We got up before the sun to leave Yendegaia, as the forecast was for a calm morning and winds picking up after mid day. We picked up the anchor and headed into the gray morning. Its takes about an hour to motor out of the cove, so by the time we hit the Beagle, the sun was starting to rise. A calm an glorious morning, but you could see the future of the day by looking west – grey clouds told a tale of what was coming. However turning to the east was a grand array of pinks and oranges starting the day. We made coffee and had just taken pastries out of the oven, when Fede said “here comes the wind”. And it came. Blowing at 35-40 and gusting up to 45. The Waves immediately picked up and hopes of enjoying a hot coffee and pastries quickly vanished. Instead we stowed a final few items below and held on. Bang bang bang, the bow went into the seas. Luckily we have a powerful engine, although our speed slowed from 8 knots down to nearly 3 or 4. 2 other sail boats were also heading west. One had to take shelter and the other one we over took. We continued towards Calleta Olla – probably the best protected anchorage in the beagle Channel. We had about an hour to go and we knew if we got there, we’d be good to go for whatever nature threw at us.
After an hour of pounding, we made it and amazing – as soon as you come around the bend into the cove, the seas drop and the winds drop. We were wonderfully protected – we dropped the dinghy and dropped the anchor and got ourselves settled. Finally we enjoyed the coffee and pastries.
We ended up staying in Caletta Olla for 2 nights as the winds persisted. A great thing about this cove is that you can easily get to the beach and then walk out to see the Beagle. Its one of the few anchorages where you actually get to be on land and enjoy the Beagle – in its fully strength and power as westerly winds rip down the Channel. Its times like this where you really appreciate the modern technology to be able to download weather, imagine Darwin and Fitz Roy having to take the chance on a good morning, only to be beaten back by the winds!
Looking ahead at the weather we will have another early morning departure to continue.
