RYA Course 23’. Classroom, Beagle, and Horn.

It might be subjective, but the first part of an expedition seems slowed down in time. You’ve been on many adventures, but If you think about when it all started, it was only a week or two ago. It looks like ages since we were in the classroom or sailing up through icy waters to the tongue of a Patagonian glacier.

We are in the first half of the yearly RYA YM Ocean Course and Southern Ocean Passage. The students joined the boat in Puerto Williams and spent their first days attending their Yacht Master Ocean theory course. It was the formal RYA part of the program and a smooth way to get introduced to the area, the boat’s routine, and your future sailing mates.

After a few days immersed in celestial navigation books and lessons, we asked the students to leave the newly acquired knowledge aside and set sail toward Tierra del Fuego, one of the most untouched corners of the world. It looks like months ago when we wandered by these solitary and breathtaking anchorages. Those were days seeking shelter from the furious westerlies funneling along the Beagle Channel; sending the dinghy ashore with mooring lines to be made fast to trees; setting up a fishing net in the mouth of a river during the night; exchanging fresh fruit and vegetables with a local fisherman for an infinite load of seafood.

While this happened, we saw a perfect window to sail decently around Cape Horn. It means on a windy day but not a monster gale. So there we went, leaving the shelter from the inner fjords. Twenty-four hours later, we were around the majesty of the capes. Sudden blizzards and squalls prevented us from landing on its island that afternoon. Which we did the following day in a weather window after spending the night very nearby, hidden in Skip’s bullet-proof cave in the Wollaston Archipelago. Crew and expeditioners climbed the vertical ladders that take you to the albatross monument and the lighthouse. A Chilean family stays a year long to care for the harsh, inaccessible, and legendary place.

And back to Puerto Williams in an unhurried and pleasant way. We were rounding Isla Navarino by the East, spending three nights well sheltered from the heavy westerlies that took the Horn soon after we left the area.

Now we are docked in the Falkland Is. The Southern Ocean Passage is about to start. Provisioning and preparing the boat in Puerto Williams was quick. As we didn’t use the time our planning allows for awful weather in the Beagle Channel and around the Horn, we’ve been able to do a brief pit-stop in this British overseas territory. A whole lot of places and adventures in just two weeks! Which looks like months for everyone on board.

We are setting sail immediately toward Cape Town. About three weeks of dealing with the ocean rules and seeing how the new celestial navigators gradually overcome the struggle and shine in this ancient cosmic skill.

Pictures by Scott Gallyon and Kenneth Perdigón

Kenneth Perdigón

Skipper