Pos: here
Loc: Punta Segundo
Acc: tent
Dist: 34,1 km
Start: 12:55 End: 20:00

Today’s another birthday I like to talk about – but unfortunately it’s not a *happy* one…it would have been Alejandro’s 50th birthday today…a round one, half of a life…  I’m so sorry he is not with us any more. I was thinking even more while paddling about him, about his cheerfulness and excitement about his new expedition, and why that must have happened. I’m hoping to learn more facts about the accident tomorrow in the Prefectura in Ushuaia.

One day, I was talking with Alejandro about our soon upcoming “50th”, and I said “Oh, that’s just the first half of my life! The other half will be as exciting as the first! I’ll becoming 100 years old!” – He slowly replied: “I won’t get that old…” – “Why not?” – “I’m doing too many dangerous things…”

…Not sure if I should have shared this…

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Last night, after I had to stay in Puerto Williams yesterday to talk to the Commander and Port Captain today, I at last went down around 9 pm to the Micalvi Yacht club, after I did some office work all afternoon. Good I was still here!
When I arrived at 9 am in the morning, not a single yacht I knew from the x-mas time 2 weeks ago was there. But I was hoping they were all coming back from Cape Horn today!  And so it was…the anchorage around the club ship has never been so full, simply all yachts were back from their missions.
It was really nice to meet and great all the well known faces again! Osvaldo from the Polarwind (so sorry Jutta and Theo flew to Punta Arenas!), the French crew from the yacht “Alioth” with Hugo, the “womanizer” :-), Barbara, Hans and Frank from Germany, Ian and his crew boy from Australia, and a few other faces. New was a big crew from Poland with a guy who strongly reminded me of “Rasputin”, and so many other crews I couldn’t all put anywhere. The pub was packed! A perfect night to celebrate all our Cape Horn circumnavigations!
There was as well a French sports catamaran who is planning to sail around Cape Horn…somehow like two small kayaks connected with a trampoline and a sail…there are lots of ways to amuse yourself. But those guys were at least much closer to the water than all the other big yachts, rather more like myself!
After I was chatting a bit with Osvaldo on the “Polarwind” about my Cape Horn experience and about Alejandro’s accident, we went to the pub, and I started suffering again in the dense smoke…I survived most of the night standing in the open door…and went home around midnight.
This morning at 11 am, I planned with Port Captain Teniente Vasquez some last details about my paddle to Punta Arenas, and then we went together to the building next door, the “Gobernacion Maritimas Beagle”, to talk to Commander Arellano about my Cape Horn trip. The Commander spoke perfect English with a broad American accent (and his wife speaks very good German), and I’d have loved to chat much longer about a kayaker’s viewpoint paddling Cape Horn…but the perfect weather was lurking outside to paddle to Ushuaia! Maybe we’ll meet again in Punta Arenas or somewhere else in Chile, as the Commander’s position will change soon in a few days. He is just hoping I’ll paddle through his current jurisdiction area with no problems…which I have no doubt about I will. I’ll be a good girl, promise! 🙂
I’m hoping to get a few nice pictures of me across Cape Horn, shot out of the helicopter! This would be very nice! A last “formal” picture with the Commander and the Port Captain, and I was ready to go! I’m very sorry I was missing to sign a card for the Commander – I’ll send one through the police officer who’ll stamp my passport I’ll soon meet in Puerto Navarino once entering Chile again! Promise!
I’m hoping as well to get via the same police officer eventually in Puerto Navarino a parcel from Denmark which Kiko forwarded from Punta Arenas to Puerto Williams – when I left today, my host Miguel was checking, but it was still not there…maybe it will arrive in Puerto Williams during my stay in Ushuaia. I have to call in Puerto Williams a day before I’m leaving Ushuaia, as the police officer is not permanently staying in Puerto Navarino, but will drive out there just for me. Thanks for the service!
When I eventually was ready sitting in my kayak and paddled off, I was smelling like a whole men’s perfume shop, kissing all the friendly Chilean Navy officers good bye – but thanks guys to be so well shaved in the morning! 🙂
That’s South America…I wish the much more stiff and formal  European officers would behave the same…I probably must be careful being back home learning again just to shake hands! 🙂
I had an escort out of the harbor with a small Navy boat, thanks for that honor! My personal “Piensa en Grande” Navy Officer Elvis Mundaca was on board to wave me a last good bye!
I was crossing Beagle Channel diagonal to Argentina, and the last few 100 meters a strong wind came down from the mountains…a flash of “dejá vue” about not reaching Isla Hornos on the first attempt came up, but this wind was way out of the danger zone…still the mountains create a wind system which isn’t a system at all – basically it can come from any side, as it did today.

I was paddling very close to the shore soon, and it didn’t take long, I had another “Watch Dog” today – no, not a Prefectura boat or car yet 🙂 …this “Watch Dog” had a beautiful white fur coat, waved his tail, and was escorting me for six kilometers along the coast! He was climbing up and down the cliffs, crossed some shallow water spots getting wet feet, almost slipped off a cliff and ran along the beaches!

At some point, his desire to come close to me for a bit of petting was so strong he was entering the water, swam a few strokes and surely started entering my back deck! This was a bit too much love, as he was quite a big dog, and I was a bit worried    about a capsize in the shallows! I shook him off, he exited the water again and shook himself splashing me in my kayak…”Schweine-Seehund”! (A joke for the Germans…)

The whole paddle was beautiful sightseeing a wild coast line with high, soon snowcapped mountains in the background, as on dead calm seas I’m surprisingly paddling very slowly…maybe I have to add a few days to my next week’s paddling schedule, as the “walk in the park” will be such a beautiful one, I may not make too many kilometers per day…

A few ships were passing me, and each after a while made some waves disturbing the millpond sea…at some point, I heard a noise behind me like a Tsunami wave was coming up…but it was just a tiny wave on very rock shallow ground with the echo of the mountains!
I turned into the last bay for today, and spotted in the distance a yellow tent at a river mouth – nice camp site! A young couple was sitting by a fire, and I was waving at them a greeting, as I’m usually doing on passing people. I paddled slowly past, as they seemed to be busy with the fire, but soon I saw the guy running at high speed 100 m behind me, eager to catch a picture! His reaction to the “world’s most famous kayaker :-)” passing just 50 meters across him was a bit slow, but eventually quite a burst of speed! We chatted a bit with me still being afloat along the calm beach, he was just from Ushuaia, and his father was a kayaker, too…
I stopped at 8 pm on a rocky beach with a grassy flat spot, only 17 km left for tomorrow, reaching Ushuaia around 10 am tomorrow, much better than at 11 pm tonight! And it is raining heavily now, but it’s so cozy inside my tent and sleeping bag!