I’ve started the journey: posting from Bristol Airport

It was a great send off! The hangover – well not so much.  The military precision of leaving at 1300 slipped, but I was away by 1315.  And five minutes of that was hunting for my kindle.

Lots of people asked for an outline of dates  last night. I’m going to put a note in the sidebar when I get to Chile but in the meantime:

Today, 3 March, I leave Bristol . I will change planes at Schipol, Amsterdam for the long (long) flight to Santiago which includes a refuelling stop at Buenos Aires. I arrive there late morning local time tomorrow. I’m leaving my big bag at the airport and making my way across town to meet my friend. If I have any energy there will be sightseeing! I am staying in Santiago till Saturday, when I retrieve the big beast and fly down to Punta Arenas. I have a night there (for which I still need to book a bed) before joining Europa on Sunday afternoon, 6 March.

After that, like any sailing trip, there are vagaries of wind and weather to contend with. We go first round the corner via a short stretch of Pacific to the magnificence of the Beagle Channel, named of course after Darwin’s ship, and we stop briefly at Puerto Williams. Once through the channel, which I think is expected to take about three days, we turn south, leaving the Horn to starboard, and head across Drake’s Passage for the Antarctic Peninsula. So we get there maybe a  week after leaving.

Europa will explore each side of the finger of the Peninsula (depending on the ice conditions), before heading north-east  to South Georgia. We spend several days there. So that first half of the trip has two three or four day passages but is otherwise day-sailing. The second half of the trip, starting late March, sees two long passages. The first half is to Tristan de Cunha, a tiny, isolated island. If the swell permits, we can land there. Then we take off for another long passage to Cape Town.  Each of these two legs is over ten days.

We are due in Cape Town on 29 April, and I arrive home on 3 May, arriving back at this airport around lunchtime.

I’m pleased that the big rucksack, securely wrapped in polythene, is checked through to Chile. It was a little overweight but the nice lady let it go without any additional charge. I am rather hot: wearing four layers plays my oilie jacket, and of course the boots. But once I am on that long-haul, I can arrange myself, as the French say.  

It’s done – I’m on my way.