Position: Caleta Beaulieu, Seno Pia Eastern
Arm
Date: 25 February 2012
Yesterday we spent a lazy day in Caleta Beaulieu
overlooking the glacier ahead of us and listening to the rushing of the
waterfall down the high steep cliff immediately behind us. The evening before we
had heard long thunder-like rumbles from the glacier at the head of the fjord.
Clearly a lot of ice was thundering from the ice cliff into the water, and by
yesterday morning it had made its way down the fjord towards our
anchorage.
Andrew took the kayak off to have a closer look at the
nearer glacier and found some of the going quite tough, negotiating his way
through the blocks of unyielding ice. Late afternoon and the sun had reappeared
so we untied Mina2 and started making our way the full three miles up to the end
of this arm of the fjord to have a look at the glacier that had caused all the
noise and all the ice. We got half way before the ice became so thick we decided
to turn back and have another go today, hoping that the ice would by then have
dispersed.
In the evening we drank a toast to James, my nephew –
Linda and John’s eldest – and his new wife Kat on this, their wedding day, as
the evening sun threw a pinky-red glow over the mountain tops all around, making
them look like their peaks were on fire.
A couple of times a day I have to send an email to the
Chilean Armada reporting our position – one of the requirements of the permit
they issue to cruise this area. But at the same time we send and receive all our
other emails as well. We had heard from Dawnbreaker that they were heading in
this direction on their way west up to Valdivia on the Pacific coast of Chile.
When Linda, John and I arrived in Stanley in the Falkland
Islands three months ago after our gruelling storm-force passage from Buenos
Aires it was only minutes before Lars and Bob from Dawnbreaker – the only other
visiting yacht in Stanley – came round, introduced themselves, told us where all
the pubs were and suggested we get together for a drink. Within a couple of
hours we had the whole crew of Dawnbreaker on board Mina2 for an anchor nip to
end all anchor nips of potent Brazilian caipirinhas (we provided the cachaça and
they provided the limes). The tone of our relationship was
set.
Lars and I had one strong bond from the outset. We were
both embarking on the adventure of our lifetime. We had spent decades dreaming
and years preparing for our trip down to the deep south, across Drake Passage
and into the icy paradise wilderness of Antarctica – our own personal Everest.
Since our first meeting in the Falkland Islands our paths have crossed and
re-crossed time and time again, in Antarctica, Ushuaia, Puerto Williams and in
the fjords of Tierra Del Fuego. They have stolen from us; we have hacked their
blog and we have enjoyed numerous riotous evenings together. As they now head
west and Mina2 heads east, this would be our final chance to get together for
one last time. We have arranged a rendezvous for this evening in Caleta Cinco
Estrellas in Seno Tres Brazos just a few miles across the channel from where we
are now. Just to be on the safe side, Dolly Mk4 will be untied from the backstay
and put somewhere beyond piratical temptation. It will, I hope and expect, be an
evening to remember. Don’t expect a blog too early tomorrow.
