Beached In Tierra Del Fuego

When a solo sailor Went aground in a remote area, skip novak came to the rescue

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It is rare to leave the Antarctic Peninsula earlier than need be. No matter how much time you allow for a cruise in that splendid and awe-inspiring environment it is never enough time and the return across the Drake is done with regret, if not outright trepidation.

This February my Swiss Italian charter guests, on their sixth cruise with Pelagic Australis, were somewhat disappointed with the weather conditions. We had planned an eight-day ski mountaineering trip on Anvers Island but due to miserable drizzly weather with continuous low cloud the enthusiasm for what would be a major undertaking had ebbed.

The bad weather continued unabated, so we sailed far south searching for the edge of the polar high with no luck, other than one blue sky day on our return north to the central section of the Peninsula.

Luckily, all but one of the team had been on the Antarctic Peninsula before, some twice, and knew what it could be like so they were resigned with the decision to head back to Tierra del Fuego early, not least of all to beat a major depression that would be approaching the western Drake Passage in three days’ time. Seasickness is always an issue for non-sailing mountaineers so there were no dissenters to this plan. So, motor sailing it was.

To burn off the charter time remaining I had proposed four days making stops on the infrequently visited Argentine coast east of the entrance to the Beagle Channel. After the dull, grey weather in the south the beech forests would be easy on the eye and we could stretch our legs across the spongy, boggy terrain that the locals call La Turba. Bushes on the margins of this solid sea of sphagnum moss are peppered with ripening calafate and manzanita berries well worth picking for the crumble, and a good antidote to any bad memories of mal de mer.