We leave Dunbar anchorage on Friday, October 19th in the morning to anchor a few miles west at Death Cove in front of the gentoo penguin colony. In the afternoon, we reach West Point Island, which offers a pleasant walk to the albatross and rockhopper penguin colonies. On the way back, we stop at Jackie and Alan's place, who invite us for tea with a wide selection of pastries (the leftovers not devoured by the 70 passengers from the morning cruise ship). Indeed, while some farms live off their wool production, others with significant animal colonies turn to maritime tourism.
The next day, we weigh anchor at dawn to take advantage of the favorable current and cover the 40 miles separating us from Beaver Island, the westernmost island of the Falklands. We arrive in the early afternoon to moor with a touch of emotion at the dock of Jérôme Poncet, who owns the island. For those who still don't know, Jérôme (with his friend Gerard Janichon) is the originator of the legendary voyage of the sailboat Damien, which sailed the world for 5 years in the early 1970s. He then wintered in Antarctica with his wife Sally aboard Damien 2 before settling with his family on Beaver Island, taking over a sheep farm while continuing to undertake annual voyages to Antarctica and South Georgia for scientific and especially cinematographic missions. Jérôme is a bible regarding polar regions, and for 2 weeks he shares with us his knowledge of the history, fauna, flora, and navigation of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions.
We also learn to slaughter, gut, and cut up sheep and cook their meat in various ways (merguez, fondue, pan-fried, pâté...). Jérôme even gives us a whole sheep with which we prepare new preserves for Antarctica. Jérôme also shares his reindeer, geese he hunts on his island, his catch (fish, mussels, centollons), and his famous dandelion salad. We are also invited aboard Golden Fleece, one of his sailboats, and spend the day observing guanacos on Statts Island. The sun shines, the water is turquoise, and the white sand beach sheltered from the wind invites us to swim, and even though the water barely exceeds 6 degrees, Perrine and Nina can't resist!
Jérôme also lets us use his workshop and benefit from the electricity provided by solar panels and his wind turbine. Damien builds and installs a new stern arch to hoist the dinghy more quickly, while the girls play football with the two small domesticated reindeer.
The island allows for pleasant walks, and Nina and Diane have fun counting the foxes and numerous birds they have spotted!
For once, we are delighted to be 'stuck' here due to the weather, as the welcome is so warm! But we must return to Puerto Williams; December will come quickly, and we still have some preparations before Antarctica. A good weather window appears on Monday, November 6th, allowing us to return to Puerto Williams in two and a half days sailing downwind under the sun with a few hours of engine use.
We are already a bit nostalgic about our stay in the Falklands and these enriching encounters! We will definitely come back...
conseils de lecture :
Damien autour du monde, G.Janichon
Le Grand Hiver, S.Poncet
et pour les enfants : Antarctic Encouter : destination South Georgia, S.Poncet
The rest of the photos are on our Facebook page, limited connection obliges...
