Tierra Del Fuego Circumnavigation 2010

Thank you ... and the video!

2010-02-14T08:57:00.001-08:00

Thank you for the warm welcome, your interest and the great turn out at Thursday's Tierra Del Fuego presentation at Pier 66 in NYC!

We took 4 hours of video footage during the trip and hope we will have a decent 10 to 20 minute film ready in a 2 or 3 weeks. We will notify you either on manhattankayak.com, marcusdemuth.com or tieradelfuego2010.com when and where the video can be seen!

My last words for this blog are a huge, huuuuuge, "Thank You" to everyone for following our trip through Chile and Argentina and for your interest in Achilles!

Tierra Del Fuego 2010 Talk, Thursday, Feb 11th, 7 PM, Pier 66

2010-02-06T05:51:00.000-08:00

Join us for our little talk, slideshow, and hopefully video (the camera currently does not allow to upload the footage) about the steep ups and downs of our Tierra Del Fuego Expedition at Pier 66 on Thursday, February 11th, 2010 at 7 PM.

We will do the best to portray the sometimes most hostile landscapes and conditions, the most amazing and hospitable people I ever met, and to talk about our 11 days at Caleta Falsa and our decision (and even math!) to end the trip, and our few options to get to the closest road, which was about 100 Miles away.

Where: Pier 66, NYC, 26th St. and Hudson River
When: Thursday, Feb 11th, 2010. 7 PM
What: Tierra Del Fuego Expedition Slide Show and Talk

The event will be again a potluck! Please bring a bottle of something you would like to share, a snack, yesterday's leftovers from the Chinese place ... anything!

Go Achilles!

2010-02-01T03:35:00.000-08:00

Not all winds are bad (head winds, the painful to-listen-to Scorpions song "Wind of Change" etc.) ...

... I am thinking about about the windfall created by all of you who kindly donated to the cause of our expedition, the non profit "Achilles", a NYC based organization we are volunteering for since past Summer which enables people with disabilities to participate in mainstream athletics.

Although we are bummed out that the expedition is over, we are happy to see that we (the "we" is for everyone who donated) have reached, and even exceeded, the fundraising goal of $2,000.

A huge, H-U-G-E, Thank You to all of you for donating or for showing interest in the work of Achilles!!

The kayaking chapter of Achilles will use this money to buy gear (paddles, pfds) and propably another double kayak for our 2nd season of the Achilles kayak training program for disabled kayakers at our home base, Pier 66, in NYC.

Biff and I will be at Pier 66 in NYC next Thursday, February 11th at 7 PM (the date is pencilled in, but not confirmed yet, please stay tuned) to give a talk about our Tierra del Fuego expedition, to show pictures and a 10 minute video about our ups and downs from the past 6 weeks in the Land of Fire.

Marcus, Biff

Letter from Tierra Del Fuego

2010-01-30T13:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Friday, Biff and I stopped our Tierra del Fuego Sea Kayak Expedition.

For the past 11 days we were weatherbound in Caleta Falsa, a small bay at the far South Eastern tip of Tierra del Fuego. We made countless break out attempts, but had to return every time back into the shelter of the bay due to the dangerous sea state we encountered every time we stuck our nose out of the shelter of Caleta Falsa.

Despite receiving favorable weather forecasts indicating possible paddling days, after rounding Cape San Diego, we only experienced NW winds (headwinds) between 20 and 60 Miles/hr.(measured with our anenometer).

Nautical guides and information obtained prior to the trip indicated winds on the East Coast of Tierra del Fuego would be West or South West, which would have resulted in offshore and beam winds, suitable for paddling. However the winds we were encountering in the past 11 days were not only strong headwinds, but also created 15 to 20 foot breaking waves on this very exposed coast, making paddling Northwards difficult to dangerous from our point of view.

Because non-paddling days outnumbered paddling days by almost 7 to 1 in the past almost 2 weeks, it became apparent that

We would not be able to complete the trip in a reasonable amount of time

We would soon run out of food due to the increased number of days spent on land

Our safety margin was dwindling, due to increasing numbers of separately small issues that as a whole, resulted in significant safety concerns. These included a broken paddle, dwindling fuel, water and food supplies, lack of weather forecasts (due to low sat phone battery) etc.

In addition to the above safety issues, we learned from the Prefectura Naval (Argentinian Coast Guard) that they would not be able to rescue us (by either land or sea) at the highly inaccessible Caleta Falsa, should the need arise to activate our EPIRBs.

Landings were too sparse and far apart to accommodate the fast-changing weather

Due to the 39ft tidal range, the difficulty and time needed to get onto the water (dragging kayaks and gear for 1/2 Mile) often exceeded the windows of calm weather (we tried this several times but were always forced to turn around).

After jointly arriving at the decision to end the trip, we were extremely fortunate to be visited at Caleta Falsa by two (extremely rich) Irish fly fishermen in a privately charted helicopter. After discussions with the pilot we were able to come to terms for a ride to the closest road (100 Miles away) with most of our gear. Our beloved kayaks, unfortunately, were left behind.

From our experience, we now believe that for the best chance of making a successful circumnavigation of Tierra del Fuego, that the attempt should be made in a clockwise direction. This said, no one has ever clockwise paddled from Ushuaia to Punta Arenas and the difficulty of doing this against the prevailing winds and against the local knowledge should not be underestimated.

We would like to thank all of you for the unconditional support we received in the past months. We will contact all of you in the upcoming weeks (we fly back to NYC this coming Wed).

This was the trip of our lifetime, just a little different than we imagined, but still worth every minute and paddle stroke ...

Marcus, Biff

January 30th, 2010. Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

corrections

2010-01-29T10:49:00.000-08:00

hey all

mis posted my phone: 303.884.4083

and the password for the Windguru has a 'zero' for the '0' in Heathr0w. it doesn't show up well on the web for some reason.

regards,

adam

held down due to high winds

2010-01-22T08:22:00.000-08:00

hey all,

just got another phone call from the DD. they are currently stuck at their present location due to high winds. 40+ knots and right at them so paddling is not an option. i got a weather report for them and the wind situation is not good for the next week, as it constant from 20 to 40 knots. only one morning where the winds will be 15 - 18 knots which is still over their max which is 15knots. so they will continue to stay put until the situation changes. if they cannot reach me and need a weather report from one of you the site and login is as follows.

www.windguru.com

username: biffw1
password: Heathr0w

you can then chose to pinpoint a spot on the map to receive a weather report for by going to forcast>click-map forecast (second tab in the top bar).

so those are the haps, if anyone has any questions, please feel free to give me a call at 303.844.4083

adam

Rendezvous in Bahya Bueno Suceso

2010-01-18T16:24:00.000-08:00

After waiting for favorable (and low) winds for 2 days in the abandoned building of the Estancia Espagnol in Puerto Aguierre, we made today the very much feared (at least by me) 40 Miles and 13 hours trip from Puerto Aguierre to Bahya Bueno Suceso, mostly along cliffs with no landing possibilities ...

Aside a teaming sea lion colony of appr 200 smelly and most investigative cuties, Bahya Buenbo Suceso features a radar station of the Chilean Armanda, a building pf appr 3-4 sea containers, with 6 Armada people lioving there .. in addition to the crew of the station, we got greeted on the beach by the 3 Argentinian kayakers from the "Facing The Wind" expedition, with whom we are emailing for the past 3-4 months ... we finally net here at this most unusual outpost, and they insisted we stay an extra day with them tomorrow ... the Armada personnel welcomed us with the same warmth, making us tea and dinner.

Our stay in Puerto Aguirre was a great rest, aside from collecting firewood adn watching horses makew love in front o fthe kichen window, and was rounded off by a dinner invitation of a round the world sailing yacht, which moored as the sole ship in Puew rto Aguierre, and I paddled over to have beer and dinner with Peter and Carl from Holland (Biff was busy packing and writing her journal) ...

We will post later more,! And hopefully also pictures ...

holed up in paradise

2010-01-16T20:10:00.000-08:00

Hey All,

just had a phone call from the dynamic duo and they are waiting out high winds before the make the move around the bottom. its 35 miles till their next spot they can stop at for the night so need perfect weather since this is the most dificult of the seas they need to go through apparently. thanks to margaret who gave them a weather report, they think they will make the rounding attempt on monday or tuesday. bad weather is supposed to come back in on wednesday. if you zoom in on their GPS spot, you can see them in a cove with a huge beach and some buildings. apparently one of the building is fully stocked for travelers so they are having a very comfortable 2 days with a generator and everything. the report from biff is that its one of the most beautiful places she has ever seen. so those are the haps and dont get discouraged when you see their spot hasn't moved by sunday night. they expect to go f0r it monday morning.

adam

Puerto Almanza

2010-01-13T16:12:00.000-08:00

I have to be very brief, I am using the office computer of the Prefectura Naval in Puerto Almanza, appr 35 Miles East of Ushuaia.

Earlier in the morning, we had our kayak kit checked by the Prefectura Naval in Ushuaia (flares, VHF, Epirp, helmet, sat phone etc.), only to be told that Uhsuaia harbor is closed due to a storm ... finally, at 12 noon the storm died down, and the harbor officially "re-opened" and we set out from Ushuaia on an Easterly course (or was it an Easterly Bearing?).

Our kayaks are again heavy and fully loaded. All hatches, plus the cockpit, are loaded with food for appr 4 weeks to make sure we have enough to eat in case we will get stormed in for a week or two,and have to stay ashore in an area without road access.

We were pleased to see little farms, and fishing villages along our route after paddling through man-less wilderness for the past 13 days (except Ushuiai of course). Tonite we sleep on the little beach of Puerto Almanze, a fishing village with 4 fishing boats floating in the little harbor, and 6 more lying on the beach like dying whales ...

1 and 2 more days of padddling, the road and estancias (farms) will give again way to un touched wilderness which we find both inspiring and also sad ... and then there is the Estrecho de La Maire everyone warned us about.

Hugs!

Back in Ushuaia ... 12 days and 420 Miles later ... (?)

2010-01-11T18:48:00.000-08:00

Biff and I made copies of charts independently from each other, and we both managed to screw up to convert the scale into the correct mileage per inch ( or cm) traveled on the chart ... thus we do not really know how many miles we have paddled so far ... I think it is somewhere around 420 Miles (the SPOT messenger show the track like he crow flies) ... mas o menas!

And yes, we do not even know how many days we have paddled, since we were just too tired most nights to make a note in our diary. Is it 12 days or 13 days after we set out from Punta Arenas?

The only thing we know for sure is that we are back in Ushuaia. Appr 5 Miles before turning into the AFASyN Yacht club in Ushuaia, Coast Guard Officer Julieta Roeg from the Naval Prefectura Argentina in Ushuaia sped with a Coast Guard Ship plus crew towards us to welcome us, and to let us know she is delighted to see us happy and safe ... a great welcome.

We had very good weather in the past 13 days, with only 2 storm bound days, one of these was pretty dramatic since the surf on our West facing beach was huge ... 15 to 20 feet dumping, loud surf ... other, most, days were filled with sunshine, tailwinds (!), and in the past 2 days we paddled along huge mountains (imagine the Matterhorn half sunken in the ocean), along huge glaciers, sometimes calving to the sound of explosion alike thunder, followed by a little tidal wave ... "Nemo", and "Cerveza Fria" (the name of my Valley Nordkapp according to the Chilean Navy "Zerpa", the permission required to navigate the Chilean waters) were allowed to paddle through, on, and along ice bergs of all kinds of size, sometimes a little close (for comfort) to walls of 100 to 300 feet of ice walls, but the glaciers did not calve at this moment.

Despite the good weather, there was drama almost every day. On and off the H20. We battled lots of equipment failures, lost items, and the adjustment needed to combine 2 independent paddlers schedules and mindsets. And we are aware that the tough parts of the trip are still ahead of us. Our friends from the "Facing the Wind" expedition seem to be stuck on the most challenging East Coast, making very little progres in the past 3 weeks ... yes, this will be us in a few days!!

3 (or 4?) days ago we passed the most lonely "Punta Timbales" outpost of the Chilean Armada: A single house, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, right on the waters edge in front of a huge waterfall. The house was the first sign of civilization we saw for 10 days, and we got greeted by 27 year old Armada employee Cesar and his wife and 3 year daughter, who will live for the next full year in this outpost, un-interrupted, and without being allowed to invite friends or family. However, Cesar was allowed for some reasons to take us in, invited us for dinner and beer, and offered us a beds in the room strictly reserved for passing Armada personnel.

Tomorrow is our day off, we will buy food, do boat reoais and modifications, and will sleep in since our new paddling schedule requires 4 AM wake up calls to avoid the strongest winds which ususllay start around 4 PM ... hopefully Biff or I will be able to upload some pics tomorrow ...

Thank you all for leaving such encouraging comments!!

Guess what we got?

2009-12-29T11:36:00.001-08:00

Making every effort to be on the water tonight ...

Packing, Armada Chileno, leave ... :)

Piedra, papel o tijera. And the Quijadas.

2009-12-27T09:00:00.000-08:00

The internet's a little patchy so it's tricky to update ...

To give you a snapshot of where we are before I tell you the haps, we moved from Ushuaia,

AR to Punta Arenas, CL. It's confirmed that we're in the same town as the boats ... we sat in the LAN Chile office yesterday waiting for the paperwork which arrived at 3:30pm. We also went to a series of customs offices to try and speed things up but you just can't. And customs closes at 1pm so it's always mañana [mañana, mañana] before you can take one more small step.

It feels appropriate to apologize for the boat saga getting a little tedious. Know that it is from this angle too.

Today, it's customs to release the boats then, if successful, then the airport to pick up the boats. If successful, then to the Chileno Armada [who need to do a equipment check when the boats show up before they can give final authorization] [the permission we got on Christmas Day was from the Prefectura Argentinean] and then a couple of hours of packing and then ... well you fill in the blank. Paddling! Sounds G-R-A-N-D to me ...

We're sitting in the Quijada family's living room. I'm in the armchair writing the blog, and Marcus is leaning against it watching Garfield and giggling with Vicente and Maca [photo L-R: Kiko, Veronica, Maca [12], me, Vicente [17], and Marcus]. The weather is lovely but it's hailed already this morning. 'All four seasons in one day' according to Kiko ...

Since last post, we spent Christmas Eve watching Mr. Bean in Russian with extremely dubious English subtitles [a non-stop party] :). On Christmas Day the [my] fam Skyped us and sang a series of carols over t'internet - including Silent Night in German for Marcus - while wearing their new Christmas hats. Hilarious. Muchos gracias! Best-Christmas-present award goes to the Ushuaia Prefectura for the finalized stamped-and-sealed permission to kayak the Argentinean waters. Thank you Julieta and Juan Carlos!! [Photo: Marcus, Juan Carlos Cerda, me, Julieta Roig].

And then we hopped a bus out of Ushuaia, AR to Punta Arenas, CL, early on Saturday [Boxing Day] morning to get where we are now [chasing the boats]. It was REALLY exciting to see the coastline ... we're both so familiar with it [from maps, books, Google Earth] that we could pick out bays from the bus window without a map. It was AWESOME to finally see what we've been thinking about for months. And, although it was unlikely, we knew Agustín and Nano [http://www.decaralviento.com.ar/] had crossed the Magellan Strait and we couldn't help but look for them and wonder where they were. We were probably within a few miles of them at one point.

When we turned away from the coastline at Bahía San Sebastián, the landscape changed to a series of mesas [think Montana, Wyoming] broken by the odd guanaco standing on a hilltop. I also saw something that looked like an ostrich that caused Marcus no end of mirth [he didn't believe me]. Since we've been in Chile I've discovered it was a ñandu :) Which is good, because even I had to wonder if I was going nuts after trying to convince Marcus for half an hour :)

Towards the end of the journey, we boarded a ferry to cross the Magellan Strait. Super exciting. It was only about a 5 mile journey across the strait which was encouraging and, although there were a good handful of 10-foot waves, turns out we crossed the strait at a full flood so we saw it at it's worst. All in all, from the safety of the living room, we're feeling confident. Ha ha. Obviously going to be a disaster :)

Kiko Quijada picked us up from Punta Arenas in a mint green 1968-Chevy-pickup :) We sat three across the bench seat on the way to his house :) then ate with his family [6 people, 3 dictionaries!]. Despite the angst of not paddling, it's been so very comfortable and very funny since we've been here ... we slept in our tents on the land attached to Kiko's house with piles and piles of blankets on top of our Therm-A-Rests and 0-rated sleeping bags as Veronica [Kiko's wife] was worried that we'd be cold. We were under strict instructions to knock on the window if we were cold.

When I woke up this morning, Kiko's extrememly friendly neighbors ushered me into their house for a shower. I found out later they were his parents and I've had to put up with no end of crap for taking random showers in people's houses. But they were friendly, what can I tell you? Our Spanish is getting much better [although the only way is up, so it's not saying much - after my shower in the neighbor's house I answered that I was 5'9" to the question of whether I would like to use the hairdryer].

We're walking out of the door to customs ... excuse the grammar ... no time to proof read.

Stories about rock, paper, scissor[piedra, papel o tijera], the newspaper press, hamburgers, and working at Kiko's water bottling plant later ...

Love

Goddammit, I lost the photo contest?!?

2009-12-24T17:04:00.000-08:00

Are you KIDDING ME?!? It was my game!

And disappointing to see that mum voted for Marcus.

Still, good to see I'm upholding the British tradition of making up games then being crap at them [see cricket, rugby, and football for more info].

Here's the haps:

The boats have made it through Chilean customs!!! Which means:

There's a chance they'll be on a truck tomorrow!
There's a chance they'll be in Punta Arenas on Sunday!
There's a squeaky little outside chance we'll be paddling on Monday!
And last but not least, it means that I won't have to post the picture of the 'Christmas Tree Fire' that Marcus was so keen on this morning when it all looked so bleak.

Aside from Boat-Drama-Chapter-237...

Last night we were warmly welcomed at the home of Fernando and Carine who hosted us and 4 other local paddlers [palistas!] for dinner and beers. Sergio, Diana and Lucas brought centolla they'd caught that afternoon and - although the restaurant version was good - the freshly caught stuff was a different kettle of fish altogether. No pun intended. The paddling community [Eco Deportes Ushuaia] are 15-strong and provide free kayaking for kids. They're also trying to add

kayaking to the Ushuaia curriculum, and, change the widely held belief that kayaking is a tourists domain. Check out their blog here http://ecodeportesushuaia.blogspot.com/.

After dinner we repeatedly watched footage of Walter [photo] fluffing his roll on the day's kayak [yes, we know Walter 'water was too shallow' :) ], and the guys also showed us a few hundred really interesting pictures of coastline we're going to paddle, and gave us beta on good landing spots. Thank you kayakistas! For the food, the beta and the new vocab ["traje seco"]!

Today Marcus gave a clinic for the local kayakers [but he can tell you more about that] while I continued to chase down Chilean customs before they left for Christmas [finally some movement, woo hoo!]. Other than that: we're starting to like mate; Marcus has finally realized how much food I can consume [he didn't really buy it despite all my warnings]; and it's still breathtakingly beautiful here in this far flung town where the air's fresh, the sea water's see through, and the mountain range falls into the ocean down a series of steep streets :)

Lastly [is that a word?], I know you're all like "Christmas Tree Fire? Sounds intriguing." So OK, OK. Here it is [photo].

We hope the pope feels better soon and we wish you all a Feliz Navidad!

We Wish You a Merry♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ Christmas♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪We Wish You a Merry ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Christmas ♥ ♥ ♥We Wish You A Merry ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Christmas ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

... and two kayaks for us! ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥

We will now launch in Punta Arenas ...

2009-12-23T05:13:00.000-08:00

After having received confirmation from UPS and Freightquote on Monday that our boats re in Santiago de Chile, and "2 days later" in Punta Arenas, we will take a bus to Punta Arenas on Saturday (an appr 10 hours bus ride) to receive the boats.

Punta Arenas is now the new starting point of the heavy delayed Tierra Del Fuego Sea Kayak Expedition 2010.

We hope we will be able to receive the boats on Saturday, or latest Monday, and will be finally able to start our expedition.

The "in only 2 days in Punta Arenas" ETA was revised by UPS and Freightquote only a few hours later, explaining Chilean Customs was on strike on Tuesday, which does not explain why our boats have not cleared customs Monday, and are still resting in Santiago since past Saturday.

Anyway, the great news is that Kiko, a kayaker from Punta Arenas, offered to help us with logistics in Punta Arenas (thank you, Kiko!), and we are crossing our fingers that we will be on the water by Monday afternoon ...

... for the result of yesterdays photo contest, please see comment number 9 on yesterdays entry ...

Feliz Navidad!

Very competitive photo contest

2009-12-22T09:37:00.000-08:00

Biff and I have been wrangling all morning over whose is the best photo from the harbor yesterday. So we turn it over to you.

(1) Air Vent?

(2) Grounded?

(3) The End Of The Rainbow? or

(4) Circumnavigating the Globe?

It's in your hands readers ... use your vote wisely.

An open letter to Freight Quote and UPS: Please comment

2009-12-21T10:01:00.000-08:00

Dear all,

We have copied everybody who appears to have been involved in this contract on this email so that we don't have to reply to everyone individually. We request that you do the same. Also, as we are in Ushuaia, Argentina, we do not have the luxury of making phone calls [per your requests]. We have only a satellite phone, and it is a life-saving piece of equipment required for the expedition, so we request that all communication is via email for now.

In response to all your emails of this morning:

Firstly, we have not contracted separately with anybody, and we are still acting under our original contract. The boats were contracted to arrive in Ushuaia, AR, 5-7 days after pickup in New York City. <Undisclosed Name> of UPS did some trouble shooting of the original order for us [thank you <Undisclosed Name>] and offered to get the boats as close to the contracted destination as he could, knowing that Freight Quote and UPS were not able to meet the terms of the contract.

We, at our own expense, and own inconvenience, agreed to pick up the boats in Punta Arenas [a different country than contracted, but the closest <Undisclosed Name> could get them] and arrange transportation to Ushuaia [from Punta Arenas] by ourselves, picking up the cost of the move from Punta Arenas to Ushuaia.

The UPS web site [see two attachments] does not reflect – at time of emailing – that the boats are in Santiago, and this is a source of confusion for us. The only information we have been able to base our decision making on, is the information you have provided to us, and the information available on the UPS web site. If what you are saying is correct, and the boats are in Santiago, then the information on the UPS web site is out of date.

Please reply to this email, with a confirmation of both boats locations, and a confirmation of the flight number and date that was used to transport each boat. Also, please update the UPS web site so that the boat’s location is documented.

If the boats arrive in Punta Arenas in 2 days, you will still be in breach of contract as they will be 400 miles short of the contracted destination and they will be late.

That said, know the following:

We have every email you have ever sent us. Also know, that we have provided them – along with all contracts and shipping documents – to a shipping and transportation lawyer. That lawyer advises us that companies involved are – very clearly – in breach of contract in at least four areas.

As their closing statement our lawyer notes that [sic] "When you are back in NYC, any lawyer could eat the lot of them for breakfast."

We have emails from Freight Quote, apologizing for this shipment. Again I quote [sic] "I know this will never suffice for all the trouble you have gone through on this but I still want to apologize. I take this very personal and certainly wish this would not have transpired this way."

Here is the deal.

1. We will consider this matter resolved if our boats are in either of Punta Arenas or Ushuaia on Wednesday December 23rd 2009 under the terms of the existing contract [<Undisclosed Name> indicates they can be in Punta Arenas in 2 days from today]. Note, that we know we are responsible for payment of duties at the final destination and we will complete customs clearance. However, Santiago is not the final destination. The final destination is one of Punta Arenas, CL or Ushuaia, AR [per the emails you have sent us]. Other handling fees originating in Santiago (2 x $85 + IVA) should be covered under Freight Quotes UPS SCS # as confirmed on Friday, in writing, by both Freight Quote and UPS.

2. We will consider this matter on hold pending legal action if you choose to return the boats to the origin.

3. For any other outcome, we will continue to seek legal advice.

This is an open letter that we will forward by mail, today, to the CEOs of both Freight Quote and UPS. We will also publish it on our expedition web site and blog [www.tierradelfuego2010.com and www.tierradelfuego2010.blogspot.com]. Know that we will also publish your responses, and the eventual outcome to this matter.

Please let us know as soon as possible, what you choose to do.

Thank you

Marcus Demuth [3015105621]

Elizabeth Wruszek [3015009360]

Butch Cassidy, Overwhelming Generosity, and the Chief Commander of the Armada Argentinean

2009-12-20T07:04:00.001-08:00

Butch Cassidy
Local kayakers have nicknamed Marcus "Butch Cassidy". For he was wanted. Dead or alive.
Well OK, OK, OK, wanted at least :) The Argentinean kayakers tell stories of the Prefectura Naval coming to the boathouses [a week before our arrival] with a picture of Marcus – printed from his web site – asking for news of his whereabouts. Some caved and shopped Alejandro for being involved. Fingered, Alejandro became an expedition accomplice and went "on the run" until he got a hold of us.
All is well now. Butch Cassidy showed up [everywhere he goes, people grin and say "Maa-aarcoo-oos!", his reputation goes before him], our letters have surfaced in the Armada's hands, and we've spent two days at the Armada Argentinean Base Naval Ushuaia. We'll be there tomorrow there too – presenting our final plan after a trip to Ushuaia Hospital for a certificado de buena salud.
Which brings me to the matter of our plan. The plan that we telepathically agreed and stated in the Chief Commanders office today. And our start point. And the boats.
Overwhelming Generosity
I believe we mentioned that since we arrived in
Ushuaia, we've received the warmest of care from our Argentinean friends, Alejandro, Virginia, and Walter. The rest of this story is going to sound like we made it up. Read on.
Every day as Alejandro, Virginia, and Walter come to our hostel and pick us up, the first thing they ask is about the boats. Alejandro really wants to see the Nemo. And the three of them are as involved in our saga as we are. Believe it or don't believe it, they care as much as we do.
Yesterday as we walked from the Armada Argentinean Base Naval towards town, Alejandro firmly told us, that he did not believe our boats would come. Without waiting for our complicity, he and Walter proceeded to exhaust their [international] cell phone credit and batteries to call boat manufacturers and friends. We couldn't follow the conversations – held in shop doorways in the rain – too well, but there were many words, many calls, and much discussion between Alejandro and Walter. The two of them indicated they had options for us but that they still had work to do.
Within an hour – as we drank café con leche in a coffee shop in downtown Ushuaia – Alejandro received a phone call. He told me the outcome of the phone call, and when Marcus came back from the bathroom, he asked me to relay the message to Marcus. I said it very quietly and from Marcus's expression, Alejandro was worried that something was wrong. The message that Alejandro had asked me to relay was that he had secured two free boats from one manufacturer, and that Walter would also provide two free boats. From Buenos Aires. To Ushuaia. By Wednesday.
Given that Marcus is the heart of this expedition and I’m the head, he cried first. But once he did, I was toast. We paid Freight Quote / UPS so much money to ship our boats here that I’m embarrassed to write it on our blog. This week we've received emails explaining how they can't meet their contract, how it is our fault, how there will be extra charges. In parallel with that, we've come to Argentina, met three people, and been so overwhelmed with their generosity that we cried in a coffee shop in Ushuaia. There are many things to mull over about that scenario. Many, many things. Just one is that it's an act of kindness, not an act of hostility, that will bring another human to their knees.
The Chief Commander of the Armada Argentinean
Tomorrow – among many more – the story of the Chief Commander of the Armada Argentinean :)
For now, know that our start date looks like Thursday or Friday. Our start place looks like Ushuaia. We will be using Argentinean boats.
xxx
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

MIA

2009-12-19T07:38:00.000-08:00

The boat saga continues. Every day moments of relief are followed by inevitable defeat when - what we were told had happened - turns out not to have. The boats - "definitely" loaded onto a flight to Santiago on Thursday night - were still in Miami [fittingly 'MIA' on the UPS web site] on Friday. "Definitely in the air" on flight 1731 yesterday, the UPS web site shows them ... yep ... MIA this morning. Every day is filled with phone calls, promises, emails, letdown, adjustment and more research. Among other things, we've learned how to clear customs, wire money to Chilean banks, and the sizes of the airplane cargo holds on the NYC - USH route :) After hours of discussion with Miami and Santiago UPS in Santiago airport on Thursday - we felt reassured again, flew to Buenos Aires, slept on the airport floor for 3 hours then hopped the flight to Ushuaia. Touchdown was followed by a mad scramble to fly back to Santiago as UPS informed us we would need to be there to receive the boats. You can do it remotely if you have a UPS SCS #, Marcus has one but it isn't the right type, and so the story continues. After 8 hours on phone / email in Ushuaia airport [see pic of Marcus outside Ushuaia airport trying to find a signal on the sat phone (none of the three businesses in the airport could give us change for the pay phone ... we're learning to just roll with it)] we were assured once again - and happy! - but this morning yields the same MIA story and the phone calls / emails start again. Thank god for the sat phone.

Putting the boat saga to one side for a minute, the sights and scenes

and the welcome have been amazing. Despite all the pictures I've seen of Ushuaia, the real thing is unbelievable. That's Isla Navarino in the background behind Marcus. Ushuaia is surrounded by mountains and sea on every side. Beyond perfect. And the water was calm and inviting yesterday. The wilderness clearly starts as soon as the marina ends ... it's pretty wild. And wildly pretty. As the plane landed we got amazing views of the Cordillera Darwin and, a heart breakingly gorgeous view out to the Wollaston and Hermite archipelagos in the direction of Cabo de Hornos. After 8 hours in Ushuaia airport we headed to AFASyN and, unable to find a camping spot, bumped into Emily and Andy - a UK couple we'd met in Buenos Aires airport who are on their way to live in NZ after 6 months exploring the Americas - who ushered back to the last available room in their hostel [and offered us their floor space if it wasn't available] :)

Later, at the AFASyN, we were enveloped into the warmest of warm welcomes by, Alejandro Carranza, a dynamic and youthful 47-year-old Buenos Aires kayaker, his smiling [and kayaking and sailing] wife, Virginia, and the good-natured and engaging Walter Del Greco, a 34-year-old kayak-maker and owner of KAYAK YACARÉ. Alejandro and Walter explained that we were in all sorts of trouble for not allowing them to build carbon / kevlar kayaks for us [$900 apparently]. The two are planning to kayak from Isla de Los Estados to the Falkland Islands next austral-summer. Alejandro, Virginia and Walter took us to an Argentinean asado [barbecue] for dinner ... "made us try" [their words not ours ... very charming "we make you try"] el cordero [lamb], and la centolla [giant crab], gave us Christmas gifts [kayak / sailing

books and movies in Spanish and mini-Kayak-Yacaré keyrings] and have offered help, after help, after help with pieces of the trip. Everyone's English comprehension kept the conversation going [we're embarrassed not to be better Spanish speakers]. A poignant moment came when Alejandro and Marcus discussed Alejandro's stint as an 18-year-old [65kg] soldier in the Falklands War and his need to confront his past with his kayak trip. And the paddlers urged the 2 of us around Tierra del Fuego quickly as we could as, they warned, other people had their eye on the first circumnavigation. A warmer welcome could not have been imagined.

As final notes, despite the boat and other sagas [we've lost half the trip cash], the trip is filled with mirth. Marcus proudly presented me with the www.tierradelfuego2010.com boat stickers [in the photo above - Christmas present!], we've quaffed a total of 3 Argentinean beers each so far, and staggeringly [who knew it could be done?], Marcus racked up 15 hours sleep last night missing checkout by 5 hours. We're staying another night.

The picture is of Walter, me, Marcus and Alejandro in front of the Norwind 1939 [a boat built for Hitler] moored at the AFASyN.

The wind is howling outside in Ushuaia, AR :)

More later ...

LAN Airlines airplane food is yum

2009-12-17T10:08:00.000-08:00

After a few are-we-or-aren't-we-getting-on-the-plane moments in JFK last night [no luck changing flights], we're sitting in an airport cafe in Santiago airport continuing to try and extricate the boats from Miami. We've a few ideas about what to do next ... now we've completed our first leg we can delay our flights for 48 hours and wait for the boats. If they arrive, we could hire or buy a car and drive them down to Tierra del Fuego [working on the theory that at least then we'll know where they are] or we could complete the customs process and hand them back to UPS to have them take them down there. Cross your fingers please. Just having them show up in Santiago would be HUGE at this point.

Boats aside, it is WARM here! Makes you want to paddle :) And the Andes were beautiful from the plane although we've yet to make it through the red tape out of the airport.

We both got a ton of emails that we didn't get chance to reply to but we will - thank you!

And the banana bread is lovely [and luckily customs returned it after close inspection] :) Biff

Asleep at the Wheel

2009-12-15T14:30:00.000-08:00

Our huge "Thank You" goes today to our heroes of the US Homeland Security forces in Miami!

Diligent and hard working as the folks from the US Homeland Security are known for (the department has been founded by George W. Bush himself ... an apple does not fall far from its tree!), they are examining Biff's kayak now already for a full week in the Miami shipping center of UPS!!

According to UPS, the kayak was supposed to be in transit to Ushuaia for only 5-7 days, which would mean it should be in Ushuaia today (Wednesday), but US Homeland Security thought it would be a good idea to double, or even triple, the shipping time by holding our shipment!

This means for us, that we have to wait in Ushuaia 1-2 weeks until our kayaks will arrive.

Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. Quite the opposite.

I am feeling warm, fuzzy and re-assured, knowing that Al Queda would have a hard time paddling in Tierra Del Fuego in kayaks shipped from the US. Thank god the kayaks will not explode ... but we may soon.

In and Out of our Hands.

2009-12-08T09:51:00.000-08:00

2009-12-07T18:36:00.000-08:00

Read about an amazing story in today's NY Times about an abled-disabled half-marathon race in Cambodia ... and no, this race was not organized by Achilles International (Achilles is a NY based non profit we chose as organzisation for our fundraiser. Achilles enables disabled athletes to participate in sports such as running and kayaking) !

Yamaguchi Taku, project manager at Hearts of Gold, the Japanese nongovernmental organization that runs the Cambodian abled disabled half marathon, said people often lost “their hope to live” after they were injured by land mines, and some families hid disabled relatives away from the public eye.

“After the explosion, they have no idea how to live, how to survive, how to continue their lives,” he said.

"Sports can reduce their feelings of isolation," he said. “It gets them back into normal life.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/sports/08iht-cambo.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

Pic: Rahman Roslan/International Herald Tribune

Shipping Kayaks To Tierra Del Fuego

2009-12-03T20:10:00.000-08:00

One down, one more to go ...

2009-12-01T09:32:00.000-08:00

The last few days were rough: First, we learned that our airline is not accepting our 3-piece Valley Nordkapp kayak as check-in luggage anymore (they did 3 years ago).

And yesterday, our shipper for the one-piece kayak "informed us" that, despite stating for the past 3 months it is OK, that the 18 ft Kayak Pro Nemo is too long to be sent by air freight.

With only 2 weeks to our departure for Ushuaia, we thought we had all the reason to panic. And we did.

The good news came this morning, when the shipper let us know that after checking with several airlines and its cargo representatives, that the 18' kayak can somehow be accomodated through the 5 feet wide doors of a Boeing 747 plane which flies into Ushuaia once a week.

However, we are still awaiting the final answer from the most helpful and enthusiastic airline managers at JFK airport, who believe that the 5 feet sections of the 3-piece kayak may not fit into the cargo hold of the MD-81 as checked-in luggage ... we are biting our nails.

Nemo gets a keel strip

2009-11-21T13:37:00.000-08:00

THREE full months working this hard on ONE paddling trip??

Who knew?

A day’s work on the laptop, or a day spent making multiple stops on the New York subway, knock only minor items off the to-do list. And – despite the endless activity – the list remains unnervingly healthy.

As Dec 16th gets closer, some things find their way into the Well-There’s-Only-One-Way-To-Find-Out pile [does Argentinean law really prevent the import of used boats?], while others make their way up the priority list [how many tunes can you fit on a Shuffle exactly?].

Last night’s job was to waterproof and add a keel strip to the Nemo. A warm night in New York City, the scene in the boathouse must have looked idyllic to any passersby who didn't sense the strong undercurrent of adventure about to happen ...

December 1st at Pier 66, NYC

2009-11-14T07:55:00.000-08:00

On December 1st, 2009 at 7 PM we will have a little good bye party at the Pier 66 boathouse in NYC.

We will give a brief presentation about the trip planning we have done so far (which includes getting the permits from the Chilean Navy, shipping etc.), and we will talk a little about the work of the Achilles Kayak Program. Achilles is a NYC based organization which helps to enable disabled athletes to participate in sport activities, such as marathon races ... and now even kayaking!

We will have Joe Traum, the Achilles Kayak Program Coordinator, as a guest this evening.

Please feel free to bring a beverage or snack to share!

Tuesday, December 1st, 7 PM
Pier 66, NYC
No cover

The "other expedition" ... please meet Diego, Agustin, and Luis.

2009-11-08T14:17:00.000-08:00

Please meet the 3 kayakers extraordinaire Diego Lamas, Agustin and Luis Garcia Albarido. Our hope is that we will meet them on the East Cost of Tierra Del Fuego, they on their way down, us on our way up.

The three Argentinian paddlers will attempt for the first time to paddle the entire length of Argentina. “The hardest part of our expedition begins when our sea kayaks head south in search of the Patagonia coast, full of rocks and ridges, cold temperatures and strong winds,” says Agustin.

The team will paddle the Atlantic Coastline of Argentina to reach their final destination Ushuaia, at the tip of Patagonia. You can follow their journey under:

http://www.argentinaenkayakdiario.blogspot.com/

Weclome to the Tierra Del Fuego Blog!

2009-10-30T17:08:00.001-07:00

Please stay tuned, the expedition will start Dec 16th, 2009.

We purchased our tickets and asides from worrying how we get the sectional kayak safely down to TFG on the plane, and the one piece packed in a crate, we are ready to go!

Asides from a exceptions, it the same old trusted gear we will carry with us. A new tool in our toolbox are our newly below average Spanish speaking skills we are currently fine tune during our Monday night Spanish classes.

Marcus