Imvubu

Vessel Name: Imvubu
Vessel Make/Model: Barens Seatrader
Hailing Port: Durban
20 November 2014 | Saldanha Bay
27 October 2014
19 October 2014 | Falklands
06 October 2014
05 October 2014
03 October 2014
28 September 2014
25 September 2014
24 September 2014 | Puerto Montt
16 September 2014 | Puerto Montt
04 March 2014
01 March 2014
28 February 2014
26 February 2014
22 February 2014
15 February 2014 | Beagle Channel
03 February 2014
02 February 2014
02 February 2014
Recent Blog Posts
20 November 2014 | Saldanha Bay

Arrival South Africa

Today at 14:45 we docked at Yacht Port Marina in Saldanha Bay. This brings to conclusion the 24 day crossing, over a distance of 3554nm, from the Falklands to South Africa. The maximum wind speed was 61.7kts, the maximum sustained wind speed was 50kts. We experienced a total of 8 days with sustained [...]

27 October 2014

Departing Falklands

Today at 14:00 we weighed anchor in 35 knots of wind and headed out of Stanley Harbour to start the approximately 3,400nm (great circle route) Voyage to South Africa. We will initially head north of west to give the South Georgia Islands to give the ice reported by other vessels a wide berth. Our initial track will be along the 50S parallel until south of Gough Island before bearing more northerly towards Cape Town.

19 October 2014 | Falklands

Port Stanley

Today at 11:00 local time I dropped anchor in Stanley Harbour in front of the picturesque town of Stanley after a voyage of 556nm. I departed Punta Arenas, Chile on the 25th October at noon in flat calm conditions and arrived at the first narrows in the Strait of Magellan at flood tide reducing my speed down to 3.3kts. This however meant that I arrived at the second narrows at max ebb allowing me to speed through at 12 knots. By sunrise on the 26th I exited the mouth of the straits, with its approximately 50 oil platforms, into the Atlantic. Finally, by noon the wind arrived as forecast and from then it was a rolling downwind ride all the way to the Falklands.

06 October 2014

Punta Arenas

This morning at 09:30 I dropped anchor just south of the town dock in Punta Arenas. I had departed from my previous night’s anchorage in Bahia Manza at 04:00 this morning where I was forced to anchor since the Armada had closed the Port of Punta Arenas due to high winds. As I am discovering the port [...]

05 October 2014

Cabo Froward

At 10:00 I had rounded Cape Froward, the southernmost point of the continental Americas. The land to the south of the cape is a set of islands that make up Tierra del Fuego. This was a cause for some celebration as on the 5th September 2011 I had rounded the northernmost extent of the continent at Point [...]

03 October 2014

Straits of Magellan

This after noon at 16:00 I passed abeam the Isla Fairway Lighthouse marking the entrance to the Straits of Magellan. For the past eight days my heading had been generally south with light to fresh winds from the south. I had sailed through many different channels and anchored in a suitable anchorage [...]

Puerto Mont and Puerto Varas

16 September 2014 | Puerto Montt
Last weekend I rented a car and drove to the neighbouring town of Puerto Varas. It is a pretty town with a picturesque setting on the shore of lake Llanquihue. The German heritage of the town is visible in its architecture and use of many German words such as Kuchen (Cake). The towering Osorno volcano, with its snow covered peak, provides an impressive backdrop on a clear day.
I spent a day skiing at Osorno with Tatiana and Guilerme, a Brazilian couple, that I befriended in Puerto Vars. The ski resort is small with only two ski lifts. The snow condition at the upper runs was still good, even this late in the season. There were only a handful of people skiing - no queues!
I have now spent nearly a month in Puerto Montt attending to the various maintenance issues. Unfortunately the marinas here do not have facilities to haul out a boat of Imvubu’s weight which required me to don my tropical wetsuit and venture into the 10 degree water to replace the prop shaft and propeller anodes and remove the marine growth which has accumulate don the hull during the past five months.
Yesterday I took the boat to the fuel dock and uploaded 1200 litres of diesel. Imvubu is now ready for the next leg of the voyage back south through the Straits of Magellan to Punta Arenas. From there it will be to the Falklands.
Comments

About & Links