Noon Position: 32 55' S, 071 32' W, COG NA, SOG 0, Day's Run 0! I
docked at Higuerillas Yacht at 10:30 tuesday, and set about clearing
customs into the country. This turned out be a more time consuming
process than I have experienced in the past - first, at noon, the
Chilean Coast Guard arrived to give my boat clearance to be in Chilean
Waters. By 3, Immigration had finally arrived to give me clearance to
be on Chilean Land. Around 5:30 a woman from customs swung by, to make
sure I wasn't smuggling anything, and finally at 7:00 the inspector from
Agriculture came aboard. The only thing I had that was a problem was
honey - apparently there's a bacteria in American bees that they're
trying to keep out of Chile, so all of my honey was sealed in Dept. of
Agriculture packing tape, not to be opened until after departure. This
was all a bit exciting, since my spanish is almost nonexistant, and most
of officialdom, while speaking fairly good english, seemed embarassed
that they weren't fluent, so our conversations were a bit awkward.
Still, it was very nice to have everyone come to the boat instead of
having to traipse around to various government offices, if a bit of a
long day. It seemed like the various clearance officers must drive a
circuit to cover various ports, hence the long afternoon. This, of
course, is entirely conjecture, since my lack of spanish limited our
conversation primarily to business matters. So far everyone at the
Yacht club has been very helpful - I'm going to get the mast out
tomorrow, and then make a determination of what is needed in terms of
repair. Being back ashore is overwhelming - the combination of little
sleep the night monday night, walking 2 miles, and dealing with people
(and in a foreign language) after being alone for 70 days has me feeling
a bit out of sorts. I think it will be a few more days before I'm fully
sorted out. I'm going to be posting less frequently now that I'm ashore
- I'm focusing now on getting the boat back together and ready to sail
again, but I'll try to update occasionally.
Hi Eric -- rooting for you lots, just checking in to say hi, and to let you know I'm reading along admiring your ambition, your execution, and your writing. Will be very curious to hear what the mast/deck needs are and when you'll be back on the water.
ReplyDelete(I just read Anathem for the first time and loved it! If you haven't read Reamde yet you're in for a treat -- save it for a long becalmed stretch and it'll help you cope).
I'm expecting a baby any day now so I can relate to your experience of waiting, frustrated, for an act of nature you can't control but that will have a big impact on life.
-- Sherry