Pos: here
Loc: Puerto Williams
Acc: Miguel’s Hostel Yagan
Dist: 0 km

The day started with the usual work – updating my last three days on the blog…I don’t like running behind, but nearing a city it sometimes happens. But all good now, pictures will follow soon.

I was planning to see the Port Captain of Puerto Williams this morning, as I loved to have my permit for paddling in Chile in the Puerto Williams area, plus the extra Cape Horn loop, sorted out as soon as possible.

I could easily find the office on the first hill level on the waterfront, and had only to wait a few min, until La Capitán de Puerto de Puerto Williams, Teniente 1° Lt. Rubén Vasquez Albani came into the office and was happy to talk to me!

Teniente 1°Lt Vasquez and his crew around him was very friendly and helpful to my plans. I spent about three hours in the morning, and another hour again in the afternoon in their office, until I eventually held my necessary paperwork in my hands to be able to circumnavigate Cape Horn, and to paddle on to Punta Arenas jurisdiction area, where I’ll have to see the authorities of the next area again. Muchas Gracias!

I can paddle by myself as I’m used to, only for the crossing from Isla Navarino to Isla Wollaston, a hop of 30 km open sea which can become ugly very fast, there will be a boat sitting on one end or the other watching over me. All good. Thanks!

Now we just have to find a reasonable weather gap…the last four yachts waiting in Puerto Torro today for a weather window to go around the Cape are all coming back today or tomorrow, unsuccessful, as it will be VERY ugly windy the next days! That’s the Cape Horn area! For some reason it has a reputation to be the most windy and changeable weather place in the world…so myself as well has to wait patiently. I was blessed with good weather from Rio Grande to reach Puerto Williams, now it’s x-mas time, and I can rest and wait – and prepare my paddle to Cape Horn even better, plus the navigation through Fjordland later.

At lunchtime, I was working on my kayak on the back deck of the old floating yacht club boat, changing the worn out foot rest against the new one from my spare kayak. This worked well with the usual fiddling, but I couldn’t get the new complete rudder piece to fit…well, the old one did still the job, though glued here and there. My landings the next few weeks should all be reasonable gentle, as I’m paddling in the protected channels. Even in the Cape Horn area, landings will be all in sheltered bays.

During my work on the kayak, a few yachtsmen and -women of the tied up sailboats around the floating clubhouse came for a chat, and I was looking forward to chat even more tonight at the bar!

At 7.30 pm, I was happy to watch a slide show by Christian Donoso, an adventurer and kayaker from Puerto Williams, who was talking about his Antarctica expeditions, unfortunately in Spanish without translation…but very interesting pictures! But very different expedition and paddling style to what I’m doing. It was well attended with about 40 adventurous looking people, mostly from whatever country in the world.

After the show, I was walking up to the Club Nautico, to find the yachtie’s expedition talk…I had a nice chat with a crew of Austrian and German sailors, and it was very interesting to hear their stories, experiences and problems! And quite nice to talk a bit of German again as well…

The clubhouse is really an original of an old boat, but I was very, very disappointed about people smoking heavily inside…almost half of the maybe 30-40 visitors! Are sailors not sporty enough first not to smoke anyway, and second not fair enough not to bother other people with their stinky habit and to simply go outside as it should be? In so many ountries of the world smoking is banned in pubs…but not here…yet…

I tried one glass of the local drink Pisco sour, but found it rather too sweet and sticky….I better stay with my glass of wine.