Sh**fight in the Straits of Magellan

Where do I begin? It was a good trip south – mixed conditions, a good chance to get familiar with the boat and the way things are done onboard … We hove to for nearly 1 ½ days for what we thought was our ‘big blow’ of the voyage; then spent a couple of days battling our way against winds from the wrong direction to get to the Straits, and thought we had a good window to arrive (timing things to have favorable currents). I will write more on this, once the reality sinks in.

Serge says you can experience all four seasons in one day in Tierra Del Fuego. We had snow, and sunshine, dolphins, and fog. And then, about 36nm from our destination – after 10 days at sea – we got hit with a 30k blast. No biggie … Then sleet. And then, the wind started to climb. Hi 30s … low 40s … high 40s … low 50s … 60s … Serge was on lookout in the cuddy (enclosed – thank God) and called Stephen up. ‘There’s something strange …’ he said (although in his French accent it sounded more like ‘Zere’z sumzing stuh-range ahed … ‘ J ). A white squall. Legendary. Stephen says he’s never seen one before … well we got a lifetime’s experience with white squalls on this one and I hope to never see this again as long as I live.

The wind blowing so hard (70k) the water was smoking (and earlier, I discovered, so cold that it froze before it hit you), The seas grew to into rolling mountains of blue green, with so much spray, there was a halo of white across the horizon. A white squall anywhere is a sh**fight … in the narrows of the Straits of Magellan, it was a nightmare. But one thing I noticed … in the spray flying off our leeward side, was a constant rainbow. My Bible-reading friends will recognize this as a symbol of God’s promise … as I did. The failure of any one thing could have screwed us up – had the staysail (furled to the size of a string bikini) or main (reefed down 4X) blown, any sheets or halyards parted, ‘Mr Perkins’ (the engine) stopped, etc -- we would have been up a creek without a paddle. However: kudos to Stephen and the rest of my mates, not only for keeping their heads on, a close watch on all systems, and excellent crew-work; but ALSO for having worked so darned hard to prepare this boat, ‘The Fat English Girl’, so she held strong. So we are very fortunate, and thankful !!!

The white-out conditions finally paled to gray, to clouds, to patches of blue sky, and the wind tamed down into the 20s. We made it to Barranco Amarillo, a small fishing port just north of Punta Arenas, just before dark (long days here in the south). Docking the boat was a work of art – we half expected an audience on the docks, applauding our arrival. We were very content with hot showers, steaks and wine aboard, and a good, long sleep.

More soon, but for now: we are safe & sound, at the bottom of South America. Probably in port longer than expected as the entire boat will have to go through checks – rig, lines, sails, etc – before leaving P.A., which is a pretty neat town (with an internet café – YES!!) Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, sending much love to you all.

PS Sorry about the dodgy photo display I cannot get FB to take my downloads