The day 26 January dawned glassy and calm - a complete contrast to the day before. In a slick maneuver we repacked the boat and were in the water by 10h30. Kotic had already slipped her mooring and was waiting a few meters off shore. The day was unusually warm probably our best day since our arrival – a perfect day to start our adventure.

Soon the breeze had filled in and leaving Ushuaia we got gusts of cold wind sliding down the hillside. We put up the spinnaker a shot past Kotic who was chugging along at 8 knots. The boat was quick – the sailing was fun. Soon we were dwarfed by a cruise liner that was entering the port – a seeming Goliath and us a miniscule David !! We slipped through their wind shadow in a flash.

The wind held up for about 10 miles down the Beagle Canal and then died to a glassy calm. It was incredible the water was crystal clear - cold and green – the sky was blue and the sun warm on our backs. Summer !? The silence was like a symphony - so strange - the last few months of Sao Paulo, Rio and New York drifted from my memory. Squawks and splashes from cormorants, albatrosses and penguins filled the empty space only interrupted by the odd moo from cattle grazing on the shore.

Beto paddles to rippled patches – we are beating with the spinnaker up barely making 2 knots. The light is stunning and we relish in the warm and calmness of the perfect day. Lunch mmm .. the day drags on we make slow progress but its beautiful. A few miles from Puerto Williams we accept a tow from a passing Yacht. Popov, the skipper assures us, ´´ Puerto Williams nada mas ! `` We smile.

Puerto Williams lies on Isla Navarino a big island on the south side of the Beagle Canal. Essentially a military base for control of the islands further south. Bureaucracies are the orders for the next day.

The ambiance aboard is one of excitement as we complete our first step to Antarctica.

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