Help us get our sailing boat ready, and then explore Patagonia, Chile

Infos

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  Description

  We're a family who have all been born and bred around sailing boats. For the past 30 years we've been slowly travelling the world under sail aboard our home-built ketch - and when I say slowly, I mean VERY slowly. We zig-zag to and fro; we loop back on ourselves. We're not actually trying to get anywhere. It's all about the lifestyle.
  
  The current crew consists of Dad and Mum and our oldest offspring. Having been born aboard, this one-time 'ship's boy' has worked his way up through the ranks in the usual manner and he is now the captain. We feel privileged that he's decided to stick with us. One of our other offspring jumped ship and got herself her own boat :)
  
  As a family, we have experience in calms and storms and, of course, in the tradewinds. We prefer remote anchorages, where we can have the world to ourselves. This might mean an azure lagoon at the heart of an atoll, or it might mean Point Nemo, in the depths of the South Pacific.
  We're happy sweltering in the tropics and we've also spent time amongst the ice floes and the glaciers of Patagonia. In fact, the captain has spent two seasons working in Antarctica on charter yachts and would like to head back down that way.
  
  Although we don't actually need any help in handling the boat, we certainly enjoy having other people aboard. We're not particularly interested in giving rides to people who just want to get from A to B. We have been known to do just that, but we're happier hosting people who are eager to learn about the cruising lifestyle with a view to buying their own boat. We also welcome scientists who want to use the vessel as a base for marine research (eg. plankton netting, listening to whales, etc)
  
  One of the drawbacks of this lifestyle is that it's financially difficult. We have to find ways to scrape by.
  The only other major hindrance is the amount of work entailed in keeping the boat in good shape. Our home is made from steel, and that's good news when there are uncharted rocks or when the bergy-bit is a bit bigger than it seemed, but it also means that there's always plenty of rust to be cleaned away and metal to be repainted. While in harbour, we're eager to hear from people who are skilled welders or carpenters and also anyone who enjoys grinding away old paint and daubing on new.
  
  UPDATE (November 2024) :
  Six months ago, with the help of an absolutely wonderful team of hard-working, happy Workaway volunteers, we completed the dirty, noisy task of cleaning old paint and rust from the boat, and we then gave her five coats of new, super-protective paint. Since then, she's been sitting on her own in Valdivia while we plant and water trees... It's a long story, best told over a bottle of Chilean wine or a couple of pints of the local beer.
  The skipper will be back aboard in a couple of week's time, and the cook and the engineer will be hot on his heels. (We've just got to get a few more trees into the ground!) There are still a couple of things to do before we can go sailing again in early December. Specifically, we have to service the engine, and we have to build a plywood and GRP doghouse to keep us dry in the wet and wild Chilean channels. And then we can be off!
  
  We have space for two single travellers. We cannot accommodate smokers. All meals aboard the boat are vegetarian.

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Bricolage et construction

  Entretien général
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  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  Travellers visiting us while we work on the boat will certainly learn a lot about boat maintenance and about the ins and outs of the cruising lifestyle. We are always happy to share our knowledge of yacht design as it relates to seaworthiness, boat-speed, and so forth. Indeed, we're ready to answer your questions on any subject related to boats.
  
  Everyone who sails with us does their own watch, after we've taught them how to steer and how to keep a good look-out for other vessels. Those who wish to can also learn more about how the boat sails and how to manage her in different winds. We're also happy to teach people how to navigate with the GPS and/or with a sextant.
  
  We also have a reasonably good knowledge of marine life (especially birds and cetaceans) which we're always glad to share.

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  Aide

  The hull has just undergone an extensive refit (January to April 2024) but, as has been explained, there are still a few things which need to be done to make life aboard the boat more comfortable.
  Some of the work requires knowledge which we can easily teach (eg. chipping rust and preparing metal for re-painting), but we would also be very pleased to hear from a carpenter with the skills needed to make a new table, and we'd be delighted to host someone who is competent with plywood and fibreglass and who can help us to make a simple doghouse (= a protective cover for the helmsman, at the wheel).
  
  Once the work has been completed, we plan to sail the boat down through the Chilean Channels - through Patagonia to Tierra del Fuego and Cape Horn - taking about three months for the adventure. This is a journey which we have made before. It is apt to be cold and wet and, simultaneously, utterly fantastic. We have a nice little wood-burning stove, and there'll be plenty of wine in the booze locker; so we should be able to stay cosy.
  
  We are particularly keen to hear from any young biologists who might want to grasp the opportunity to study the local wildlife. For example - so far as we know, no one has done a census of the otter population, down there, since the 70s. Then there are the cetaceans: On our last journey we took along a dolphin acoustician who wanted to study the Chilean dolphins; and we'd be thrilled to be able to help someone study the seis which we saw, on an almost daily basis, on our previous expedition.
  
  The flora of this region is also worthy of investigation. There are places where glacial deposition has created new land, and one can observe the process by which the plants have moved in. It's also astonishing to see how quickly the bright orange moss colonises rocks uncovered by the retreating glaciers.
  The glaciers themselves are awesome - in the literal sense of the word - and it's both wonderful and alarming to stand and watch them disintegrating....
  
  In the event that no biologists are available, we'll happily take along somebody else who is fit and enthusiastic, with a happy disposition, and with a life-outlook which meshes well with our own.
  So, what is our outlook? We're obsessed with the environment and with trying to protect it. To be honest, there doesn't seem to be much point in focusing on anything else these days, while eco-systems are collapsing and the climate is falling apart around us. In keeping with this philosophy, we do our best to live clean, green lives, leaving only bubbles in our wake. Our electricity comes from the wind and the sun. Our food is vegetarian, and we try to buy local stuff. Most important of all, we use the engine as little as possible. If it takes us all day to beat five miles up a Patagonian channel, making 24 tacks, then that's what we'll do.
  
  We're non-smokers, and smoking is not permitted aboard the boat.
  
  PLEASE NOTE : Anyone who wishes to join us for a sailing trip would need to have met with us beforehand and, ideally, should also have visited the boat. Priority will go to those who have helped prepare her for the voyage.
  
  Anyone joining us for an expedition will need to be able to commit themselves to the vagaries of the ocean - which is to say, there will be few opportunities for leaving or joining the boat once we're underway, and we will not be able to commit ourselves to being in a certain place at a certain time.
  The sailing life is unpredictable, largely because the weather is unpredictable. We might be becalmed for a week, or we might be storm-bound for a fortnight. Or we might break something important and have to spend time in tucked up in some remote caleta, mending it. As a result, a journey of this sort does not suit the sort of traveller who has mapped out an exact itinerary. Specifically: expecting us to get from A to B in order for you to catch a plane is unrealistic! Deadlines put the captain under pressure and spoil the whole thing for everybody.

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  Langues

  Langues parlées
  Anglais: Courant
  Espagnol: Intermédiaire
  Portugais: Intermédiaire
  Français: Débutant

  Cet hôte propose un échange linguistique
  Our first language is English. We also speak mediocre French, and we can get by in Spanish and Portuguese.
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  Hébergement

  We have space for two guests in two small cabins in the for'ard (front) part of the boat.
  Please be aware that there is very little privacy on a small boat. There are, for example, no doors anywhere on the boat. (We don't have anything against doors; we've just never got round to making them.)
  Guests should understand that the boat is very seaworthy but also very basic. It's definitely not a charter yacht!

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  Informations complémentaires

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    Accès Internet

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    Accès Internet limité

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    Nous avons des animaux

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    Nous sommes fumeurs

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    Familles bienvenues

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Deux

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  Nombre d'heures attendues

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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