At the very tip of the world lies an island rich in history where steep ice-clad mountains rise from the sea. Guanaco & foxes roam on land while sealions, elephant seals, penguins and whales feed in the oceans. Glaciers carve house-sized chunks of blue ice into the water with a loud growl. The wind can pick up in minutes and strong gusts descend from the valleys “in a roar of shaken trees and whistling whirlwind on rock”. The exposed east coast has a tidal range of up to 10 metres while 8 knot currents kick up waves several metres high in the narrow channels on the north of the island.

“La Isla Grande” – the big island of “Tierra Del Fuego” lies at the very tip of South America, less than 100 miles north of Cape Horn. It has a rugged coastline of approximately 1,000 miles. The eastern part of the island belongs to Argentina and is mostly exposed and committing. The western part belongs to Chile and most of the paddling is in narrow and beautiful canals with steep mountains on both sides. All areas can be extremely windy!

The narrow gap between mainland South America and ‘Isla Grande’ is historically very important as it was the first passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean to be discovered, shortening the time required to get to Asia for trading.  Magellan made the discovery in 1570 and the ‘Magellan Strait’ now bears his name. During this journey, he saw many fires lit by native people and he decided to call the island “Tierra del fuego”, the land of fire.

Over the next few centuries, the Magellan Strait became strategically important and many expeditions were sent from Europe to try to map the area and control the passage. The climate and weather proved too harsh for most and thousands of people died. In contrast, 4 native tribes thrived in the area for 10,000 years, wearing no more than elaborate paint and a fur hat to protect them from the cold. The Yagan tribe paddled their flimsy Beech bark canoes along the coast and out as far as the treacherous islands of Cape Horn. Unfortunately these strong people were practically wiped out by contact with Europeans.

In January & February 2011, Barry Shaw & Justine Curgenven attempted to honor the Yagan spirit and kayak around Tierra del Fuego. We started in Punta Arenas in Chile, and started kayaking clockwise around the island. Before we set off we had to prove to the Chilean and Argentinian navys that we had the right experience and equipment for the journey.

We fully expect the trip to be very challenging as the weather can be stormy for several weeks without let up and williwalls of over 100 knots have been recorded. The exposed east coast can be hammered by surf and the tide goes out hundreds of metres meaning we’ll be spending hours carrying our kayaks up and down the beach if we arrive or leave at low tide.

As far as we know, no-one has circumnavigated ‘La Isla Grande’ yet. In 2010 Marcus Demuth and Biff Wruszek had to call off an attempt when they were weatherbound near the SE tip for 12 days. Read about their trip here.

We are looking forward to the challenges ahead and are reading about the history, devouring the nautical guide, studying charts & contacting people with local knowledge. We  know we will often have to sit tight and wait for conditions to improve so we are allowing 2 months for the expedition and we hope this will be long enough to make it all the way round!

In 2011, we made it almost a third of the way around Isla Grande to close to Rio Grande. Barry suffered from tendonitis which ultimately led us to stop the circumnavigation before we headed into a remote, roadless area. We are returning in January 2012 and hope to complete the circumnavigation.

I will be filming the expedition and sending back trip updates where possible.

TRIP SUMMARY:

Where:  La Isla Grande, Tierra Del Fuego
Aim:  To kayak 1,000 miles around the island clockwise from Punta Arenas, Chile
Who:  Justine Curgenven & Barry Shaw
When:  Jan – March 2012

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