BoatGirlBlogger

Sailing life on my boat since finding Space Oddity (and dog and cat) in the world's most southern city

[boatgirlblogger]

Walking in the wind on the shore (Uruguay) an abrupt old lady stops me, says her dog's called Nina Hagen, and shows me 5 vids of Nina Hagen, who's an 80s German singer, on YT on her phone. Not bad Nina Hagen I have to say

[boatgirlblogger]

River life lately

[boatgirlblogger]

La Paloma boat life's windy, sometimes with waves inside the harbour here, it's the sort of windy that strains the lines so that I alter them/add more. In bed I listen to the creaks of the bow-line above, cat in armpit, and think of chafe while drifting off eventually.

[boatgirlblogger]

Ahoy there, wow! Love the blog, I sail a little off the coast of New England.. You are living the life. Do you have a YouTube channel? What are the names of your dog and cat? Oh, and what is your boat? She looks yar.. thanks! ⛵️

Thanks! Maybe I'll start a YouTube some time, I don't have one currently. My dog's called Zib/Zibby and my cat's called Nya, they're both from Patagonia, oldest by 6 months is Zibby. The boat's a Van de Stadt built in the 70s ('77 if I recall correctly).

[boatgirlblogger]

Colonia 2025, waiting for weather there recently

[boatgirlblogger]

What you first see as you approach little Puerto Sauce by boat is this old factory, still standing over the harbour, though not in use today. It was once part of the river's still-present paper industry (Fabrica Nacional de Papel, a paper factory). Doesn't it look cool to explore or fly a drone? (Haha, it has lots of security. And I don't have a drone. But anyway...)

[boatgirlblogger]

I admire your spirit,my sailing has been in Northern Europe and the Med. (rather tame in comparison) Are you sailing single handed?I am now in my early eighties so most sailing is now ended for me but I’m very interested to follow your journey, I have visited the far South of Chile so can appreciate the weather and the beautiful natural world you are describing

Good sailing and best wishes

Nigel

I sailed from Chile with my partner, but he still works in the south of Chile, so since then he spends a lot of the time away. (I'm on the Río de la Plata currently)

[boatgirlblogger]

My boat as the famous storm-cloud of the Río de la Plata, the pampero, approaches me. You hear the wind rushing through the stillness in those seconds until it's here. Fun clouds to see from safe in a marina 😅

[boatgirlblogger]

boat life

[boatgirlblogger]

River life in Brazil on board my little home, sailing with cows watching from banks each side; a change from crossing the sea to arrive in the country. Nowhere much to walk in these flat marshlands but a peaceful place, each day ending with birds which fly in Vs across the sky. Soon we were used to anchoring with fresh brown water flowing aft constantly. Saw nobody but fishermen, once or twice.

[boatgirlblogger]

Some wind and waves 50 miles offshore from Argentina giving us a great sailing day (though after 24 hrs we didn't mind when it decreased, that motion tires you eventually!)

[boatgirlblogger]

Camarones has that modern-western movie atmosphere, such a small town off out in the desert, left a little behind by time. Sun-faded painted window-frames in pink or lime. Five roads, down which winds roll tumbleweeds dustily. 80s cars parked around the place.

I stopped a month on my boat in this town since the Prefectura checked the papers of the liferaft, which in Argentina should be inspected rather frequently; there are few facilities in the south of the country. If not for weeks of northerlies we'd have been in Buenos Aires to redo the paper, but now it was out-of-date already.

Prefectura in this small town from the start seemed friendly, the boss down on the dock half in his uniform to see our boat arrive, jolly. (Finding I was the boat-owner of the couple, in their office, he was still more jokey. We had whip-sounds/whistles for a while...)

But many thanks anyway to some Brazilians with a camper for driving Gean 500 km through the desert to a liferaft company in the closest, somewhat bigger, city. The bus out of Camarones is once weekly so he would've had a 1-week return journey 😅

(Once back we had a bbq with the old Brazilian couple on a calm night on the campsite; she scrolled photos of her son's kid to find one to show me, smiling at the phone. Showed a photo from the efforts (US Jan 6th-ish) to overturn the election in their and G's country. The 5 yr old on their camper straining cutely/proudly to support a banner that called for overthrow by the military. She zoomed in on the kid, fondly. 'Huh,' I said. The moon rose.)

But yeah I can't complain to have been stopped in this atmospheric, super chill place! We'll be back one day...

[boatgirlblogger]

Hoppner harbour entrance 😅 wider for this high-tide exit than it had been for our entry some days before, but with more wind off the mountains this time...

[boatgirlblogger]

Isolated on the cold desert coast of south Argentina with sea access only, this is the one harbour a boat like mine has in this stretch of shore. Though desolate it had endless details to explore, with its flat-looking land full of ravines, revealing new views constantly. Nobody but guanacos there, grazing on ridges.

[boatgirlblogger]

Had hail squalls of 40 kt the first 2 days of this journey, steering with that effort it takes in strong weather, with short watches since it's such work to not broach too badly. Leaving with this forecast we'd lashed items both on deck and inside, and cooked soup in advance. It's always cool to see the boat sailing in such weather like the albatrosses soaring about her bows with such accuracy, all the better for the force of the wind on which they fly.

By the 3rd day the squalls were less and then the sun transformed the scene; never a sameness to the constant sea and sky. With night we'd see constellations over constellations above, stars not seen from land with such clarity.

We approached Caleta Horno when a wind arrived suddenly, the sea going white as gusts rose and rose, after a sunny day. The waves down which we steered this time became confused, since currents are strong there. No clouds now but a blast such as can build across the deserts off which we sailed, a blast from a starry clear sky. Somehow with the motion our compass broke inside, so off we ran through the night by the stars only.

The wind went down next day but was soon back with a headwind into which we tacked the whole day, heaving-to 15 nm from Horno finally. So we anchored with happiness after another night and then took off those boots haha, a week after our departure...

[boatgirlblogger]

My boat/my home Space Oddity, an old 34 ft yawl from the 70s, seen here in Patagonia (before sailing to the Río de la Plata, where I'm still currently). Would you live in a home like mine?

[boatgirlblogger]

Puerto Español, the bay that tries to kill everybody. 100 roadless km from the closest ranch/estancia, it's as beautiful as it is remote, a beach behind which mountains rise. Before I bought this boat it was wrecked in this bay; like a lot of Argentina's Canal Beagle, it's open to the SE completely. Surf from Antarctica arrives on that soft sandy shore.

Waves on the beach were of some size but went to see if we could land close by, which ended in a swim; the 2-3 kicks through cold/foam to the surface thinking, shouldn't have tried that, hey. (This swim ashore after being tipped out of the dinghy was fun for the German Shepherd, anyway.) Had the shivers, after this accident in this climate; made a fire. Checked out the place.

But then the issue was to leave the beach, in which waves threw us back until a rowlock broke: it was impossible. The chart had shown a stream where we would've landed (should've) if it wasn't at some km distance. Set off for it shouldering the outboard, dragging the dinghy. (More fun for 1/3 of us 🐶 anyway.)

At their slow intervals the swells boomed rhythmically, sent spray around the bay, and beyond the boat rolled calmly. Yellows and pinks appeared in the sky.

We had some luck at least when we saw the river running beside the beach after about halfway. Rode down on the river in the dinghy, and left by its mouth without much difficulty. Arrived aboard to start on an 18 hr sail (or lose our window out of the Beagle).

Was the photo worth it, people? 😅