Sailing in Patagonia

It is a glorious day deep within Patagonia and it sees us aboard the good ship “Commitment” nicely tucked up in one of my all time favourite anchorages. Estero Coloane is just 50 nm west of Ushuaia and is right smack bang in the centre of the gobsmackingly beautiful glaciers and fjords here in Tierra Del Fuego that were carved out by Mother Nature so many years ago.

We left Ushuaia on 24th Nov for our 1st adventure sailing trip of this summer season and none of us want it to end!!!! Each day we are greeted with almost sensory overload as we explore more and more of this labyrinth of waterways taking in the thousands of waterfalls cascading relentlessly down the sides of mountains, glaciers slowly and imperceptibly marching forward dumping their mother load into the ice strewn waters, dolphins, Andean condors, the Andes permanently encapsulated in snow and ice…..one could disappear for months on their boat around here and not see another soul……this is truly a wonderful place.

Damn…it’s GREAT to be back here again!!!

I haven’t written for some time as things have been rather hectic in the Team Mowbray bunker over the last 6months since we put the boat to bed in Puerto Williams in April for winter and flew back to Australia. Life has been hectic through our winter tidying up from last years trips and getting everything in place for this summer.

Many of you will recall me writing about Charlie (dude) Saville and Amanda Gould last season? They were running a 57 foot yacht for a private owner on a 3 year circumnavigation. I met them down here and was so impressed with their capabilities and they were so struck with this part of the world that it seemed totally obvious that we should join forces and so they are now part of the team running “Commitment” this summer. They arrived here in early Nov and took the winter wraps off the boat and spent a lot of time getting everything in place for a busy summer of adventure sailing and I arrived a couple of weeks ago……

On 23rd November we greeted Marion (High school teacher) and Danny (anesthetist) (what a knockout of a guy….gee I’m funny …not!) and their 10 year old son Eamonn aboard and we six have been having truckloads of fun ever since.
Marion says ”All this scenery and “Wow look at that!” every 5 minutes is not proving difficult to cope with. Between admiring Tony, Amanda and Charlie’s expertise in maneuvering the boat in difficult spots, eating Tony’s delicious home cooked bread and drinking copious cups of tea, it sure beats teaching Year 8 (at least for a while- I still love you Year 8 at Winmalee High School!). Danny, Eamonn and I have just got back from a hike up to a beaver dam and were lucky enough to see at least 3 beaver swimming, grazing on vegetation and slapping the water with their tails. This morning we saw a number of dolphins in another inlet and backed the boat up an extremely narrow creek just for fun I think! It has rained a lot but we’ve also had beautiful sunshine and seen Charlie in shorts, this doesn’t happen often apparently. Eamonn has been doing daily schoolwork, learning Spanish mostly.

Danny says….”This place is a knockout!!!”

Eamonn says….”the views are tremendous…the chocolate is great…..I’ve eaten about 10 blocks so far….I like flogging Charlie at Uno …backgammon is next!

Estero Colane has, on the eastern side, a lake which is half way up a mountain and it is there that Marion, Danny & Eamon are climbing, as I type, to have a close up look at a dam made by beavers. Tomorrow we will head over to one of the glaciers that tumble into this Estero (estuary) and we will hike up to face of the glacier to be close enough to feel its icy breath. Lunch today was fresh home made hot bread straight from the oven smothered with the creamiest butter you have ever tasted and topped with thick sliced leg ham or vegemite…whichever takes your fancy. Charlie says “it’s gotta be Marmite….Vegemite is for beginners!”

As a sweet we finished of with home made warm “fruit log”….which is sort of a cross between a fruit cake and a pudding….Gina sailed with us last year and her lasting legacy is her leaving aboard her recipe for an incredibly simple but great cake.

Our sailing trips are all about having an adventurous and fun time in good company…. If you would like to sample some of our style of adventure sailing we still have some berths available on our third trip to Antarctica kicking off on 11th February.

Our next Patagonian trip fires up on 14th March and not only will you be able to experience the wonder that I have written of earlier in this journalistic marvel (not) you will get the added bonus of going the holy grail known as Cape Horn!!!

April will see “Commitment” hanging out exploring the Falkland Islands…..spots are available.You do NOT need to be an experienced sailor…. In fact we attract mostly non sailors…

The Patagonian trips are in smooth water.
To join us all you need is an air ticket, a sense of humour and a personality…. if you haven’t got one then perhaps you might be able to borrow one for the trip!
Ya gotta laugh haven’t ya!!!

I hope life is good for you wherever you are and whatever you are doing!

Take care
Tony Mowbray