Hello Friends
Video clips are working............it was pilot error!

I am just back in the United States and will once again be posting on my blog. This one will be short with more to come. I have been very busy since returning and hope to come back here regularly to keep friends informed of the new plans for sailing and voyaging aboard the little boat.

Spirits. I sailed into and through one of the remotest places on earth and anchored where I could. This meant at times in places where the Yaghan anchored. It was always interesting to hear the screaming winds and to feel these places in the black of night.

I know a place...............where I am certain................... What people they must have been to live in such a place.
Selecting topographic maps last year in Santiago. 
I carried both nautical charts and topographic maps. I used only charts, compass, a watch, topo maps and pencil on paper. I did not use a GPS, nor carry a calculator or electronic nav program/chart plotter and carried no recorded music or radio other than a VHF. I had a satellite phone for communicating with school kids and an In Reach Delorme for use in keeping the Armada current on my course. Daily updates and tracking is a strict requirement by the Armada for any vessel private or commercial sailing their waters. 

I sailed for solitude, to learn new skills and to experience the grandeur of the place. The challenge of navigating old school has always been my way and I was fascinated by the inherent challenges in navigating the islands, which are by any measure extremely difficult to understand. Joshua Slocum and many more have become lost and disoriented in the Southwest islands. Daily navigation was an excellent brain exercise to augment the small library of books I brought. Fortunately my navigation was spot on with the exception of one five hour period one day.

The El Decano

The David family. Owners of the best place to stay in Punta Arenas. I look forward to staying with them again. In December a film crew was along and all of us stayed there, excellent! 
These people became close friends.
The photo above is my boat crated and ready (well almost) to she out of Punta Arenas. I did tack down the cover tarps a bit more. Today is April 6th and she sits awaiting pickup and delivery to the customs dock and ship.
Here she is with my friend Marcelo (Armada de Chile). Marcelo and his daughter were with me on several occasions and Marcelo has become quite the friend. 

On the beach, Strait of Magellan
View from the fishing boat ElDecano as we made our way south to rescue my boat.
We got her!

John and me in the wheel house of the ElDecano

My brothers John, Patricio and their families. Also Marcelo and his daughter. Great folks.





On the beach prior to departure on the Strait of Magellan. Sailing the Strait of Magellan was one of the more difficult sails I have made in my life.

Once I crossed the Strait to the infamous Dawson Island and south then everything became quite complex and even harder but I was OK with that as I knew coming in how hard it would be. I feel quite good about having sailed such a small boat south on the Strait. According to officers in the Armada they have no smaller boat in their records, so either I am just plain odd or perhaps crazy but I have to say I had a fantastic challenge and resultant experience.

My boat was everything I expected of all 11' 11" of it. SCAMP like many small boats is not designed for such a voyage but I did my best to modify her to work and work she did. I was very pleased. Southern Cross is not meant to be the fastest, the best looking, most able, toughest, but I have to say for such a tiny boat she did everything I wanted her to do and I am very glad I took the time to develop her as I did.




The recovery of Southern Cross. This was somewhat of an ultimate challenge as we not only raced the weather and long odds but we also raced another larger, faster better equipped boat that seemed bent on salvaging Southern Cross. Here we are in the Beagle Channel.

We got her and it was an almost impossible job! Here we are headed to Puerto Williams in some very cold weather. This is about 7am. We anchored near the base of a glacier on the Beagle Channel and it snowed during the night. We pushed hard the day before and came into the anchorage in driving sleet/rain mix and absolute pitch black. It was a piece of work to get in and anchored.

Please check back here often as I will now make time to continue the story of my experiences.

Thank you to all of you who have followed my trip, I am not done yet!


Comments

  1. Howard,

    First off, Welcome Home!! We can't wait to learn more about not only your excellent adventure, but also what you learned and how your different systems worked out for you. So glad you are safe and your boat has been rescued. I know that boat has a part of your soul epoxied into it's hull.

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    1. Thanks Brent. I hear you may build another SCAMP.

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  2. Welcome Home Howard! :-)

    What an adventure you had!

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    1. Thanks Sean. Looking forward to a feet up talk with you sometime, hopefully soon.

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  3. Sure do love hearing the details of how you made this work – and the beautiful videos. Thank you for making the effort to tell us about it!
    Shemaya

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    1. Thank you. I am glad I can share a little about my experiences. They were varied from pure joy to extremely difficult. I am so glad I made the voyage, it was excellent, all of it.

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