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The sun shone on a calm sea as Barry and I paddled into the bay surrounded by steep mountains that houses Ushuaia – the town at ‘the end of the world’. Since turning the ‘SE’ corner and heading west along the southern shore of “Isla Grande”, we had become accustomed to starting paddling at 5am and getting as far as we could before the winds picked up, or  until the winds swung around so we couldn’t find any shelter on the north shore. We were usually off the water by noon at the latest. On Thursday, a surprising lapse in the usual strong westerly winds allowed us to paddle the last 30 nautical miles back into ‘civilisation’ in just one day. We surprised Monica with a phone call at 1pm saying “We are at the canoe club”! Marcelo had just arrived back into Ushuaia the same morning, having kayaked with 3 friends from Punta Arenas. We are now staying at their house in Ushuaia for a few days to rest, relax and eat!! We have paddled approximately 270 nautical miles in 13 days and we have approx. 330 nautical miles to go between Ushuaia and Punta Arenas.

 

 

We soon reached the Beagle Channel with is about 4 miles wide, and surrounded on both sides by steep craggy peaks, with a dusting of snow on the tops. There isn’t as much wildlife as on the outer coast, but you can still always see a bird of some description – most commonly cormorants, but also terns, skuas, oyster catchers, a type of heron, a grebe, small waders and the occasional sighting of penguins or dolphins. A few days ago, we reached the ‘road’ again and started to see small shacks, bigger houses, estancias & the occasional car on the road! Yachts, pilot boats and a large cargo ship appeared in the waters. 

We made it to Ushuaia a day earlier than we expected!! The wind was light today and stayed light. We could see our reflections at times, yachts had their motors on and sails down, and we had some tide with us and even a gentle tailwind for a while! So against our expectations, we arrived in Ushuaia at about 1pm after 8 hours on the water. we havent measured the distance, but thought it was about 30 miles. It may have been a bit less than that as due to the light wind we dared to cut across the bays, instead of hugging the coast. We are both happy to be off the water for a while. 13 days paddling in a row and a lot of 4am starts is tiring. The last 2 days my shoulders have groaned at me for the first hour of paddling to let me know that they would like a rest, please!

Moni & Marcelo picked us up from the canoe club in Ushuaia and brought us to their home for some hot food and some relaxation. I will write more later and post a few photos.

Day 13 – Thursday 2 February.

4.26 am: The same story as the last few days! Up at 4 am in the dark, porridge and a cup of tea for breakfast and a launch around 5 am. The Prefectura came to our tent and woke us up last night.

Day 12 – Wednesday 1 February.

4.13 am: It is cold, grey and overcast this morning but not too windy yet. We hope to be on the water by five o’clock, at first light.

1.57 pm: 54.51.94 W67.31.7. A tiring day for us. We paddled for seven and a half hours covering 23 nautical miles into winds  from force 2 in the first two hours  increasing to force 7 by the end. 12 days paddling = sore muscles but it is sunny and warm now and we are pleasantly tired and happy.
We have our sights set on Ushuaia and might make it in 2 days if the wind is on our side.