Three quarters of Mollymawk‘s crew have just returned from a flying visit to our homeland. Flying is something that we don’t like to do – partly for reasons of financial expense, and partly because of the cost in environmental terms – but Roxanne had decided that it was time she explored the possibilities of living full time in the land where she was born; and I, simultaneously, felt that it was time I saw my parents again. Of course, the…
This article is also available in English. Estou tentando escrever esse artigo à quase três anos. E mesmo agora não tenho certeza do que escrever. E a razão disso é que algum tempo atrás conheci uma família incrível; e eles me ensinaram muita coisa, me motivaram a fazer muitas coisas e em variados assuntos. Me influenciaram na maneira de pensar, me ajudaram a ver o mundo de uma forma diferente. Desde que conheci essa família, muita coisa mudou, passamos muito…
This article was written by our Brazilian friend, Gean Monteiro. Gean has spent many months sailing aboard Mollymawk over the course of the past five years. In fact, it’s high time we got round to giving him a place on our Crew page. I’ve often suggested that he might like to put together some words which describe our adventures together. What I wasn’t expecting was something which would make us blush to the tips of our toes…!
1 2 3 4 Day Four of our six day cruise in the Beagle Channel was spent anchored alongside Polarwind. In fact, by the time we had run back down the fiord from the glacier, on the previous evening, there was already another little charter yacht moored to Polarwind‘s other side – so, in fact there were three of us snugged away in the cove, all set to ride out the storm which was forecast to come our way on…
1 2 3 4 Day Two – and the forecast showed a strong headwind pumping down the Beagle Canal. Glad to have the chance to set some sail and to show our guests how a boat is really supposed to travel, we set forth from our night’s refuge at first light. Oswaldo had planned on leaving at the same hour, but when we weighed anchor there was no sign of life aboard Polarwind. Even before we left the shelter of…
1 2 3 4 The plane is landing. And I’m still tidying the cabin. I grab my wellies and pull them on; we leap into the dinghy, and Nick pulls hard on the oars. The creek is just 100 yards wide, but Puerto Williams airport is one of the smallest in the world. By the time we’ve landed and I’ve scrambled up the bank, the last of the passengers has already climbed out of the Twin Otter and is walking…
Ever since I first heard the Buddha’s teachings, some three and a half years ago, I’ve fantasised about the idea of taking a couple of monks sailing. The Buddha and his monks and nuns dwelt in the forests of northern India, and the branch of Buddhism which resonates with me is the one which sticks closest to the life which he advocated: a life verging on the ascetic, with the monastic members of the community still camping out in huts…
During the past couple of weeks Mollymawk has been a-voyaging without her Second Skipper, the reason being that Caesar has been having fun elsewhere. To be exact, he’s been signed up to serve as mate aboard a famous expedition yacht called Northanger. After a fortnight of hard work, while he prepared the boat for her forthcoming voyage, he’s heading back to the glaciers once more, and this time he’ll be checking them out in the company of a trio of…
The wind blew hard from the south-west, driving up great waves. Not since they left the northern hemisphere had the ship ridden seas this big – but far from being afraid or dismayed her captain was ecstatic. During the months that she had spent on the coast which we now know as Argentina the Endracht had seen plenty of strong winds, but always before the adjacent land had provided a lee. Now, evidently, there was no lee, or else how…
This article is the last in our series of five about the first European interactions with the people of Tierra del Fuego. If you haven’t been following along you may want to start at the beginning. The Allen Gardiner set out from the Falklands, and on reaching Tierra del Fuego she sailed around the bottom of Isla Navarino and beat up into the bay at Wulaia. Aboard the boat, the missionaries must have been feeling a mixture of excitement and…