Travel with Indigo

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.  They have also now decided that we will need a Chilean pilot on board at all times as we work our way to Valparaiso and they are telling us we can’t be underway for more than 8 hours in order to allow the Captain to rest.  We have applied for an exemption from the pilot requirement but it has been denied.  What a bunch of _______!

We were final allowed to leave about 6PM and we are heading west on the Beagle Channel back to Ushuaia where we will have to have a local pilot come on board to lead us into the Bay of Ushuaia even though Captain Toby knows this area very well now and could probably hire himself on as a pilot on other boats.  This pilot told us that this has been one of the coldest summers in memory and that there usually isn’t any snow on the mountains this time of year.  There sure is now.

When we finally got settled at anchorage in Ushuaia, Phil, Rick and I went up to have dinner at the Las Hayas resort.  It’s up on a hill with mountains above and the town below.  But we didn’t get there until about 10PM so you know it was a late night.  But we had a lovely dinner and enjoyed our evening once we got over complaining about government bureaucracy.  I wonder if this is what we require of yachts in the states??