Straits of Magellan

[Banjo]

Originally Posted by Mambo

Question for those of you who've been there: what do you think are the minimum boat and equipment requirements for a trip to Patagonia and the Horn? That sort of cruise is, at minimum, a few years off for me. However, I often wonder whether I could pull it off on my current 33' boat or whether I'd need a larger boat and (need or really want) a metal hull.
Thanks!

Good evening,
What boat to go with?
At Puerto Williams I saw the two extremes. At the one end was Skip Novak's Pelagic Australis at 17 meters loa. Specially developed to sail down there. At the other end was an Allied Seawind ketch (9.7 meters) which had been sailed down to Antarctica.
There were some very regular looking cruising boats there and also at Ushuaia, all sizes.
In the Beagle at Caleta Olla we found a small Spanish sloop. Nothing special. On Pelagic, we were running two lines ashore with an inflatable and a 20 hp o/board. The Spanish boat came in and doggy paddled their inflatable ashore with one line to shore. No sweat!

[Banjo]

Originally Posted by Banjo

Good evening,
What boat to go with?
At Puerto Williams I saw the two extremes. At the one end was Skip Novak's Pelagic Australis at 17 meters loa. Specially developed to sail down there. At the other end was an Allied Seawind ketch (9.7 meters) which had been sailed down to Antarctica.
There were some very regular looking cruising boats there and also at Ushuaia, all sizes.
In the Beagle at Caleta Olla we found a small Spanish sloop. Nothing special. On Pelagic, we were running two lines ashore with an inflatable and a 20 hp o/board. The Spanish boat came in and doggy paddled their inflatable ashore with one line to shore. No sweat!

OOPS, pressed the wrong computer key.

Regarding the boat. As the saying goes, "the best boat to go with is the boat you've got".
Just go, you will never regret it.

Regards,

Banjo.

[fishwife]

Banjo is right about the boat The one you have would probably be helped along the way by having a really good look at the bits that are likely to break under the strain of sustained 25 knot plus winds. It's actually the getting down there that's the main difficulty to overcome. The prevailing winds are from the South heading down the South American East coast. It's the Baja bash in reverse.

If you wanted to beef up the boat, I'd start with looking at the size and strength of your chain plates. Bigger, stronger ones will never go amiss. Any rigging that raises the slightest suspicion of being dodgy needs to be replaced. There's lots more you can do but I'm sure you get the point.

Whatever you do, if it's truly an ambition, just go Not many do, but the rewards are really worth the effort.

[Mambo]

Originally Posted by fishwife

It's actually the getting down there that's the main difficulty to overcome. The prevailing winds are from the South heading down the South American East coast. It's the Baja bash in reverse.

Whatever you do, if it's truly an ambition, just go Not many do, but the rewards are really worth the effort.

Thanks, both of you. I spent last night looking at Jimmy Cornell and scribbling notes and questions. As I read about things like tying off 3 lines to shore, I can see why some real basic beefing up would be in order (I originally read your chain plates comment as "backing plates").

As for getting there from East Coast USA, the first thought that came to mind was through the ditch to Galapagos, Easter and then to the Chilean coast / patagonia. That (as described by Cornell) is also a bash to weather. Do I have it wrong? Like I said, its all a ways off, but it is very encouraging to hear it suggested that a different boat is not required (that's a much longer way off!).

Thanks again.

[Mambo]

I wound up searching for threads on Patagonia and found some great stuff including the following from Beth & Evans' website:

1. Argentina
2. Chile
3. http://www.bethandevans.com/pdf/Chile.pdf
4. http://www.bethandevans.com/pdf/Chile2007.pdf
5. http://www.bethandevans.com/2001.htm
6. http://www.bethandevans.com/2002.htm
7. http://www.bethandevans.com/2007.htm
8. http://www.bethandevans.com/2008.htm

I guess, I shoulda done the search earlier

[fishwife]

I did mean chain plates but the backing plates of everything bearing a load need to be considered as well. Having a cleet tear out won't do your peace of mind a lot of good. I'm not a great believer in screws to hold anything important in place, no matter how long they are.

Beth and Evans are pro's, somewhat akin to gods in my eyes When I've been in lower latitudes both at the top and bottom, I suspect that I've as much been lucky as prepared. They are always prepared.

P.

[Doge]

Does the Beagle have compulsory piloting?