The sun shone on a calm sea as Barry and I paddled into the bay surrounded by steep mountains that houses Ushuaia – the town at ‘the end of the world’. Since turning the ‘SE’ corner and heading west along the southern shore of “Isla Grande”, we had become accustomed to starting paddling at 5am and getting as far as we could before the winds picked up, or until the winds swung around so we couldn’t find any shelter on the north shore. We were usually off the water by noon at the latest. On Thursday, a surprising lapse in the usual strong westerly winds allowed us to paddle the last 30 nautical miles back into ‘civilisation’ in just one day. We surprised Monica with a phone call at 1pm saying “We are at the canoe club”! Marcelo had just arrived back into Ushuaia the same morning, having kayaked with 3 friends from Punta Arenas. We are now staying at their house in Ushuaia for a few days to rest, relax and eat!! We have paddled approximately 270 nautical miles in 13 days and we have approx. 330 nautical miles to go between Ushuaia and Punta Arenas.
It’s been great to be on a kayaking trip again. I feel so alive when travelling through beautiful scenery, using my own power to move forwards and carrying everything I need in my kayak. I love being able to pull the kayak up onto a pretty beach, or in a small bay, Barry pitches the tent while I make a hot drink and some food, then we relax for a few hours – taking a walk and looking around.
The biggest challenge to start with was the 7 metre tidal range. The tide goes out over 2 miles in places, exposing sandy beaches dotted with razor sharp rocks. We got ‘stuck’ inside one of these bays as the tide was going out. There was a strong offshore wind so we didn’t want to kayak 2 miles away from land around the outside of the reef. We tried to sneak inside the reef and find deeper water, but the water was being sucked out to sea at about 2 knots, rapidly exposing rock shelves & thick kelp beds. You could hear the water rushing over the seafloor forming rapids like on a river. Eventually we tried to head out to sea, cringing when the kayak scraped on a rock, and cursing as the paddles hit thick kelp, but after 30 minutes we stood on a rock to get a vantage point and the deep water was still over a mile away. We retraced our steps – by now we had to portage the kayaks over the exposed rocks, but we reached a deeper water channel close to shore, pulled our kayaks up on a steep gravel beach and decided to camp for the night!
The East coast got more and more wild as we headed south. The low sand coloured bluffs were replaced by rocky headlands draped with hundreds of grunting fur seals and sea lions, and everywhere birds flew overhead, sat in groups on rocks or dove for food. We were apprehensive about rounding the 2 scary Capes where ‘a tidal race extends for 6 miles and reaches 8 knots’. In the end, we rounded them at close to slack water and there was very little tide and few waves. It was almost disappointing!
La Maire Strait was very pretty – in particular the southern half where rocky cliffs rise from the sea. We spent an afternoon and night at Buen Suceso Bay in La Maire Strait, with a gorgeous view out to L’islas de los Estados (Staten Island). It looked beautiful in the afternoon sunlight – A long line of jagged peaks like a set of bad teeth. We were very well looked after by the 5 Armada staff who work there for a 45 day shift. The welcomed us in shared 2 hot meals, a cake and hot chocolate with us & chatted about their isolated life in this gorgeous spot. Barry put up an admirable fight against the resident chess champion, but didn’t carry away a trophy! We left them with a big bar of chocolate – a poor swap for the delicious meals that we enjoyed, but it seemed to be well received!
The coastline all the way back to Ushuaia was breathtaking. Lots of mountains – a few pocket sandy beaches, small coves, rocky shores, and lots of greenery. Forests reached down to the sea, the trees usually scraped up the side of the mountain by the power of the wind – like a fuzzy green back combed hair!
We soon reached the Beagle Channel with is about 4 miles wide, and surrounded on both sides by steep craggy peaks, with a dusting of snow on the tops. There isn’t as much wildlife as on the outer coast, but you can still always see a bird of some description – most commonly cormorants, but also terns, skuas, oyster catchers, a type of heron, a grebe, small waders and the occasional sighting of penguins or dolphins. A few days ago, we reached the ‘road’ again and started to see small shacks, bigger houses, estancias & the occasional car on the road! Yachts, pilot boats and a large cargo ship appeared in the waters.
Paddle on the wild side
The sun shone on a calm sea as Barry and I paddled into the bay surrounded by steep mountains that houses Ushuaia – the town at ‘the end of the world’. Since turning the ‘SE’ corner and heading west along the southern shore of “Isla Grande”, we had become accustomed to starting paddling at 5am and getting as far as we could before the winds picked up, or until the winds swung around so we couldn’t find any shelter on the north shore. We were usually off the water by noon at the latest. On Thursday, a surprising lapse in the usual strong westerly winds allowed us to paddle the last 30 nautical miles back into ‘civilisation’ in just one day. We surprised Monica with a phone call at 1pm saying “We are at the canoe club”! Marcelo had just arrived back into Ushuaia the same morning, having kayaked with 3 friends from Punta Arenas. We are now staying at their house in Ushuaia for a few days to rest, relax and eat!! We have paddled approximately 270 nautical miles in 13 days and we have approx. 330 nautical miles to go between Ushuaia and Punta Arenas.
We soon reached the Beagle Channel with is about 4 miles wide, and surrounded on both sides by steep craggy peaks, with a dusting of snow on the tops. There isn’t as much wildlife as on the outer coast, but you can still always see a bird of some description – most commonly cormorants, but also terns, skuas, oyster catchers, a type of heron, a grebe, small waders and the occasional sighting of penguins or dolphins. A few days ago, we reached the ‘road’ again and started to see small shacks, bigger houses, estancias & the occasional car on the road! Yachts, pilot boats and a large cargo ship appeared in the waters. 
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