Update on Found Plane

The authorities have said it is Argentinian, an Avro Lincoln Mk2, plane number B-019 which was flying from Rio Gallegos south, had 11 people onboard and went missing on the 22nd of March 1950.

Apparently the Chilean Air Force at the time did and aerial search over 6,500,000 Km of territory to find it but never did. Check us out on CNN

Lost Souls in the Mountains

The glacial ice creaks and groans, the stout windblown trees rustle from the incessant gales that sweep the area, and at the base of the glacier lie the souls of adventurers who flew in their airplane with a dream of success in Antarctica.

We have not been able to report to you all about the discovery that the team on Xplore made during this last expedition in the remote fiords of Tierra del Fuego (TDF) until now. We were exploring the bays and glacial basins off the arms of Seno Almirantazgo when one of the shore party teams’ VHF radio started calling back to the yacht with a squealed excitement.

Rodrigo had gone further up the glacial valley than anyone else and what he found after crossing the glacial moraine would open a wave of intrigue about what he had uncovered.

Lying at the base of the glacier, partially covered with ice and moraine soil were the remains of a large aircraft that had smashed itself to pieces as it had flown straight into the mountains.

Rodrigo's first reactions were a mixture of excitement and emotion as he relayed to the shore teams and Xplore what he was looking at. Touching and turning over pieces in his hands, the size of the parts lying there could not be taken lightly. The huge landing wheel couldn't even be lifted. The sections of the twin tail planes showed telltale signs of the type of craft, and the seat belt in his hand was rusted and of a design from many years ago. The huge propellers lay there, still with their yellow tips, bent and twisted. But the discovery of a parachute that he started to tug on, as it was partially buried, stopped him short in his tracks as he realized that there may be something on the other end of it, and the shards of bones lying mixed within the soil and ice could be …?

Rodrigo returned to Xplore with a few items and a lot of photos, his heartbeat was still erratic as the whelm of ideas and emotions were shared within the whole team. Where did it come from, what nationality, where was it going? Who was onboard?

Just over 24 hours ago, Xplore docked at the fishermen's dock here in the Straits of Magellan, Punta Arenas (Sandy Point). Waiting on the dock were five men from the Civil Aviation, Army and Air Force, who looked very serious. They waited until we had Xplore tied up and then the questions started to roll, on and on they probed Rodrigo about the events and discovery.

Late last night we received news that some possible answers were coming to light. During the Second World War and into the 1950's the Chilean and Argentinean Air Forces had used Avro Lancaster aircraft in the area, and we had evidence of Spanish markings on the plane’s fuselage. These planes normally flew in military operations with eight crew and had the capability to carry 15 passengers/troops.

Even though there had been no listed missing aircraft in this part of TDF, the authorities had received news that in the 50's two Lancaster aircraft had departed from Argentina en route to Antarctica. With extreme weather along the way, both had turned and headed to Punta Arenas to escape the conditions. Only one landed.

Is the twisted wreckage that we have found the other lost plane?

The investigation continues

~ Stephen

Don’t go to sea on Friday the 13th !!

When you are woken with a slam to the top of your head at five in the morning, it can take you by surprise! Your mind tries to quickly work out what the hell is going on. Am I sleeping with a gorilla which has just tossed me out of the tree, am I sleep walking and smacked into a brick wall

-- orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, holy shit Bat Man, the boat has just hit something.

Sure enough, the forecast winds for Friday the 13th had arrived and that was the start of a very memorable day, for all the wrong reasons.

The night before at the dinner table, Victor (Victoko by nickname) was joking about Friday the 13^th. He was suggesting all sorts of nasty things, but even as we laughed, I had a small amount of dread in the back of my mind. Maybe it was that I knew the weather forecast, or maybe with so many years at sea I am becoming a little superstitious.

Now back to that thump in the top of my head. Any skipper knows when their boat is in trouble, and as I flew out of bed in only my underpants and skidded to a stop in the cold rain and wind, my fears were a very real reality. In our little anchorage where we were tied with three 26mm polysteel line to shore, we had lost the rear stern line and Xplore, in the strong winds, had moved forward and touched bottom (hence the sudden stop and my head banging against the cabin bulkhead (wall). “Damn and bugger,” I muttered to myself as I quickly jumped down the companion way and started the main engine. I had to get the boat and the situation under control damn fast.

My crew were pretty fast behind me and I was thankful that one of them handed me my wet weather jacket, as standing there on deck, just about naked wasn’t going to help the humor of the day (or maybe the crew couldn’t stand to see me like that). Anyway, we quickly got the boat and situation sorted out and Xplore was tied up once again in these blustery conditions. I had felt the katabatic gusts during the early hours in the morning but an exceptionally strong blast, with enough force of leverage had actually torn the tree that our stern line was attached to, out of the ground. Well, there's a first in life.

With all that commotion early in this "Lucky" day, I needed an hour sleep before I could face the new day, probably more to let my nerves settle than anything. I faintly dozed and then "shaken but not stirred," we moved on.

So out we headed. The mission for the day was to survey three islands and check them for wildlife nesting locations. The SE winds had eased, but were still gusty as we turned the corner and headed back into Seno Almirantazgo. We moved along under motor at a smooth rate and life seemed normal. An hour later, we were reaching our first island, when crew Audrey informed me that there could be a problem with the starboard heads (toilet). Sure enough, I checked the toilet and it was blocked. I persevered for 15 minutes, trying everything under the sun to unblock it but she was buggered. In a foul mood, I stormed back up on deck, knowing that a full strip down of the pumps were needed.

After a smoko break, I headed down with a bundle of tools and started pulling it apart. Lo and behold, it wasn’t a shit that had blocked it, but a huge piece of Fuegan kelp had been sucked up into the water intake pipe and blocked it solid. “Well,” I said, “this is turning into a fine day,” as we started to rock and bounce a bit.

Back on deck, the winds had turned and turned bad, straight on the nose, and by the looks of the clouds poring in from the SW, this was not going to be a good day. Big cumulonimbus clouds, wind blown were flying along, and we were being pounded. With headsail out, we clawed our way up the Straits of Admiralantazgo.

Waves and water were pouring over the decks as the combination of wind against tide were giving us really shitty conditions, and those waves were getting bigger by the hour. This was going to be a very slow day. At the nav area, I was working away at a revised schedule and options of where we could go and be located by the end of this "Lucky" day, when all of a sudden I heard a “Sploosh” as I felt the boat lurch from another wave. “Oh shit,” I think someone heard me say as I rushed forward to the cabin areas, to find that two of the hatches had been closed, but not properly, and sure enough, we had taken a good dose of sea water into their areas. “Bugger, damn,” I spluttered, “what a fine day this is turning into,” as I crawled around the floor with a sponge and small bucket before all the seawater soaked into everything.

Hmmm, time for a cuppa (mug of tea) and a few ciggies (cigarettes). We continued with the rhythmic thump thump, splash splash as we tacked our way to the NW. Three more miles and then we could make the final 100 degree turn that would take us into Bahia Brooks. But along comes crew Julia who informs me that someone had left the head’s valve open and that the bathroom was flooded with salt water!

“!#$!^^^$%#&#&#&%#.” Yes, you can imagine I didn’t say nice things but hey, this was Friday the 13^th. The question was, what was going to happen next ?

We all sat quietly and kept our thoughts to our selves; we all know that "Shit Happens" but today was really taking the piss out of us. Like a cat on a hot tin roof, we waited and made sure that we checked and double-checked everything that we did and what was happening. We didn’t want any more of this game today, we had all had a gut full.

Quietly we slipped into our anchorage that evening, tired and in need of a good stiff drink. No other unexpected things happened that afternoon, but needless to say, the selection of strong trees were very good.

Xplore and the adventure here in Tierra Del Fuego continue.

~Stephen

Stanley to South Georgia Island

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling The rattle of the staysail sheet slaps against the leeward deck, as the wind is shielded by the mainsail; and we smoothly slip to the east and to our destination of South Georgia. Leaving Stanley went well, with the strong breeze abating after 36 hours of gale force winds which buffetted the tiny township. Being next to the commercial dock had its advantages and disadvantages; protection from the large harbour swell ... but the entire boat is coated with metal sand-blasted steel from the ship repair work. Even with constant deck washing whilst there, we have the markings of a steel scrap yard, with millions of rust spots from the debris as we sail to South Georgia. With a steady forecast of WNW to NW winds, we are able to pole out the headsail and make a dead downwind run along the Southern Ocean swells. In the first 12 hours we average over 8.8 knots and cover more than 100 nautical miles, setting the stage for a brisk passage. In just two days, life with all the crew and people has quickly settled into a smooth routine; this different, rolly polly point-of-sail marks the final leg to adestination they have all been dreaming about for years ... Stephen

XPLORE arrives in Stanley, Falkland islands

Heel angle high, cup level low The final 18 hours into Stanley was an interesting sail for all. Within the team on Xplore for South Georgia we have Allan Stott from the UK, John Wilson from Canada, John and Kristy Totton from Alaska, and crew mate Audrey from France - making it an eclectic mix of cultures, ages and experience. The team though in this breezy stonking trip up to Stanley have been great; no one has been particularly sea sick and everyone is settling into life at sea and on Xplore. With good forecasting information we had positioned ourselves to the north so the strong north and then west/northwest winds would give us favorable sailing directions. The final six hours sailing up the southeast coast of the East Falkland island were fine on the nose, so heel angle was max, keeping the level of tea in the mugs very low. But through good fortune we arrived into Stanley at a sociable hour, and even as the afternoon winds started to fade, the warm smiles on the faces of good friends Dion Poncet, of Golden Fleece, and Ian Bury, mechanical repairman extraordinaire, were there waiting for us at the wharf, to take our lines. It has been three years since I was last here in Stanley; for me, it's such a nice, refreshing change to be back in 'Little England'. ~ Stephen [note: Xplore leaves Stanley shortly, for South Georgia Island]

Ushuaia to Stanley: Day Three

Calm day wild night Dawn woke those on board with a smile as the seas had flattened out and started to rock people to sleep as opposed to throwing them out of their bunks. Calm smooth sailing continued all morning and I actually was able to sleep for more than half an hour. The after noon saw increasing breeze from the north and we started to prepare the boat for yet another nighttime blow: four reefs in the main, yankee No2 reduced by 30% and the staysail by 20%. As sure as water always tries to find its level, the winds built and built to relieve its forces. By 9pm we had over 40 knots true over the deck, sailing close hauled ... by 12 midnight we had furled the yankee and settled the boat down to a calmer 8 knots, instead of the on-the-edge 9.5 upwind. The shift that we were expecting happened as predicted, but like watching a kettle boil, it happened so slow. Alone on watch, I had decided to make yet another cup of tea, and by the time I had arrived back at the chart table it had started to turn: 5, 10 and then 20 degrees, it was turning and dropping as I sat there all within two minutes; in 10 minutes it had changed 120 degrees and the boat had virtually come to a standstill. With no yankee out, the boat had come down to 2.9 knots of boat speed and the auto pilot wasn't going to have anything to do with it! It wouldn't and couldn't hold course - we needed speed to give steerage way. On deck I quickly turned off the auto pilot, unfurled the yankee, and sheeted on. Hand steering, I slowly brought her back to the wind, which now was an entirely different heading. With sails set now for a beam/broad reach we gained way, and the wind gain as well - even faster. This new shift was a demon: within minutes we were back to 38 knots, 15 minutes later it was 44. Night grew into a faint dawn and the watches changed. I was exhausted but stayed with the others for an hour to see if there were going to be any other surprises. Thankfully not ... the wind speed remained a consistent at 38 to 42 knots, with a wind angle of120 degrees, giving Xplore a well and truly needed nudge in the right direction. ~ Stephen

Ushuaia to Stanley: Day Two

Today we headed out of Puerto Williams at 5 am with calm port conditions, on the tail end of a cold southerly low that brought ice and snow from Antarctica. The Eastern Beagle Channel held these cold winds with cumulonimbus downbursts all the way to the Lemaire strait. Each mass of cloud that rolled through brought ice, hail and snow as we flew along under shortened sail. In 14 hours we had covered 123 nautical miles, averaging 8.7 knots with peaks into the 12 knot range as we surfed down waves. In the sunny breaks - where the mounds of snow slowly melted out of the folds of the reefs in the mai sail - we enjoyed the pods of Fuegan dolphins surfing and playing with the yacht. These dolphins love to play: fast, snub-nosed and full of energy, they put on a show that would have impressed the crowds at Sea World. Night sets in and we are now snuggled down for a night where the winds are due to ease ... At present we are beam-reaching on a northly course, hoping to make ground before the next low pressure front arrives in 18 hours: they come thick and fast here in the south. With 280nm to Stanley we hope for smooth, fast sailing and no more snow. ~ Stephen

Ushuaia to Stanley: Day One

Ushuaia November 3rd / Puerto Williams November 4th Lat 54 56 S 67 37 W "One week on board a boat in port before a long passage can be hell, frustrating, hard work or just a long grind, as the preparation list gets smaller and smaller ... Finally, mid-afternoon today, Xplore headed out from Ushuaia for the Chilean port of Puerto Williams - loaded with provisions, fuel and clients - before heading east for the Falkland Islands. This we need to do because the Argentinians still insist that in leaving Argentina - if sailing to the Falklands /Malvinas - you don't need to clear customs because the Malvinas are theirs!! (However if you do this you will have a very unfriendly and complicated arrival and entry, by the English constables!) So late on the 3rd we arrive and settle down in Puerto Williams for the night, after completing our entry and exit paper work. Unfortunately the forecast for the 4th is not good ... there is a fair chance the port will be closed as the prognosis is for another low pressure cell (958mb) due overnight, with winds around the corner of the island peaking at 100 knots (hmmmm just a tad windy, even for down here). And so at dawn on Nov. 4th, Xplore sits in port, rocking to the gusty winds which tear through the mountain ranges of Navarino island; bringing showers and snow flurries from the south. A cold but relaxing day before heading off tomorrow." Xplore - Stephen Wilkins, Skipper & Expedition Leader