Silvia Varela reflects on how a farewell sail around the Falkland Islands on Skip Novak\u2019s Pelagic became a turning point in her lifePhoto: Sergio Pitamitz \/ GettyIn spring 2016 my partner, Magnus, and I delivered Pelagic, one of two yachts owned and run as a high-latitudes adventure charter boat by former Whitbread Round the World Race skipper and Yachting World columnist Skip Novak, from Puerto Williams in Chile to the Falkland Islands.
\nHaving sailed to Antarctica, Cape Horn, and the Chilean channels during the southern summer, Pelagic was due to overwinter in the port of Stanley. This delivery was also a farewell for Magnus. After many years skippering Pelagic and her big sister Pelagic Australis, this was his final season in southern waters before embarking on new projects.
\nThe Falkland Islands lie in the South Atlantic, at 52\u00b0S and some 300 miles northeast from Cape Horn. During our three-day delivery, a lively downwind ride, Magnus told me about his love for the place and the exceptional people he\u2019d met there over the years.
\nMagnus studying the pilot book for the Falkland Islands inside Pelagic\u2019s pilothouse. Photo: Silvia Varela
\nThe archipelago comprises the two main islands of East and West Falkland, as well as numerous smaller islands. Usually under time pressure of charter schedules, Magnus had only visited Stanley and a few other sites, but the places in between make fantastic cruising grounds with safe anchorages.
\nHe dreamt of exploring the dramatic landscapes and abundant wildlife. As a photographer, I too am drawn to remote places and barren, windswept islands, and as a longtime resident of Argentina, I was already curious about the Falklands. By the time we made landfall in Stanley three days later, we had firmed up a plan to come back.
\nSkip kindly lent us Pelagic so we could cruise the islands at our leisure, and less than a month later we were on the short flight back from Punta Arenas, Chile. But our fantasy of island-hopping in calm seas and idyllic weather was soon shattered.
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWe were eight days out from the south coast of South Georgia and once again we had skied smack into\u2026<\/p>\n
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The problem is that Stanley sits at the far eastern end of the islands, in an area of severe westerlies, which pinned us to the dock for the next week, blowing relentlessly over 40 knots. We drove around Stanley in an old military Land Rover \u2013 ubiquitous as the sheep that dot the islands.
\nWe provisioned, filled the tanks with water and diesel, met friends and got to know the pub very well. We waited and waited, and were beginning to worry that our trip might never happen. Finally, a week later, the forecast gap in the weather arrived. The wind dropped to 20-25 knots, and we sneaked out as quickly as we could.
\nThe wind was forecast to blow from the south-west over the following days, so we chose to make our westing to the north of the islands, where the seas would be more sheltered. Given how unreliable the weather had been so far, we had no idea how long the lull would last, so our first priority was to sail as far out west as we could while the conditions were relatively benign, then cruise slowly back.<\/p>\n
This made sense particularly in the light of our second priority: to travel under sail whenever possible. After many years working to schedule in the charter business, Magnus was determined to avoid motoring unless absolutely necessary.
\nWith all of this in mind, we left Stanley, turned round the north of the island, and headed west. We sailed through the night, since the north coast of East Falkland offers only a few safe harbours, and none particularly remarkable. Our first port of call would be West Point Island, off West Falkland, to visit Magnus\u2019s old friends and cruising legends Thies Matzen and Kicki Ericson.
\nIt was a rough passage. On the first day we struggled to make progress, with 25 knots on the nose and a short, choppy inshore sea. The following day the wind eased off slightly, but obstinately maintained its direction.
\nWe sailed as far as the west end of Pebble Island before heading south-west inside Carcass Island and finally north-west up Byron Sound and into West Point Cove at West Point Island. We arrived very late on the second night, in darkness, relying on instruments alone. It was nonetheless an easy entrance, and we anchored in eight metres in the middle of the cove.
\nThe next day we were woken by Kicki\u2019s singsong voice on the VHF, inviting us to come ashore for lunch. We were feeling rather dizzy after two bouncy days at sea, and both perked up at the prospect of homemade food, good company, and a long walk.
\nWith high sea cliffs and abundant bird life \u2013 especially large colonies of black-browed albatrosses, as well as gentoo, jackass and rockhopper penguins, and striated caracara, known locally as the Johnny rook \u2013 West Point Island is one of the most popular cruise ship destinations in the Falklands outside of Stanley.
\nFrom left to right, Thies, Kicki and Magnus walking in the mist. Photo: Silvia Varela
\nFor the last three years, Thies and Kicki have been running the sheep farm and looking after the tourists. Last summer they arrived in record numbers: Kicki told us that season she\u2019d baked cakes and made cups of tea for over 4,000 cruise ship guests on their short stopovers at West Point en route to South Georgia or Antarctica.
\nThies and Kicki greeted us in their sunny kitchen, which would\u2019ve been perfectly at home in an English country house. We hugged like old friends; I was instantly at ease in their company. The couple have spent their entire adult lives sailing in Wanderer III, the iconic 30ft wooden sloop in which Eric and Susan Hiscock famously circumnavigated the globe twice.
\nFor the last 15 years, they have focused mostly on the Southern Ocean. Most impressively, they lived in South Georgia, on board Wanderer III, for 26 months, from 2009 to 2011, and published an extraordinary photobook of their time there. In 2011, they were awarded the Cruising Club of America\u2019s Blue Water Medal.
\nPelagic and Wanderer III at anchor, seen from the garden of the farmhouse at West Point Island. Photo: Silvia Varela
\nWe chatted about life, sailing, South Georgia, photography, literature; our conversation flowed into the evening. One evening after dinner, they invited us on board Wanderer III for coffee and more thrilling stories, from rolling the boat near Cape Horn, to the challenges and serendipity involved in procuring firewood in treeless South Georgia.
\nWanderer was one of the cosiest spaces we\u2019d ever been in \u2013 intimate, full of books, lit by paraffin lamps, kept warm by a wood burner. A real home, as charming and hospitable as its owners.
\nOur original plan was to go to New Island next, reckoned to be one of the most beautiful in the Falklands. In order to catch the tide, which can run up to six knots through the Woolly Gut between West Point Island and West Falkland itself, we left in the gloaming.
\nShipwreck on the beach at West Point Island. Photo: Silvia Varela
\nWe headed south-west under headsail alone on a sea as smooth as oil, motoring occasionally when the wind dropped below five knots. In the perfect silence of the morning, we could hear birds flapping their wings as they took off in the distance.
\nWe altered our course many times, trying to anticipate where the next whale would surface, listening out for the otherworldly sound they make when they blow out spray. From that morning on, we were permanently escorted by dolphins. At one point we counted 22 all around Pelagic!
\nAs we neared the island, we veered off course to take a close-up look at the Colliers, a striking pair of sea stacks that I wanted to photograph. We spent hours going round and round the rocks, under sail alone, just for fun. The sea stacks are made of layered shelves on which dozens of sea lions were enjoying the sun.
\nMagnus working the jib as we sail round the Colliers. Photo: Silvia Varela
\nHowever, with each lap of the yacht, the young males became increasingly vocal, until they finally drove us off their territory with their cacophony of barking and an intense stench.
\nWe\u2019d taken quite a detour to see the Colliers, and by the time we left, the sun was going down. Going to New Island would\u2019ve meant doubling back on ourselves, so instead we steered Pelagic toward Beaver Island.
\nBeaver Island, the westernmost of the Falklands, is the home of southern high latitude sailing pioneer Je\u0301ro\u0302me Poncet and his family. In 1978-79 his Damien II was the first yacht to winter in Antarctica, and to this day remains the only yacht to have wintered so far south (67\u00b045\u2019S). Sadly, there was nobody on Beaver Island \u2013 Poncet was at Buckingham Palace, receiving a Polar Medal from the Queen.
\nA picnic and a rest on top of Beaver Island. Photo: Silvia Varela
\nStill, we hiked around the perimeter of the island and had a picnic at the top of one of the impressive cliffs, followed by curious and bold caracaras, and, at a more prudent distance, several flocks of reindeer. These are not native to the Falklands, but imports from South Georgia where, in turn, they were introduced by Norwegian whalers in the early 20th Century.
\nIn 2002 and 2003, Poncet sailed 31 reindeer from South Georgia to Beaver Island on his yacht Golden Fleece. One can only imagine how disconcerting the voyage must have been for the reindeer, but they made it to the island and thrived.
\nOur delightful experience travelling under headsail alone from West Point Island set a precedent, and we continued under the same sailplan early the following morning, all the way to Pit Creek, on Weddell Island. The anchorage is very narrow and shallow, so even with Pelagic\u2019s lifting keel, we couldn\u2019t get to the head of the cove.
\nThe first cup of tea of the day. Photo: Silvia Varela
\nDolphins known locally as puffing pigs, after the noise they make when they come to the surface, escorted our dinghy to shore. These are Commerson\u2019s dolphins, only found in narrow passages; rarely offshore. Out at sea, the sleeker Peale\u2019s dolphins take over, often leaping playfully alongside a vessel for hours.
\nBy now we\u2019d developed a cruising routine: arrive at a new anchorage; drop the anchor; take the dinghy ashore and go for a hike around the island. On our walk around Pit Creek we found vestiges of earlier human settlement \u2013 an old fishing buoy, the ruins of a house with only the fireplace and chimney still standing \u2013 but again we had the island to ourselves.
\nWe weighed anchor at first light and sailed in light airs around the north of Weddell Island, toward Weddell settlement. We called into the bay hoping to meet the owners of the settlement, but nobody answered on the radio, so we decided to use the last light of the day to continue on to New Year Cove, where we spent the night.
\nPelagic at anchor at Port Albemarle, famous for its abandoned sealing station. Photo: Silvia Varela
\nFrom New Year Cove, we sailed down the Smylie Channel. Crossing Race Reef and heading out to the open sea was very rough, with tremendous overfalls. Heading south-east, we passed the impressive cliffs of Port Stephens and Cape Meredith, toward the settlement at Port Albemarle, famous for its abandoned sealing station.
\nAt the southern end of Falkland Sound, the channel that divides the two main Falkland islands, Port Albermarle has some of the most striking scenery in the Falkland Islands, with white sandy beaches and large patches of seaweed in prominent shapes and textures. We followed penguin footprints leading up from the beach and found a large colony of gentoo penguins, which were initially shy, but eventually waddled up to us, won over by curiosity.
\nOn the way back to Pelagic, we were again escorted by puffing pigs, which seemed to be making fun of us by leaping up and belly flopping all around the dinghy, soaking us with icy water. We laughed and cursed them in jest, reminding ourselves never to forget that such moments are magical and a large part of why we live the way we do.
\nA Magellanic penguin on the beach at New Island. Photo: Philip Mugridge \/ Alamy
\nAlthough we were running out of time, Magnus was keen to explore Chaffers Gullet, a long, thin channel at the end of which there was a very appealing anchorage at the foot of a hill called the Little Mollymawk, which would\u2019ve made for a perfect hike.
\nMotoring up this narrow channel \u2013 at times only 80m wide \u2013 took longer than we anticipated, and by the time we got to the anchorage it was almost dark, so we never made it off the boat. But it was a worthwhile detour that reminded Magnus of his childhood sailing dinghies on England\u2019s Norfolk Broads.
\nOvernight, the barometer started to drop, and by first light the wind had got up and the air felt much chillier. We\u2019d been very fortunate so far, but given what we knew about the weather in the Falklands, we didn\u2019t want to push our luck. It was time to head back.
\nPelagic approaching Stanley harbour. Photo: Silvia Varela
\nThe days remained cool but sunny, and the winds light, as we sailed up Falkland Sound and on to Stanley almost in one stretch, stopping only at Shag Harbour and Salvador Waters.
\nAt Salvador Waters \u2013 a large expanse of water joined to the Atlantic by a narrow channel of varying depth, about seven miles long \u2013 we encountered some interesting tidal effects: at one point, Pelagic was making 11 knots over the ground with the engine at idle! While this was a particularly extreme case, it was by no means unusual.
\nThroughout our circumnavigation, we\u2019d been puzzled by the tides, which rarely seemed to do what they were supposed to be doing. Eventually, we concluded that, while there is extensive tidal information for the Falklands, it has no bearing in reality.
\nThe Falklands can be tricky to navigate \u2013 the tides are especially hard to predict. Photo: Silvia Varela
\nOr, as our local friend Paul Ellis put it: \u201cThe tides around here just seem to do what they want: sometimes they come in and go out; sometimes they come in and stay for a few days.\u201d The prevailing westerlies play a significant role, but seldom in the way one would expect.
\nPelagic\u2019s chartplotter has a waypoint at the door of the Victory pub. I assumed this was a joke or a mistake until we tried to get back into Stanley in a hurricane-force westerly. It was a long day beating into the wind, by the end of which we were yearning for a pint and a hot dinner.
\nStill, we were sad to see our time on Pelagic and in the Falklands come to an end. In the three weeks since we\u2019d left Stanley, we hadn\u2019t seen or spoken to anybody other than Thies and Kicki; we\u2019d had the wild, idyllic playground of the islands all to ourselves. We\u2019d travelled mostly under sail, saving energy by going to bed at dusk and getting up at dawn, as well as reading by candlelight to avoid turning on the engine.
\nWe\u2019d learned to work together on a boat efficiently and joyfully, and we realised that the time we had spent with Thies and Kicki at West Point had planted a seed in us: what if we took up cruising full time? We\u2019d both been travelling constantly for some years and were eager to call somewhere home, though we weren\u2019t ready to stop exploring the world. The solution was staring us in the face: we would live on our own boat.
\nA few months later, we were heading for the Caribbean to start a new chapter on our 39ft steel-hulled home: Lazy Bones. And so it was that our time in the Falkland Islands heralded the start of our cruising life.
\nAbout the author
\nPhotographer Silvia Varela and professional skipper Magnus Day live aboard their 39ft steel-hulled cruising yacht Lazy Bones. They offer charter bookings and polar expedition support via highlatitudes.com
\nThe post Sailing the Falkland Islands: A life-changing voyage on board Pelagic appeared first on Yachting World.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Silvia Varela reflects on how a farewell sail around the Falkland Islands on Skip Novak\u2019s Pelagic became a turning point in her lifePhoto: Sergio Pitamitz \/ GettyIn spring 2016 my partner, Magnus, and I delivered Pelagic, one of two yachts … <\/p>\n