26 May 1999 - Wednesday

Yesterday we reached Puerto Montt finishing our Patagonian epos. What had been planned to take 2 weeks actually took almost 3 months of exhausting for us and Antica sailing. We've gained quite many hard and specific sailing experiences. What a satisfaction (I guess bigger than the one from Cape Horn). It was a piece of good sailing work - considering there were only 3 persons in the crew.

We are staying in Marina del Sur, Puerto Montt trying to get down to some repair. Antica has to be taken care of (she deserves it). The repair is indispensable before putting out to Pacific. The prices are horendous (3 times as big as in USA) but there is no other way to do it. We are trying thus to limit everything to the necessary. Our financial situation is below zero. We have food supplies only for about 7 days and that's it.

Another issue is the feasibility of the cruise schedule. Main changes concern the shortning of the stage at the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii to San Francisco, instead of going to Alasca. It's impossible to reach to Alasca at the time we could get there. Staying at Caribbean Sea will also be shorter. All those changes don't influence the closing date of the expedition.

Capt. Jurek Wąsowicz

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