The Rules of Circumnavigation
Are there any? Do we make them up to suit our purpose? Does anyone care?
18 months ago, Barry and I decided to try to circumnavigate “Isla Grande”, Tierra del Fuego. We poured over Google earth, chatted to paddlers who knew something about the area, wrote letters for permission, told websites and magazines about our ‘world first’ attempt, sought sponsorship and booked our flights. After some delays, we launched full of hope, energy and excitement. But it wasn’t to be. We did paddle almost a third of the distance and made some good friends but tendonitis stopped us in our tracks & we returned home somewhat disheartened.
A year later, we are back to try to finish where we left off. This time, we left more quietly – not wanting to draw attention to ourselves in case there was some reason we wouldn’t be able to fulfil our dream again. But equally hopeful of paddling alongside the beautiful and challenging coastline that we weren’t able to see last year.
Happily, we have already completed the next third of the trip from close to Rio Grande to Ushuaia. Now the most beautiful section is left – the 330 miles between Ushuaia and Punta Arenas where the tail end of the Andes Mountains pierce the sea, and glaciers carve blue ice into the narrow Beagle Channel.
And that brings us to our dilemma? We fly home from Ushuaia, so at some point we have to travel by road between Ushuaia and Punta Arenas. Do we continue to paddle clockwise around ‘Isla Grande’, which is mostly against the dominant westerly winds and currents and then travel back to Usuhaia by road, or do we drive up to Punta Arenas and kayak with the winds back to Ushuaia.
Barry and I have been pondering over this question for a few months and we keep changing our minds. Are we wimping out of a challenge if we don’t do the ‘circumnavigation’ clockwise? Will we be disappointed afterwards if we take the ‘relatively’ easy option? Are we feeling pressured to take the ‘tougher’ choice by being sponsored, or by what other people will think?
I still don’t know the answers, but we have decided to drive up to Punta Arenas and kayak back to Ushuaia. We think we will be able to enjoy the beauty of the area more by doing it this way. If we continue clockwise then we will need to get up in the dark for a week or more, and kayak hard from first light until the wind picks up. We have already done this for a week from the SE tip of ‘Isla Grande’, and it was quite tough, but satisfying. But if we continue paddling from Ushuaia we will feel pleased with ourselves afterwards, but we may feel compelled to make the most of any good weather which might mean keeping going past the beautiful glaciers (which are very close to Ushuaia). We may never paddle here again, so we’d like to spend some time enjoying it.
Monica & Marcelo will kindly drive us up to the ferry to Punta Arenas tomorrow (Saturday). We’ll spend a couple of days with Kiko and his family while we get permission to kayak in Chilean waters and buy the last few things we need, then we’ll be on our way to Ushuaia.
If we succeed in paddling back to Ushuaia we will have paddled the entire coastline around “Isla Grande”, over 2 separate trips, and not in the same direction. Can we then claim to be the ‘first people to circumnavigate Tierra del Fuego’… who knows? I guess if we cared enough about the answer then we’d continue clockwise! 
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Do whatever you feel like and decide non to care about what other people think. If somebody don’t think your achievement is “good enough” let them go and do it better. Very few if any will.
I’ve circumnavigated the island of Sardinia, like you have, and I did it in two parts. I’ve still been all the way around, I’ve still had a fantastic experience, and if I did it slower than others, so much the better for me 🙂
Yes Justine and Barry, do what you like best. Life is yours, not those who are watching and maybe they think to be important if they judge you who are in Tierra del Fuego, them sitting on a chair warm! I’m glad to see you happy and what you send us is always a great wonderful gift! a big hug
Hi Guys,
As has been said above – its your trip to do as you wish. It should be about enjoying it and as you rightly point out, you are unlikely to get there again any time soon. I find the sponsorship thing all very interesting but your sponsors must realise that you are on the coal face as it were and therefore should be your decision. Regarding what the rest of the paddling community thinks then I am sure if they know you two they are not going to be worried how you did it as you are hardly likely to take the easy option. The beauty of what we do is that it should be non competitive and remain non competitive otherwise not such good things can happen – we have all seen it! Take care and can’t wait to see the pics/footage. Have fun.
Holyhead! You have nothing to prove, you are explorers!
I’m not sure I’ve ever circumnavigated even a small island with that as the aim of my trip. Head down paddling with the aim of setting a record of some sort would mean missing out on some amazing stuff.
‘Miniature Forests of Cape Horn’ ISBN-10: 1574414488 ISBN-13: 978-1574414486 describes people spending a week exploring the bio-diversity in one tree … You miss all that if your focus isn’t about exploring.
Yea, you are explorers!
Glad to read that you both are doing well.
You’re facing a bit of a tough dilemma. While I appreciate what other folks are saying in their comments, I’m not sure if it’s quite that simple.
If you’re doing it all for yourselves, then being proud of your accomplishments should be enough (and you should be proud of yourselves!).
I think you may be facing a different set of realities and you’re right to be considering the weight of your claim. You have to consider responsibilities to sponsors, media and how valuable you think owning the claim is. People scrutinize things like “world’s first”, “world’s longest”, etc. If you decide to make the claim that your trip is a first, be prepared to have people question your achievement. I think you have a reasonable claim to having circumnavigated the island but in the world we live in, it’s not likely everyone will see it the same way.
Good luck, keep taking photos and sharing your journey, and travel safely!
The easiest way? There is no easy way in Tierra del Fuego, ever. What you will paddle, see and experience you will keep in your souls forever. Even if you tried to share this with the rest of the world only a small piece could be perceived in its real dimension. And that´s what this is all about, no one but you will know what you have experienced in every coast, no matter what the papers say afterwards. The other´s opinions can be varied as you being treated like a hero or the opposite. But do they know what really happened there in every piece of coast?. Again, that is something you will both treasure, and its not under discussion.Besos a los dos