Jim (continued)
April 23, 2006
Puerto Modero, Buenos Aires
We hit the bad weather and had to run north east for two days in forty to fifty knot winds. It was hell but like hell it kept getting warmer and after months in freezing ice filled waters, we welcomed that part of the weather package. The discouraging part was that we were sailing away from our destination.
We finally entered the mouth of the Rio del Plata and made contact with the Practicos Recalada light ship. We were told to stay out of the main channel-hard advice to follow but we did. The run to Buenos Aires is over a hundred miles in water that is just a three feet deeper than Onora's bottom.
We arrived on March 14th and were welcomed by the Yacht Club Argentina at the mouth of the harbor. We tied up and went to sleep in warm weather for the first time in eleven months.
This closes the big chapter of our adventure. As we sit here in the middle of Buenos Aires on a warm Sunday it is hard to believe that we have actually sailed half way around the world in the Southern Ocean and to Antarctica and South Georgia. These are some of the most spectacular and challenging sailing destinations on earth. At times it has been very hard but we have the boat to do it in.
Walt Disney said that "if you can dream it you can do it". I don't know who first said "Be careful about what you wish for". They were both right.
May 4, 2006
Paraty, Brazil 23 12 S 44 39 W
It is sundown. Jeannie is cooking dinner in tee shirt and shorts. Onora floats silently at anchor in front of Amyr Klink's beach house in this small perfect palm tree Jurumirim Bay. We are tired from swimming in the warm water.
We left Buenos Aires a month ago. Five days later we dropped anchor in Soa Francisco del Sur, an old colonial cobble stone town. My Spanish was finally getting workable but now it was time to switch to Portuguese. It is a struggle.
Our biggest struggle is dealing with Brazilian bureaucracy. We were misinformed into thinking we could leave the boat for a year. Now, we are told that we can leave it for two months and may be able to get a three month extension. We will head home and return in July to extend and sail in this lush cruising ground.
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