C’est toujours dur de partir, ça encore été le cas à Piriapolis, on s’était habitués, on laisse des amis là bas, mais bon, c’est la vie de nomade ! Le vent d’est nous à poussé jusqu’à Colonia del Sacramento, ultime étape uruguayenne, puis traversée du Rio de la Plata, navigation dans les chenaux réservés aux gros bateaux (notre tirant d’eau de 2,70m ne nous permet pas trop de fantaisies dans cet immense embouchure où les fonds sont bien souvent inférieurs à 2 mètres, et ça sur des centaines de milles…) puis le delta, mélange d’Afrique et de Louisiane, sillonné par les lanchas en bois vernis. Skoiern est amarré bien sagement pour deux mois à San Fernando, dans le rio Lujan, entre El Tigre et Buenos Aires. C’est très vert (il y a de l’eau partout), bourré d’oiseaux de toutes sortes, l’eau est couleur café au lait, de l’eau ferrugineuse comme l’expliquent les guides touristiques, mais il doit y avoir bien d’autres choses…L’Argentine nous plait. Comme en Uruguay il y a des chiens partout, qui sont libres et pas agressifs. Il est rare qu’on rentre au bateau seuls, on a toujours un compagnon à quatres pattes en plus, quand il n’essaie pas de monter à bord…El Tigre est très beau, San Fernando aussi, mais il ne faut pas marcher longtemps pour voir la misère et la pauvreté. Les “cartoneros” sont à tous les coins de rue, la vie est chère, et pourtant les gens sont gentils, accueillants, seules les voitures sont agressives. On a enfin retrouvé de vrais cafés où il fait bon prendre son temps, on retrouve de vraies librairies et on achète les fleurs dans la rue.

Hola amigos ! ? Que tal ? ? Como estan? For us all is well, Skøiern was back to the water after 3 weeks of works ( once more ! )but we have taken our time and Skøiern is now  nearly ready to face the Great South. On month more here before cruising along the Uruguyan coast, and then, mid Septembre, it will be  Argentina. Meanwhile the port population is always as numerous and varied, even the turtles ask for human help to get rid of big snails (chinese it is said…) which prevent them to swim correctly ! For some of you Summer is coming at last… but for us winter is quite mild, just enough to thrive of the stove.

We take our quarters for the winter in Piriapolis, it’s quiet here and we have all we need, the harbor is well protected, we will be able to take some rest and prepare our following trip. We can already smell the Great South here. Many boats come from Antarctica, or are going to and Patagonia is nearly a place for wandering for Argentinians or other sailors. Spanish and italian cultures mix, complete and it’s hard to make the choice between the fabric of raviolis and fresh pastas , the asado or the paella. Everybody wander with his mate, old and youg ones, a thermos of hot water under the arm, the”calabaza” in hand.

Autumn is here, winter is coming. First big storm, first fire in the stove, polar suits are out and the animals down the quilt.

And so, we left Brazil. With regret, as 2 months are realy too short, but we must be in Uruguay in time to try to escape the bad weather. We would want to stay a year in this country , so wide and varied. and I could master portugues before going back to spanish. With the foreign policy of our dear country this will not occur soon….We escaped from Rio and his carnival and prefered the calm of Ilha Grande. Here, in spite of herds of tourists we are quietly at anchor, take the water and the shower on the beach, directly from the montain water. The decibels come from the birds at sunrise, when it’s not from monkeys who express their anger when disturbed. A few miles away it’s Paraty, top site of tourism, artists and millionnaires who replaced the slaves, them too arriving by full ships…The town is really nice, invaded by sea at each big tide, we loved it and thrive of the last coconuts. Rio Grande do Sul, our last brazilian call, hiden at the end of a long channel. Another Brazil, you could think you are in Europe, we reenconter green grass, the air is cooler. Real gauchos wander in town, proud of their suits, horses are the kings.  the fishermen stay at dock, they fished all, there is not much less, here as everywhere….The Oceanografic Museum take care of some lost Magellan penguins and the old sea lion do lengths in his pool. At sea our first black browed albatross, then arctic terns who came back for the South pole to nest in the Arctic, our first pampero entering Uruguay, no doubt, autumn is here, it’s time to stop. Here in Piriapolis we will be well, after one year  of sailing, 8862 miles since Paimpol. I reinstall the stove chimney, we set out polar suit, we renew with “movie” evenings and the cat goes back under the kilt.