The Falklands

27 December 2023

The Falklands

We have arrived and the first colony of penguins is already standing here on the shore looking at us. A few days ago we used the engine to sail against the wind in a southerly direction to gain some height for a forecast of very strong south-westerly winds. That went quite well, until the wind dropped a lot. Same time the waves became high and extremely steep. No idea where those waves suddenly came from, but it was awkward. The net under the bowsprit occasionally disappeared under water. We had to slow down as much as possible. The result was that we ended up about 30 miles less far south than we actually intended. When the predicted wind came, the angle with that wind was less favorable and we sailed almost perpendicular to the waves. The water occasionally ran over the bulwark on both sides. The wind was an average of force 7 with gusts of 8. Our guests found this impressive and so did the crew. The waves were 4 meters high with peaks of 6 meters in between. Apart from a few seasick people, a few broken glasses and a walking refrigerator, everything went well.

Once here in between the Islands, the waves were gone and there was lots of wildlife to look at. Whales, sea lions, different species of dolphins and many, many birds. The spot where we are now (Wedeel Island) provides a great anchorage, although the wind is still blowing hard. We’ll just have to see how things go with dinghy sailing to the shore.  It will be a wet exercise..

And…. it’s Christmas on board today! Given the turbulent journey, we postponed our Christmas dinner until today.