jo

@jo00oo.bsky.social

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Sitting on bow of sailboat, with my cat on my knees, at sunset on river in calm landscape
What you first see as you approach little Puerto Sauce (Juan Lacaze) by boat is this old factory, still standing over the harbour, though not in use today. It was once part of the river's still-present paper industry (Fabrica Nacional de Papel, a paper factory). Wouldn't it be cool to explore or send a drone? (Haha, it has lots of security. And I don't have a drone. But anyway...)
Boat life on board in a summer rainstorm as the rain falls on the Río de la Plata
Boat shown on chart sailing from Argentina to Uruguay
3-ingredient cookies (oats, peanut butter, honey)
Sunset over beach and city, Piriápolis, Uruguay
Strolls at the docks of the river suburbs of Buenos Aires, suburbs which include the so-called 'isla' where we stay when we're there on board Space Oddity, less one island than an ever-changing collection of islands in the extensive Paraná delta. Since the houses of residents are as unconnected by solid land to each other as to the shore (the grasses all round grow in the water) the residents or isleños are a very boat-based community. While these suburbs are the Buenos Aires weekend water-tourism area today, you'll still see working barges so stacked with wood they're submerged in the middle. Also boat ambulances. Boat shopping stores.
My boat Space Oddity on a river at sunset in south Brazil (Rio Grande)
Cat on sail on bow of boat at end of day
A squall (the pampero) approaches Space Oddity, my sailing boat, in Uruguay
Camarones has that modern-western movie atmosphere, such a small town off out in the desert, left a little behind by time. Sun-faded painted window-frames in pink or lime. Five roads, down which winds roll tumbleweeds dustily. 80s cars parked around the place. Stopped a month here since the Prefectura checked the papers of the liferaft, which in Argentina should be inspected pretty frequently; there are few facilities in the south of the country. If not for weeks of northerlies we'd have been in Buenos Aires to redo the paper, but now it was out-of-date already. Prefectura in this small town from the start seemed friendly, the boss down on the dock half in his uniform to see our boat arrive, jolly. Finding I was the boat-owner, in their office, he was still more jokey. We had whip-sounds/whistles for a while. So many thanks anyway to some Brazilians with a camper for driving Gean 500 km through the desert to a liferaft company in the closest, somewhat bigger, city! The bus out of Camarones is once weekly so he would've had a 1-week return journey 😅 (Once back we had a bbq with the old Brazilian couple on a calm night on the campsite; she scrolled photos of her son's kid to find one to show me, smiling at the phone. She showed me a photo taken at the effort to overturn the election in G's and their country. A 5 yr old on their camper straining cutely/proudly to support a banner for overthrow by the military. She zoomed in on the kid fondly. 'Huh,' I said. We watched as the moon rose.) But yeah I can't complain to have been stopped in this atmospheric, super chill place! We'll be back one day...
Had hail squalls of 40 kt the first 2 days of this journey, steering with that effort it takes in strong weather, with short watches since it's such work to not broach too badly. Leaving with this forecast we'd lashed items both on deck and inside, and cooked soup in advance. It's always cool to see the boat sailing in such weather like the albatrosses soaring about her bows with such accuracy, all the better for the force of the wind on which they fly. By the 3rd day the squalls were less and then the sun transformed the scene; never a sameness to the constant sea and sky. With night we'd see constellations over constellations above, stars not seen from land at least with such clarity. We approached Caleta Horno (last post/photo) when a wind arrived suddenly, the sea going white as gusts rose and rose, after a sunny day. The waves down which we steered this time became confused, since currents are strong there. No clouds now but a blast such as can build across the deserts off which we sailed, a blast from a starry clear sky. Somehow with the motion our compass broke inside, so off we ran through the night by the stars only. The wind went down next day but was soon back with a headwind into which we tacked the whole day, heaving-to 15 nm from Horno finally. So we anchored with happiness after another night at sea and then took off those boots haha, a week after our departure...
Caleta Horno, isolated in the 1000s of km of cold desert of south Argentina, a red rock canyon harbour, sheltering our boat as we travel on our sailing journey.
Cat looks out of boat window
Sailing boat Space Oddity, a 34ft red Van de Stadt yawl, at anchor travelling on the Beagle Channel/Canal Beagle, Chile
View from aboard a sailing boat leaving harbour under engine through a narrow rocky entrance, Isla de los Estados, southern Patagonia
Red sailing boat (steel Van de Stadt yawl) anchored behind the surf in front of the Southern Ocean and a blue sky
Sailing boat bow going through the Canal Beagle glacier ice
Sailing boats with snow in winter in the Puerto Williams harbour, on the Beagle, in southern Patagonia
Liveaboard girl with dog standing in the river with my dinghy in front of sailing boats in marina