We are leaving Ushuaia today and the good news is that Captain Toby went through our agent in Punta Arenas and was able to get an exemption from the pilot requirement through the Chilean archipelago so we will not need to have a stranger on board with us for the rest of the trip. […]
We are still out here waiting for trip clearance. They really want to be able to approve our entire plan, all the way to Valparaiso and apparently they have to fax it to Valparaiso to get final approval because the government employee here in Puerto Williams doesn’t have the proper authority. […]
Well, our plan to leave Puerto Williams about 2PM today has been abandoned. The delay is due to Chilean bureaucracy: the immigration process here is very, very slow. Now it turns out that they want us to tell them exactly when and where we are planning to go in Chilean waters. […]
Puerto Williams started as a Chilean Navy town and that is just about all it is now. It’s not as picturesque or as large as Ushuaia but there are some very nice people living in the town. Most of the people are fishermen, mostly for spider crab, and the season is in the dead of winter. Not appealing. There is a very limited number of restaurants and bars–hardly any. […]
We spent a comfortable calm night in a cozy cove just north of Cape Horn on Wollaston Island and woke up to frigid rain, gusty winds, an overcast sky and cold temperatures. But this is a beautiful anchorage in Caletta (little bay) Lientur which is protected by land on all sides. […]