Sailing yacht "Vera", a Swan 47, in the Magellan Strait
Now new on bobbyschenk.de: The crew of the Swan 47 "Vera" reports on an enchantingly beautiful, but also challenging section of the cruise
Britta and Michael, two German circumnavigators, have spent months in the ice in the south of America. Their southernmost turning point was beyond 65 degrees. After that, they moved to a supposedly easier area. But the Magellan Strait can also be tough.
The exciting report can now be read on Bobby Schenk's homepage. Here is an excerpt - below the direct link.
"Estrecho de Magallanes", what a name! Fernão de Magalhães, Thomas Cavendish, Louis Antoine de Bougainville, Antonio de Córdova and Joshua Slocum had their adventures in these waters. We sail, er... motor, in the wake of HMS "Beagle" and Charles Darwin. How incredibly arduous it must have been to move a square-rigged tall ship forward in these waters, against the wind and current! At the end of 1520, Magalhães and his men managed to reach the exit to an ocean unknown to them, which the captain called "Mar Pacifico" because it lay so peacefully before him, in just six weeks. We don't know whether they towed their heavy and unwieldy galleons with their dinghies on a good day, or somehow turned up with their baggy canvas sacksails when the wind was blowing. It's just as well that we have the ancient, green and very reliable Mr VOLVO on our side. 62 horsepower, which makes life a lot easier when it counts. It's also good that we have access to the very reliable NOAA weather model GFS at all times via IRIDIUM. We don't need to go out today and we won't need to tomorrow either. West-north-west force eight, squalls, continuous rain, cold. Dinner on board the PAZZO. Delicious."
