Photo - Tall ships from left to right Uruguay, Brazil, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina, Mexico and Colombia moored in Mar Del Plata, Argentina. February 2010


Tall ships from South America and other countries are currently sailing around South America with stops in Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, and Mexico. They are due to arrive next week here in Buenos Aires, and unfortunately I was set to fly back the day before and would miss them. Or would I? I found out that they will be stopping in Mar Del Plata, Argentina, about six hours away by bus and I planned to journey there to see these magnificent vessels.

I spoke with my friend Juan Silva, and he said that he would like to make the trip with me and we could take the bus overnight to Mar Del Plata, spend the night, and return the following day. Of course, this quickly grew into four of us making the trip when Jorge Welder and Jorge Gordo decided that it would be fun to go. Jorge is a very common name here so I refer to each one by there trades or in the case of Jorge Gordo his immense mid-section.

Jorge decided we would take his wife's car, a small Volkswagen, and we would leave early Tuesday morning. The day before, Jorge Gordo canceled and it remained just the tree of us. I was not sure how the little car was going to carry all three of us anyway.

We had a fun drive down at near 85 MPH and I brought along one of the Doc-Pods and we listened to Elvis, The Beatles, and other well know music from times past. Juan and Jorge are both near sixty, and it was fun to hear them try to sing along. Neither speaks a word of English, so it was a very concentrated few days of Spanish for me.

We checked in to our hotel and made our way to the port of the city of Mar Del Plata. We had stopped here last February on our way to Buenos Aires so I was somewhat familiar of its layout. Jorge had also been here before many years ago working, and it was Juan Silva's first visit.

The tall ships were all moored and looked wonderful in the naval harbor. After finding out the tall ships were not going to be open to the public until 3 PM we headed to the port for a nice lunch. We returned to the naval harbor at 2:30 to find a line of people a quarter of a mile long waiting to tour the ships.

The line moved quickly and we were soon inside gates. Before us were the enormous tall ships from Uruguay, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Portugal. I had brought along a book about the Esmeralda, the tall ship from Chile, that I have twice been aboard. Once in Bali, Indonesia, and once again in Galveston, Texas. While in Puerto Williams, Chile last year, the Commadante of the Armada presented me with a photo book about the Esmeralda. I had it with me hoping to have the crew members sign it.

In total we spent four hours walking around the area and I had the chance to board the Brazilian, Uruguayan and Chilean ships. After a few hours the lines to board were well over an hour long, and it was just too much to try to see them all. I was very impressed of the turnout from the public, but then again, it was free and something for everyone to enjoy. We often saw cadets meeting with friends and family members on the dock.

On our return the following day we decided to stop by and see a museum of the famous Argentina Formula One driver Juan Fangio, who was born not far from Mar Del Plata in Balcarce. The museum was fantastic, one of the best I have ever seen. Many race cars from the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s filled the two separate locations. There were near 100 cars and all kinds of memorabilia from his racing career. He was a five time Formula One Champion in the 50s and this was a wonderful tribute to his legacy.

On reflection we all had a fun two days on the road, saw some magnificent vessels and automobiles, ate some great Argentina beef and seafood, and enjoyed the company of three very different guys, mixing languages and cultures. Two things I was reminded of after we returned. One it that the language is not important to friends and the second is - YOU DON'T KNOW IF YOU DON'T GO!