Still in Stanley

Caramor - sailing around the world
Franco Ferrero / Kath Mcnulty
Mon 14 Mar 2016 19:40

Crossings always take us time to recover from. We find we sleep a lot and wonder why ... then we remember. Stanley is a good place to recover, Maiden Haven offers Caramor total shelter, the Waterfront cafe serves good coffee and lemon meringue pie and our friends are hospitable and helpful.

The first few days after our return, I spent, mostly, at the small hospital. I left behind a bucket of earwax (yes, yuk!) and a tooth (much missed, which had split from top to bottom) and came away with several boxes of strong painkillers for my back.

Franco was finally able to relax. Unfortunately, when he picked up a jerrycan of water, his back spasmed and he has been in bad pain since.

In the absence of chiropractors, the only remedy for back pain is rest, pain killers, hot / cold compresses, bananas and kale (and chocolate, surely?). Such food items are hard to come by in the Falklands but friends have rallied once again; Steph made a banoffee pie and Janet and Bob have very generously given us a large bag of (homegrown!) kale and other greens. We haven't been totally idle though, Karl made a steel bracket to reinforce Caramor's tiller and fitted it with Franco last Saturday. I have bought up the Falkland's supply of foam sleeping mats and used them to insulate the forepeak. 


Super Caramor's bionic tiller

Karl and Franco hard at work

The day after we arrived, we heard a familiar voice on the VHF radio. It was Bernhard of yacht 'Casa' arriving in Stanley to sell his boat. After departing Piriapolis, he had sailed with his son Manuel down to Puerto Williams and then on to Antarctica. Manuel flew back to Austria from Ushuaia to continue his studies and Bernhard started looking for a buyer. He contacted the only Falkland Islander he had ever met, in the Canaries to enquire about brokers in the Falklands and the guy's dad decided to buy Casa.

Caramor and Casa with skippers Franco and Bernhard

Bernhard left early this morning on a cargo ship, heading for Uruguay. We offered him to sail with us to Puerto Williams. "Pffff" he said, "I'm out of here, I've had enough wind and rough seas to last me for months". Some people are just so ungrateful.

One morning we found a couple of strangers on our pontoon. We soon found out that we shared several friends back in Wales. It's a small world! Jenny and John are in town for the play "A Father for my Son", the story of Kathleen Scott, the wife of the famous Antarctic explorer. Kathleen, a sculptor, was a remarkable woman in her own right. 

From left to right: John, Jenny, Franco, Steph and Sherwood at the Town Hall Theatre

March is living up to its reputation for being windy. We are looking for a weather window and, although we would like to visit West Falkland, if the wind is right for heading straight for Chile, that is what we will do.

Kath