Falklands Bound

And we are off to pass through the Drake once again! We are headed to the Falklands for a stop to re-provision, rest, refuel and make any needed repairs (like that bolt and the repair of some newly torn bimini canvas) before continuing northward. And laundry, laundry would be good.

The last few days have been quite pleasant. We have gotten walks in ashore every day. We have had nice relaxed family time with games and baking. We have worked together to get the boat ready to make the passage. The weather has been windy at times (annoyingly mostly while trying to sleep) and dead calm at times. We have had a nice sunny day and also some gray, low visibility days.

We woke up on Wednesday to a whole lot of brash ice all around. We wondered if we would need to move. However, It cleared up over the course of the day with the tide and a little bit of wind. So we stayed put in Yankee Harbour while watching weather, preparing and planning.

Thursday we had a really calm day, after a windy night, which worked out well for getting everything ready for passage making. We also got a last shore excursion in before a cruise ship arrived. We were lucky to get the best visibility and least drizzle of the day. We then worked on deflating the dinghy and stowed everything for passage making.

Overnight the winds became really gusty and we continued to have some ice knocking on our hull. It hasn't been the most restful nights' sleep the past few nights. We woke up to fresh snow sprinkled on the hills and penguins blending in. The wind continued to blow for awhile - prompting both boys to ask if we were really still planning to leave. Then seemingly someone flipped the off switch and all was soon calm again. So the midday departure in the calm was on as we are prepped and ready to go.

Bye, bye Antarctica! You've been magnificent, again. Looking forward to new adventures and hoping for a good passage!