Author: Justine

I think the first stages of madness are setting in!

Today started well as we passed the kit inspection & got our passports stamped by the police so we can kayak across the Chile/ Argentine border. Just when we thought we were ready

to leave we were told that we don’t have permission to start kayaking until the Armada (navy) considers the weather forecast is good enough. There is a force 4/5 headwind which is due to increase so we probably wouldn’t have gone anyway but it’s day 11 and we’re anxious to get going soon. It would be nice to be able to make the judgement and decision about when we launch ourselves so we could react quickly & jump on the water if the wind drops or swings round to be  more behind us. The first stretch of coast has lots of landing options and is very close to a road so we could get off the water quickly if we wanted or needed to.

I shouldn’t really be surprised at this decision as it’s becoming a pattern that just when you think all the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed, it turns out that the j’s need to be dotted aswell!

I’m mostly succeeding in seeing this as all part of the adventure, but we would both like to get kayaking pretty soon. Tomorrow may be too windy aswell, but we’ll see.

Por fin! Finally! We got our kayaks this afternoon. We turned up at the port at midday, as arranged but were told there weren’t enough people there to open the container that the kayaks were in so we had to come back that afternoon. When we returned we had to wait for an hour in an office, but at 4pm we were shown to the wooden crate that Barry made back in November at Valley seakayaks. The sturdy box had done it’s job well and we were relieved and excited to open the crate and reveal two spotless Nordkapps. Kiko, Barry and I spent the next 2 hours dismantling the 6 metre long box, unscrewing the screws with little screwdrivers and crowbarring the plywood and pallets off it! My hands and wrists still feel a bit weird. We had to pay extra fees because the port released the kayaks ‘quickly’ for us! I guess I shouldn’t complain – it only took 3 and a half days from when the boat arrived in Punta Arenas.

We’ve spent the last 3 hours customizing the kayaks a bit; for example putting foam pads by my knees, lengthening the cord that ties the hatches onto the kayak, glueing in under deck bags and securing our kayak trolley on the cockpit floor. It’s the first time we’ve used a Nordkapp on a trip so Barry is out there now working out how he’ll pack his boat. I should go and do the same.

Tomorrow at 9am we have an inspection from the Chilean navy. If they are happy with our kit then we’ll get permission to kayak around Tierra del Fuego and off we can go! I’m not sure if the weather will allow that though. We measured the wind at 63 knots this afternoon, about 120km/hour, from a northerly direction. If it’s still like that tomorrow – or even half the strength, we won’t be going anywhere just yet.

Overall we are very excited to have the kayaks here & it won’t be too long before we’re on the water.

Our kayaks arrived in Punta Arenas very early on Friday, which was very exciting. We had hoped we could collect them on Friday afternoon, have our kit inspection by the Chilean navy on Saturday and start our trip on Sunday….

Think again! On our first visit to the port on Friday morning, we were told “What kayaks?” After swapping our passports for visitors passes and going to 4 different offices, we at least got an acknowledgement that the kayaks were here – somewhere! After a few phone calls and a further visit to a 5th office on Friday afternoon we were told we can collect the kayaks on Monday at midday. If the kayaks really are ready at midday, then we need to take apart the wooden crate that Barry built, get through customs and return to Kiko’s house by 4pm for an inspection by the Navy! If that all happens without hitches then we hope to start kayaking on Tuesday.

Although we’d hoped to get away quicker, at least now we have a fixed time we can relax until Monday when the fun and games begin again! It has been really frustrating at times and we’ve spent many hours in various offices. I don’t know how we’d have done it without Kiko, who has driven us round between the Port, the Navy, the National Parks authority, Customs, the department in charge of making sure we don’t take vegetables or fruit to or from Argentina, a dried fruit shop, supermarkets, a fuel shop (for the MSR), 3 different outdoor shops to put together a fishing line and a different shop to buy lighters. All the time he is smiling and upbeat while I could tried not to get annoyed by all the delays.

We’re getting to know Punta Arenas which is a clean, orderly town by the sea. Kiko, his wife Vero, and his kids Coto & Maca are great hosts and make us feel very at home here with the added bonus that our Spanish is improving a lot.

The weather has been quite sunny most days, with different amounts of wind. The wind has been from the South or west which would give us a good push if we were paddling. Today the pressure is dropping fast and the trees are being blown all over the place. Let’s hope for a moderate following sea on Tuesday!

I’m used to launching my kayak wherever I like & until now have taken that for granted. But to paddle in Chile & Argentina we need permission from the 2 countries’ navies. Getting that rubber stamp is in some ways more tiring than the kayaking will be. We’ve been writing letters to the authorities for several months already, with the invaluable help of Kiko in Chile, and Monica Aramburu & Marcelo Rosado in Argentina. Today we spent over 2 hours at the Chilean Armada office in Punta Arenas, going over our planned route, finding out that we need to phone them every 3 days to report our position, & we need to contact certain lighthouses & Armada bases when we pass. When our kayaks arrive, members of the Armada will come and inspect all of our kit and make sure we have all the equipment in their mandatory list. If they are satisfied then we get the ‘ZARPE’, permission to navigate that we need. While it would be much easier for us to just get on the water, this is a very rough, windy and potentially dangerous place to kayak so I can understand why they want to make sure that the people who kayak here are experienced and well prepared. The officer we met stressed that the more information they know about where we are, the better they are able to help if we need them.

Also today we did some more shopping, looked around Punta Arenas, celebrated Kiko’s wife Veronica’s birthday, got permission from the customs office to temporarily import our kayaks, sampled ‘matte’ tea… and the day just went by without stops. It’s nearly midnight and Kiko is writing another letter for us…. I can’t wait to get kayaking!