Xplore Punta Arenas to Buenos Aires: 27 March 2009

Upside-down dolphin Of course Xplore is a dolphin -- you try and convince all the hundreds of dolphins that have been swimming and playing with us for the last three hours that we're not !! I'ts just that we are an upside-down one and a bit bigger than them. In their eyes we're just like all of their mates in the ocean: grey body, two fins, likes playing and bouncing off waves, never tires of exercise, and the faster you go the bigger the splooosh and bang when you go into the next wave. Definitely sounds like a dolphin to me! We slipped out of the Straites of Magellan like someone had wiped our ass with baby oil: we got the weather and the currents right and did 198nm in the first 24 hours. Day 2 wasn't slow either: 182 miles which then turned into a glorious afternoon of sun, sun and calm seas (classic precursor to another southerly blow). We had been watching closely this new system and as we scraped our way around the southern corner of the Golfo San Jorge we had confirmation that change once again was on its way. With a lowering cloud base the winds continued to move into the north ... there was nothing we could do but to be ready and make our sail changes down early, keep it easy -- it's going to be a very blowy three days. With four reefs in, number 2 Yankee partially furled and the same for the stay sail, we came to meet this new howler in the early hours of the morning. Xplore when she is tucked up for a blow she is great, "snug as a bug in a rug," I some times say (mind you those who are suffering - whom we call 'bucket heads' - don't quite see it in the same cuddly sort of way I do). We tacked off the inside coast of the bay and headed out into never, neverland (South Atlantic). Within an hour we started seeing the loom of lights out at sea, and Jules and I talked about what type of boats they were. My guess was they were squid boats fishing off the shoals in the bay, they use strong flood lights to attract the squid and then use "jiggers" which are a type of fish hook with many barbs that catches them. We plowed on to the east, trying to bring on faster the break of dawn. Dawn came and the sun squeezed through the myriad of broken wind blown clouds, fishing boats all long gone, a confused sea state still remained to build as were not even over 70 meters of depth. Sea birds are plenty and as this story started the dolphins came to play ! For the sailors out there, we were getting solid 34 to 38 knots of true wind, sailing at 34 apparent we are doing 7.7 knots through the water, a good run for a blowy day. We expect the winds to go further north, and then shift to the NNW and NW and continue to blow for the next two and a half days, with a course to steer of 034 degrees true we should make good ground, touch wood and fingers crossed, as all sailors do. More news coming as we head north and finally feel some warmth for a change Stephen

Punta Arenas to Buenos Aires: 24 March 2009

Blasted By Sand, Blasted Sand! Punta Arenas is the most southern Chilean city in this country where the mixture of European cultures has evolved into a wonderful, eclectic mosaic of people, architecture and life style. When it's cold and windy here, its damn cold and windy. Winter and the changes of season see local people flee the area for some respite from the harsh conditions ... others, well they have just learned to live with it. Myself, I enjoy the visits to Punta Arenas. The Chilean people are always happy to see a sailing yacht visit their port; they are always friendly and helpful, and over the years I have made some very special friends in this town. After the excitement of the Avro Lincoln airplane crash, myself and the Xplore team cracked on with the work list in preparations for the trip north to the River Plate, Buenos Aires, and then over to Piriapolis in Uruguay where we lift Xplore out of the water for maintenance and painting. There were some good jobs and some shit jobs that needed to be done ... After two years of travel we had found that the starboard head's plumbing pipes had built up with calcification and narrowed the pipes to the point where they just didn't flush any more !!! 'Damn Bugger' you could here us say, so we spent the best part of one day removing all 12 meters of pipes and then meticulously cleaned out every centimeter of the internal pipe walls. Yep you guessed it, we were ripping the old shit out of the pipes ... 'Nice job' hey? But done and working again we don't expect any more problems with that side, however the girls and me do know that we will have to do the port side before the boat comes out of the water ... who's going to get that job ?! After three attempts to complete the port paper work and documentation, yesterday morning I finally was able to see all the government people to clear Chile and enable us to set sail for Buenos Aires in Argentina: Port Captain, for a new "Permissions to sail"; pay the port entry exit fees; customs department; and then the international police for the stamp in the passports. The day had started calm, but our permanently running satellite weather system began showing a very large new low pressure formationn. In theory it was possible to leave, but by 1030am as I stepped back onboard with the Naval lieutenant who was completing the final documentation, even he spoke gravely about the sea conditions and wind strength in the Straites of Magellan. I already knew in my bones that we weren't going anywhere, but being keen to set off can trap many a well wishing sailor. As we sat there in the cockpit and watched the water being torn from the sea around us, there was no one onboard who disagreed with my decision to sit, wait and be patient. We roared with laughter watching some of the juvenile birds trying to take off from the bay as the gusting winds twirled them around like fairly floss. One bird, after just taking off, was slammed back into the sea, and next we saw him shake his head as if to say to himself, 'Bloody hell what happened there ?!! No one told me about that!' We sat and watched and waited till the billy boiled (yes I know, that's an Australian folk song) and we did; and nothing changed. It blew and blew: the sand from the surrounding hills covering Xplore with dirt and grit, as all day and into the night the winds peaked into the 60's. I woke at 5am, at 7am and again at 8.45. Sleep, I didn't get much of, but by 9am I had formed the plan for the day. The winds had eased and the crew, keen to break the stalemate, jumped into the tasks to get us away. We knew the winds would be on the nose for the first part of the day but we had to get the tides right to pass through the First and Second narrows of the Straites of Magellan. To get them wrong means you can go backwards at up to 8 knots and have to start all over again. Finally clear to go , with a cheer we cast our lines. More news to come as we undertake the 1450 nautical miles to Buenos Aires. Stephen

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

Xplore arrives in Antarctica: 21 Jan 2009

A piece of Brazil in Antarctica Plans change and so does the weather. Skippering here in the Southern Ocean and Antarctica means that you have to recognise conditions as they change, and change with them. Our well thought-out plans to head for Elephant Island changed just as we were 124nm from the eastern Cape Valentine. With the weather changing to the ENE and becoming windier, we altered course to King George Island. The options had narrowed so the move to KGI was sensible, as low cloud and snow would have meant that even if we had reached Elephant Island, we would not have been able to see it or land due to the high winds. With no anchorages there we would have been left exposed with few options but to continue pushing all night with poor conditions. But after three days traveling across the Drake the team and myself needed a break and a safe anchorage. With charts out and some local knowledge "Mud Maps" we turned into Admiralty Bay in early afternoon. The visibility was no more than one mile, so it wasn't until we had made the entrance to the channel that we started to see glimpses of land; 'til then it had all just been blotches on a radar screen. Our first option was an anchorage in Lussich Cove, well suited for southerly winds and we still had ESE. We entered over a very shallow moraine bar where we only had 2.8 meters of water under the keel. Not content with the winds blowing off the glacier within the bay we opted to move to the west side of Keller Peninsula, which on the eastern side where the Brazilian Base Commandante Ferraz is located. Anchoring close to the shore with excellent holding, I sighed my normal and deep relief that we had once again crossed safely with no problems. Twilight came, and we enjoyed good food and wine on a level table with everyone's spirits lifted. Sleep came early for me, and I believe for many others. I woke a number of times during the night to check on our position and conditions; at 2am we continued to have a dusting of snow just to remind us of where we really were. Dawn came, and we enjoyed lifted skies and nearly sunshine as we prepared the Zodiac for shore landing. Near to where we were anchored is a refuge hut for the Brazilian station for field research (or possibly to get rid of troublesome base staff??). As we prepared the Zodiac, three quad bikes came over the hill and the Brazilians were there on the beach. It took us another half-an-hour to finish and launch our boat and our first landing in Antarctica was underway. Then, with everyone on shore, some of the crew came back to prepare for the day. To our surprise we received a call 15 minutes later from the shore: it seemed that one of the Brazilians was in trouble. In traveling along the rocky hillside one guy had flipped his quad bike when the loose rocky ground had given way. His condition wasn't good as they suspected a broken arm, and their request was for us to ferry him around the other side of the peninsula with our Zodiac, as for him to return to base on another quad bike was going to be excruciating agony. With pleasure to help as is always the attitude of the South, two of us picked him up on shore and made the voyage to the other side. He was a lovely guy, but even at slow speed you could see the pain that he was in. As we traveled around he had communication with the base and they asked what nationality his rescuers were: French and Australian we were!! As we walked up the beach to the front of the station two of their staff were raising the Australian and French flags at their station mast to say 'thank you for the help'. We entered and were given the warmest welcome you could have asked for, with hot Brazilian coffee and friendly faces; and an invitation for the entire team to come back during the afternoon for a complete station visit and afternoon tea / coffee. More news to come ~ Stephen

Xplore to Antarctica: 19 Jan 2009

Green Flash Myth from Jules Verne's stories says that those who have seen the green flash are empowered with the ability to look into their own hearts and to be able to recognize true love ! If that's the case then why - after seeing the green flash four times in my sailing life - is it that I am still single ?!! Oh well, maybe it's because I spend too much time at sea. Anyway, last night at sunset it looked possible that we might see the green flash, however it didn't occur as there was low cloud on the horizon. This morning though, at 5.20am; myself and first mate Audrey were doing the Dog Watch, and low and behold as the sun was rising giving a beautiful painting of reds across a stratocumulous sky, I was looking intently on the horizon and there we both saw the instantaneous green flash milliseconds before the top rim of the sun broke through. It happens because the earth's atmosphere acts as not only a "lens" but also as a "prism" to the light rays and the colours that are transmitted from the sun. Red is a long wave light that has the greatest distance, hence why you always see reds in the sky at sunrise and sunset. Green and blue are short wave colours with blue being the colour which is seen most at high mid-day sun and least at sunrise / sunset. Green though holds its own and if the conditions are crisp and clear then the light of green can be seen as the sun rises or breaks, normally only at sea. Why is it seen as a flash? Well because red and green are at two different frequencies there is a split second difference between the two light colours, effectively giving a green and red sun. More news of our travels soon ~ The team onboard Xplore

Xplore to Antarctica: 18 Jan 2009

The "dog watch" was in raptures ... Dawn in the Southern Ocean summer happens early; light is full at 4am, and when the daytime watch came on deck the talk was all about 'the whale'. The first whale sighting of the trip was an excellent one with a Fin whale coming right next to Xplore as we slid along at a healthy 8.5 knots. Daytime winds started to ease in the mid-afternoon as forecast, lifting stratocumulous clouds showed broken patches, and the rain eased. Well across the convergence zone, where the relatively warm water of the Southern Ocean blends into the cold icy waters from Antarctica, we had small amounts of the telltale fog and mists that can last for days. By evening meal time though we could see to the west the opening clear skies of the centre of the passing low that had slowly been moving to the east. A number of us sat on deck as the sun finally dropped to the horizon, at 10.20pm, soon to rise again in a few hours from the east. We sat in hopes of possibly seeing the "Green Flash" as the hues of different colours painted the sky from blues, pinks, reds and greens, a wonderful recuperative sight -- especially for those who suffered a little bit of seasickness during the first days of the passage ... We continue with 230 nm to Elephant Island, first known by whalers and sealers beginning in the 1820's for the large number of Elephant seals. We hope to be able to land there at the site where Sir Ernest Schackleton departed on his rescue mission to South Georgia to save his men. He left these frozen shores in the tiny James Caird with a handful of his team mates to make the epic voyage across the Southern Ocean, and finally save the entire team with no life lost some months later. More news to come ~ Stephen and the team on Xplore

Xplore to Antarctica: 17 Jan 2009

Swing low, sweet chariot Xplore departed Puerto Toro on the eastern side of Navarino at 1100 hours local time [17 Jan 2009] with still fresh to strong winds from the back side of the low depression that has swept the coasts of Tierra Del Fuego. All onboard seem to be in excellent spirits as we head on a course of 142 degrees true to make our landfall in the Antarctic archapelago of the South Shetland islands. Winds are due to swing more to the west during the day and during the next 36 hours ease. At present we are still experiencing squally gusts of hail as the clearing cumulonimbus clouds race through across the southern skies. Boat speeds are in the mid to high 8 knots as we are not trying to push the boat hard, but just try to let everyone onboard settle into life at sea: no one wants to be a buckethead, so the easy start approach is best. More news soon. Stephen

Xplore underway to Antarctica: 16 Jan 2009

Writing about the preparation and the work that goes behind an Antarctic expedition can take time, but needless to say that it doesn't happen overnight. XPLORE has been based in the port of Ushuaia, Argentina for the last nine days. readying the boat for the passage from South America to cross the Drakes Passage. Our main concern in the big picture of things is what the weather is doing and what are the ice conditions, in the Drake and on the continent of Antarctica. This season stated with large amounts of ice being present in the south with vessels having difficulties with how far they could go south, The cruise ship Ushuaia ran aground and holed her hull early in December, leading to a full evacuation of their passengers, with the Chilean navy coming to their rescue to tow the damaged ship back to safe waters of South America. And sailing yachts that ventured south in December had tough ice conditions: some trips returned early as it was hard to get into the safe anchorages that are normally used for small craft. All in all weather systems have been tough early on with high winds, snow and icing during the start of summer. Luckily, news of changing weather, and the commencement of more stable summer weather started to come through with some vessels sending reports of long sunny days and higher temperatures in late December and early January. For us, our team of people all came together to Ushuaia, mid-January with our departure planned from there on the 15th. For days I had been closely looking at the weather prognostics for a good sailing window that we could leave on ... there was one on the 11th ... another on the 13th (lucky hey !! ) ... but for the 15th there was and still is no joy. With everyone onboard, safety briefings completed, and customs cleared with Argentina; we slipped our lines from the dock and headed east along the Beagle Channel to the military port of Puerto Williams (PW) in Chile. We headed to Puerto Williams for two reasons: the forecast for a savage low pressure system due to hit Tierra Del Fuego during the night; and the other, that late to join the team is a couple from New Zealand and the UK -- and one of them (James) has been there in PW, as Sonia had come to Ushuaia to pick up final personal clothing and gear supplies for the expedition. Sailing the Beagle when its good is a joy, and the trip to PW was magic sailing. But fresh breezes from the north, which prelude the changing weather conditions, hung heavily in my mind as I watched the barometer drop all day. At 730am the Bar was 991, by midnight it was 962 -- 29 millibars in one day. We entered PW and cleared customs and immigration into Chile, probably one of the fastest turnarounds with paper work because we needed to get a new Zarpie (permission to weigh anchor) from the Navy department so that we could continue navigating in their waters. With the forcast looming, we cleared PW as I feared they would close the port for potentially two days -- possibly more if the intensity of the low was blocked into a stationary pattern. Chillean forcasts only reinforced what our weather systems onboard had been telling us, N to NE winds 45 to 50 knots shifting during the night to S to SW 60 to 70, with gusts predicted into the 80's. The last thing I needed as skipper was another 23 nautical miles of travel at night to round onto the eastern side of Isla Navarino ... and when you smell the aromas of the Thai green chicken curry bubbling away on the stove, the saloon all warm and a half-finished Heineken beer on the side bench, who would want to move? But move and travel we did, to the tiny fishing settlement of Puerto Toro (PT), the most southern settlement in South America. We motored and ate excellent food as the Beagle Channel continued to lull us into the false image of peace and tranquility. Lines went onto the dock in PT at 2355 and the port Navy personal kept the generator on for 10 minutes longer to give us light on the dock. The night remained calm, no wind, nothing. We sat on deck and enjoyed a laugh and a bottle of wine, sleep came over me and I slipped off to the warmth of my duvet. 650am woke me with the boat rocking at the dock, side to side with not so smooth a motion ... nature called and I rose to check on conditions: wind gusts were tossing us at the docks and the shift to the South / SW had come through. No one is moving today -- not XPLORE nor the other two yachts who had snuck onto the dock for protection during the night and early morning. Everyone has the same idea, 'Dont go to sea!' We sit, relax and wait Stephen

XPLORE to Antarctica: 15 Jan 2009

STAY TUNED for dispatches on our 28-day voyage departing from Ushuaia across the Drake Passage, with ample time to explore the Shetland Islands, Antarctic Peninsula. Unforgettable vistas and wildlife.

Xplore Cape Horn / Tierra Del Fuego Report; 25 December 2008

Sometimes you just know when you have "pissed" someone off, and it seems like it must have been Santa Claus! He must have eaten something pretty bad over Chrissy dinner, because in his passing wake of delivering presents, he has had a very bad case of wind which he decided to drop on our door step as we started to sail towards Cape Horn. The day started well with a nice breeze of 18 to 22 knots, dropped as we entered the notorious Bahia Nassau, and then slowly built again until the full force of Santa's farts peaked around the 60 knot mark. For many on board, the feasting and gorging on wonderful Christmas food has sadly been fed to the lovely fish that live in the area. With only nine nautical miles to the safest anchorage we decided to hove-to until the wind abates. The squall lines bring harsh downdrafts, but also such low clouds that in the narrow channels it is difficult and dangerous to continue. So with easing winds we will continue, and hope that our fine French clients will feel a tad better when we tie up in a snug little anchorage. ~ Stephen ED NOTE: Stephen writes that they spent Christmas Eve atPuerto Toro, a hamlet of just a few dozen people on the eastern coast of Navarino Island, Chile; it is presumed they will try again to round Cape Horn and possible land as well.

Xplore: Stanley to Ushuaia - 10 December 2008

So where are we? Well we have just pulled out from Stanley early this morning at first light (4am) - sailing well down the east coast of East Falklands. The boat is in good shape and the team of five is settling in to the motion of the sea again. Audrey is running one watch with clients John and Kris; and I have the other with our second crew member Maria. We have 305nm to go to the northern side of the Straits of Lemaire, and then another 120nm to Ushuaia. The weather forecast is for W to WNW winds over the next two days so hopefully we will have a quick and comfortable passage. ~ Stephen