In just a few days, Barry and I head back to Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America. A year ago, we attempted to kayak 1,000 miles around ‘Isla Grande”, a large island in Patagonia. Wrist problems caused us to stop the trip after about a quarter of the distance. We paddled from Punta Arenas in Chile to just beyond Rio Grande in Argentina along a rugged, windswept coast before coming home early. We hope to start where we left off at a lone building at the small headland of Punta Maria a few miles south of Rio Grande.

I’m pleased to have our Hilleberg Tarra tent, which is built to withstand the strong winds down there.

Big thanks to Kokatat for a few new bits of kit like pogies to go with my drysuit that gave me last year. Thanks to Chris Reed for modifying Barry’s Reed drysuit by putting on looser neoprene wrist seals.

Thanks to Lyon Equipment for topping up our supply of ortlieb dry bags to keep our kit dry, & ortlieb water carriers to keep our water wet! They also replaced my warm Exped down matt (I gave mine to Sarah Outen when hers got stolen).

Iridium agreed that Barry and I can take one of Sarah’s satellite phones to Tierra del Fuego (while she is overwintering in Japan, and doesn’t need a spare)! Thanks to Iridium (and Sarah) for the phone and sponsored minutes.

Sea 2  Summit gave us some great accessories, including fantastic mugs which consetina down into a flat circle, and a handy waterproof first aid kit. Peak UK gave Barry some pogies to keep the wind out.

Icebreaker gave us some lovely warm thermals last year, and gave me another pair of leggings & merino underwear this year.

Big thanks to Keen for giving us some shoes to wear on land and on the water. We both chose the same shoes – lightweight waterproof trainers for on land, and mesh shoes with a good sole for over our drysuits.

Shred Ready sent me a Shaggy helmet to keep my head protected if we have any surf or rocky landings. I’ve worn it on a paddle in Wales and it’s a really comfy fit. I’m almost looking forward to some surf!

Last year Jamie at Natural Balance Foods gave us some fantastic Nakd and Trek bars to fuel our engines with natural goodness, and he’s sent us some more this year. All the bars are 100% natural fruit and nut, and Trek bars have high protein content. Yummy and healthy.

We just picked up a new Bombora LV paddle for Barry from Lance at Mitchell Blades in Chester – the blades are a lovely shade of blue (a brand new colour – the first of it’s kind!). Thanks to Lance for making them at short notice.

We’re really looking forward to seeing Monica and Marcelo again – a couple who we stayed with for 3 weeks in Rio Grande last year. They have now moved to Ushuaia and Moni will meet us at the airport and take us back to their house. Marcelo is paddling on his own trip from Punta Arenas to Ushuaia with some friends – Marcelos’ updates will be here. We will see him later on in February. Good luck amigo.

We hope to start paddling fairly quickly. The Valley nordkapps we shipped over to South America are still there so when we arrive, we just need to buy food and a few other bits and pieces. We are meeting the Argentinian navy on Saturday in Rio Grande and if they approve of our kit, insurance documents etc then we can start paddling on the same day. Providing the weather is good enough, of course!

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