Justine’s Blog

Where are we now?  Click here to see the map!

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!

Bardsey island is one of my favourite paddles and places and yesterday provided a chance for a very special visit. The recent incessant winds were taking a rest providing the opportunity to kayak across the fast currents and tidal races of Bardsey Sound to reach the gem on the other side.

Barry, Marcus Demuth, Roger Chandler and I dragged ourselves out of our respective beds fairly early to make the most of the visit. The paddle to the island was quite sporty, as we left from Abadaron and hugged the mainland shore to reach the more northerly headland of Braich–y-Pwll. The tide was ebbing through the sound in the opposite direction and the not entirely dormant wind was also against us. Rebounding waves meant we couldn’t tuck right into the shore, so we fought the tide at the small headlands along the way. Nothing too difficult, but exciting and fun!

The tide race at Braich-y-Pwll provided some large waves to bounce up and over as we started our ferry glide across to the island. It was a great paddle under a gradually clearing sky and a dropping wind. We passed Rachel & Jo Porter taking the chance to leave the island for a few days on their small boat. It was great to see them briefly but a shame not to sit down and chat for longer.

Once on the island, we had a cup of tea with Steve & Ben Porter – the island’s only inhabitants at the moment – and took a lovely walk up ‘the mountain’ to enjoy the views back across the Sound and down the Welsh coast.

The wind had almost died for the paddle back and we enjoyed gorgeous views of the coastline, bathed in pink and orange light from the sunset. A few glassy waves at Abadaron finished off a wonderful winters day out!

Marcus has put some great photos up here.

The wind continues to batter Anglesey so Barry and I headed for the Menai Straits again today for some windy paddling in relatively sheltered water. Another advantage of the Straits is that there are a number of excellent places where you can get out of the cold and have a warming drink!

Today we parked outside the Gazelle pub, opposite Bangor Pier, and headed into the wind and the tide towards Y Felinheli. That was Barry’s idea! Good fitness training, he told me! I didn’t really mind – we were sticking close into shore and had plenty to look at with all the houses perched above the water, and plenty of birds from oyster catchers, herons, shelducks, razorbills, redshank, swans, scoters, goosander and even a little grebe. We met some friends out on the water and felt happy to find someone else out on a windy grey day!

After lunch on the slipway of the Conwy centre and a few silly jumps to try to keep warm, we headed back north. The tide had turned and was now against us again, but we were looking forward to a down wind surf back. Unfortunately the wind had swung round to the NW and we saw very little of it behind us! More fitness training then! It was quite fun fighting against the tide to get back through the bridges.

And has become customary in this festive period – we finished with a drink — simply to justify our parking in their carpark, of course.

In amongst the paddling, I’ve been working hard to finish “This is the Roll” ( along with Turner Wilson & Cheri Perry). The finishing touches are happening over the next few days, although we can all be perfectionists so we’ve been filming new material right up until yesterday! Barry sportingly agreed to do some December rolling & to film me. The warm Reed Tuliqs make the ice cream headaches almost bearable, but we still didn’t last very long! We’re really pleased with the results of the DVD though — more news soon, once the editing is done!