Tue
16 Jan
2018
Everything is much more personal on such a small ship – including the offical part, so we went altogether after breakfast to the immigration authorities to say officially goodbye to Argentina. That did not take much time, and soon we could leave the little pier and turn into the Beagle Channel – an exciting moment!
The weather kept changing by the minute from sun to rain and hail and back, but the wind kept coming from the east, so we could put sails up and use them additionally to the engine while we enjoyed the scenery slowly moving past.
We had almost left the Beagle Channel when Heinz stopped the ship to get some maintainance done before we would be in open water – a little routine exchange of a part in the engine room. But it turned out to be a bit beyond everyday routine, because the spare part as it had been delivered to the ship in Ushuaia turned out be not the right one. A difference of just one millimetre could be more than enough to screw things up, and so it was here. There was nothing else to do but to make a 180 degree turn and set course for Ushuaia – it was just not an option to sail to Antarctica without having the essential infrastructure of the ship 100% in good working order. Actually, we all agreed quickly that the risk of having our pasta uncooked for several weeks was not really an option.
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For those of us who were on evening watch, we got a lovely view in exchange when some dolphins came close to the boat and two of them jumped out of the water and turned in the air, perfectly synchronized!