams. We eat the last pizza and loaf of bread for lunch with
the last bits of ham. The wind is around 14 knots from the south east so we
are able to get some sail up for a while. At 1700 we arrive and anchor. It
is decided by the dinner watch that we should have a barbeque onshore so we
go over find a suitable spot and collect fire wood. Preparations are made
aboard and then we hit the shore where the fire is on the go. Dinner is bbq
burgers, chicken and steak accompanied by chilli and chicken pasta. It is
delicious and we finished it off with our last wine supply. The estancia itself
is run down and has not been looked after. There is a graveyard up on the
hill of the original founders, the Lawrence family who inherited the estate
from the government for their benevolent works for the local Indian inhabitants.
The sunset is breathtaking and includes a spectacular rainbow. Two of the
crew decide to walk to Ushuaia the following day and sleep ashore by the fire
so that they can make an early start. It is a 22 mile walk.
15/02/07
This morning we collect the sleeping bags left behind by the two crew who
departed 0500 on their long hike to Ushuaia and around 1100 we weigh anchor
and depart down the Beagle. While we are on the way a major clean up is performed.
We arrive around 1500 and anchor in the bay to await tide and a suitable spot
to berth finally moving alongside the pontoon around 2030. This is where Celtic
Spirit will remain for about 6 days before continuing on to South Georgia,
Tristan da Cunha and finally South Africa. It is nearly one month since Celtic
Spirit departed here for Antarctica and the return represents the penultimate
challenge to our voyage.
Deception
Island and Drake Passage
Anderson Harbour and Enterprise Island
Port
Lockroy and Melchoir Base
Mutton
Cove and Vernadsky
Ushuaia to the Antarctic Circle
Ushuaia
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Ushuaia, Argentina
Salvador to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Cape Verde to Salvador, Brazil
Canaries to Cape Verde
Portugal to Canaries
