5/3/08   10:30

We left Puerto Williams at 9:15 having survived a much more restrained evening in the Macalvi bar.  The Radar/Chart Plotter Display is still fine.  Once again, when it broke down it was in easy to deal with circumstances; it gave us something to do on the way to Puerto Williams.  It’s yet another grey day, what little wind there is, is behind us.

15:00

As the morning wore on the sun began to burn through the cloud cover and now it’s a very beautiful afternoon and the full majesty of our surroundings is very evident.  Ushuaia has long vanished from view and we have just passed two yachts coming from the West.

We have to keep reporting to the Chilean Check points along the way.  In addition I have to send them our positions twice a day. They want to know where we area at all times.  There are a number of forbidden anchorages and forbidden canals.

There is almost no wind and the Beagle is like glass.  It’s almost two miles wide at this point, reflecting the blue of the sky and the green of the mountains.

17:00

It’s clouding over again as we pass a glacier spilling ice into the Channel.  The Chart is way out as it shows us motoring over land by as much as a mile. More and more glaciers on both sides of the channel with many waterfalls.

20:00

We arrive at Caleta Beaulieu. It is located in a deep finger at the base of a huge glacier, a totally extraordinary setting.  A pair of very large dolphins escorted us the last two miles to where we dropped anchor.  We travelled a total of 81 miles.

Tomorrow morning we’ll have a look around and I’ll send this when I’ve sorted out some pictures.