SailBlog
| Vessel Name: | Northanger |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Damien Ketch |
| About: | http://www.northanger.org |
15 April 2010 | 53 58'S:064 00'W, South Atlantic
31 March 2010 | 51 33'S:055 55'W, Scotia Sea
29 March 2010 | 52 04'S:050 19'W, Scotia Sea
29 March 2010 | 52 04'S:050 19'W, Scotia Sea
28 March 2010 | 52 24'S:047 43'W, Scotia Sea
27 March 2010 | 52 43'S:043 48'W, Scotia Sea
22 February 2010 | 53 16'S:039 57'W, Scotia Sea
19 February 2010 | 52 14'S:050 04'W, Scotia Sea
12 February 2010 | 51 41'S:057 50'W, Southern Ocean
02 February 2010 | 55 08'N:063 43'W, Southern Ocean
Recent Blog Posts
Dunbar Farm Astern
15 April 2010 | 53 58'S:064 00'W, South Atlantic
Keri-Lee Pashuk
Position 53 58.63S - 64 00.39W
April 15, 2010
It's 3 am and the Strait of LeMaire is 43 miles away on a good day. This past few days have been good days, great days in fact. Late morning on the 13th of April, we left Dunbar farm on the northwest coast of West Falkland Island, left our friends, Hugues, Marie-Paul, Marilou and Teo, standing on the deck of their sailing boat, Le Sourire, waving us farewell.
Le Sourire and the family have gone aground. The boat is tied into a creek, floating at high tide and sitting in the mud at low tide. The family, after years of sailing in the Southern Ocean, have moved ashore and taken up sheep farming with a flourish. Magnus and I had the privelege to have a wee taste of their new life, when we stopped by on our way back to South America from Stanley in the Falkland Islands.
We left Stanley on the 9th of April. After arriving there from South Georgia on the 31st of March, we were first delayed by having to stay long enough to get our boom fixed. It broke about 8 hours south of the Falklands. Then, we found ourselves tied up to Jerome on Golden Fleece, who wined and dined us. Bad weather was the excuse for not continuing sooner but I think that it was hard to cut the umbilical cord going to Golden Fleece. Thanks Jerome, Cathy, Christophe, for looking after us so well.
After an overnight sail from Stanley, we arrived in the West Falklands in the fog, following GPS points in until we found what looked to be Dunbar Creek Bay. I was feeling unsure of the exact whereabouts of the entrance but then murk lifted and a house and barn appeared out of the nowhereness of the thick, secretive fog. A whale blew nearby as we were entering the bay. A sailboat appeared out of the haze, then the house was swallowed once again. We wend our way in behind a kelp bank and anchored near Santa Magdalena, with friends Jamie and Casey aboard.
During our whilrwind visit we ate, drank, played music, explored every building on the farm, said hello to the geese, dogs, vultures, chickens, pet sheep; dried out Northanger to inspect the prop shaft which needs replacing; went to try to round up sheep but picked tea berries instead (too much fog to see sheep, tea berries were easier to spot); went to the penguin beach where we played baseball with a driftwood stick for a bat and a knot of wood for a ball while whales spouted in the distance; rode on the back of a motorcycle with a supremely confident 16 year old then ditto for a 13 year old ( after about 15 minutes riding on a rutted dirt trail, he confided to me that I was only the second person he had ever taken - the motorbike was a 200 and his feet barely touched the ground!). Then more eat, drink and music. Then the weather came right and we sadly left. (Breathe).
Our friends seemed to have brought luck to us. We have had the most glorious sail yet in these past two months. Earlier today we were floating along, no swell, northwest winds blowing a steady 20 knots and Northanger was making 7 - 8 knots without a grunt or a complaint. The sky has been clear day and night, only becoming overcast not long ago. The weather looks fine for our arrival at the LeMaire and if all goes as tentatively planned we should be there for the afternoon ebb and back in the Beagle Channel by early evening.
All is well aboard the good ship Northanger.
Keri
April 15, 2010
It's 3 am and the Strait of LeMaire is 43 miles away on a good day. This past few days have been good days, great days in fact. Late morning on the 13th of April, we left Dunbar farm on the northwest coast of West Falkland Island, left our friends, Hugues, Marie-Paul, Marilou and Teo, standing on the deck of their sailing boat, Le Sourire, waving us farewell.
Le Sourire and the family have gone aground. The boat is tied into a creek, floating at high tide and sitting in the mud at low tide. The family, after years of sailing in the Southern Ocean, have moved ashore and taken up sheep farming with a flourish. Magnus and I had the privelege to have a wee taste of their new life, when we stopped by on our way back to South America from Stanley in the Falkland Islands.
We left Stanley on the 9th of April. After arriving there from South Georgia on the 31st of March, we were first delayed by having to stay long enough to get our boom fixed. It broke about 8 hours south of the Falklands. Then, we found ourselves tied up to Jerome on Golden Fleece, who wined and dined us. Bad weather was the excuse for not continuing sooner but I think that it was hard to cut the umbilical cord going to Golden Fleece. Thanks Jerome, Cathy, Christophe, for looking after us so well.
After an overnight sail from Stanley, we arrived in the West Falklands in the fog, following GPS points in until we found what looked to be Dunbar Creek Bay. I was feeling unsure of the exact whereabouts of the entrance but then murk lifted and a house and barn appeared out of the nowhereness of the thick, secretive fog. A whale blew nearby as we were entering the bay. A sailboat appeared out of the haze, then the house was swallowed once again. We wend our way in behind a kelp bank and anchored near Santa Magdalena, with friends Jamie and Casey aboard.
During our whilrwind visit we ate, drank, played music, explored every building on the farm, said hello to the geese, dogs, vultures, chickens, pet sheep; dried out Northanger to inspect the prop shaft which needs replacing; went to try to round up sheep but picked tea berries instead (too much fog to see sheep, tea berries were easier to spot); went to the penguin beach where we played baseball with a driftwood stick for a bat and a knot of wood for a ball while whales spouted in the distance; rode on the back of a motorcycle with a supremely confident 16 year old then ditto for a 13 year old ( after about 15 minutes riding on a rutted dirt trail, he confided to me that I was only the second person he had ever taken - the motorbike was a 200 and his feet barely touched the ground!). Then more eat, drink and music. Then the weather came right and we sadly left. (Breathe).
Our friends seemed to have brought luck to us. We have had the most glorious sail yet in these past two months. Earlier today we were floating along, no swell, northwest winds blowing a steady 20 knots and Northanger was making 7 - 8 knots without a grunt or a complaint. The sky has been clear day and night, only becoming overcast not long ago. The weather looks fine for our arrival at the LeMaire and if all goes as tentatively planned we should be there for the afternoon ebb and back in the Beagle Channel by early evening.
All is well aboard the good ship Northanger.
Keri
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