Almost 3 years after taking on the wild surf and unpredictable weather of New Zealand’s South island, Barry and I feel ready for another challenging trip in a wild and beautiful area of the world. Neither of us have ever kayaked in South America before but we both feel a pull towards the narrow channels of Chilean Patagonia, where we can gaze up at ice-clad mountains and maybe watch glaciers carving into the sea. We recently became aware that there is an island down there at the tip of the world, about the size of Ireland, with a tantalising mix of history, culture, wildlife, natural beauty and challenging conditions. “Tierra del Fuego” is part Chilean and part Argentinian, part steep sided channels and part exposed coastline. It’s a place where you can get 4 seasons in one day and where the wind doesn’t rest for long.

As far as we know, no-one has kayaked around Tierra del Fuego before, although Argentinian paddlers Agustin Garcia Albarido, Luis Garcia Albarido & Diego Lamas kayaked down the exposed east coast of Tierra del Fuego earlier this year as part of their incredible cycling and kayaking trip down the entire coast of Argentina. Marcus Demuth & Biff Wruszek paddled 2/3 of the way around La Isla Grande last year before being storm-bound for about 12 days in a row. They were running low on food and time and were evacuated by helicopter. We don’t mind if anyone has, or does, kayak around before us but we are looking forward to visiting this incredible area that has the ability to bring me up in goosebumps at just the thought of it!

We plan to fly to Tierra del Fuego in early January 2011 and will allow 2 and a half months for the 1,000 mile journey. This might sound like a lot of time, but we know we will have to satisfy the Chilean & Argentinean Armada’s that we have the correct experience and equipment before we can set off, and we know we will be weather-bound a lot of the time, waiting for the incessant winds to abate enough to go paddling.

Our Valley Nordkapps are already on their way to Punta Arenas by container ship and we are busy trying to secure the various permissions we need to kayak in Argentinean and Chilean waters, orgainse our kit, study the charts and the pilot & read up about the area. As always with these trips, there are lots of people behind the scenes who are already offering us help and support. Despite the fact we’ve only told a few friends that we are going to TDF so far, I’ve had emails from several people I don’t know offering help and advice. In particular, thank you very much to Marcus Demuth for sending us his charts and for always being helpful with information and contacts. Thanks also to local paddlers Kiko from Punta Arenas, & Marcelo & Monica from Rio Grande for their invaluable help in our correspondence with the authorities.

There is a bit more information on my website.

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