Our arrival in Stanley was rather uneventful.The weather fine with little breeze which was fantastic so we were able to motor in quite safely. Although, as usual when we got close to our berth position a few strong gusts came through which meant our pre-arranged escort boat was need to bring our bow in. Our warps were secured with Springer@@apos@@s on. Customs arrived shortly afterwards and we started the process of obtaining visas for our Russian crew. Not a simple task which eventuated is us all bundling into a vehicle and proceeding to the customs office for the Government required photos of our crew. For myself it was a simple process being an Australian citizen.
Over the next few days we enjoyed fantastic weather with temperatures in the high teens with one day soaring to twenty two.
Stanley is the port of call for many tourist ships. Some days the islands population would increase three fold with some ships bringing ashore two to three thousand visitors. Sometimes two ships on the same day.
Walking down the main street of Stanley on the Sunday I arrived there was complete silence. Not a vehicle in site and very few people. So quite I could almost hear my own heart beat.
Six of our crew departed the Falklands on the Tuesday with the remaining two staying onboard until today. They have now left. It was rather difficult to say goodbye. They had all become such good friends over the time of our passage from Auckland.
Stanley is quite a remarkable town with friendly people and a very relaxed atmosphere.
Over the past week we have had little wind apart from one or two days with gusts to forty to fifty knots. We are well secured although today will be a test with seventy knot squalls predicted. More warps have been laid and we are very safe alongside a reasonably protected berth.
Simon arrived from Auckland two weeks ago with the remaining crew, Peter from Poland and Rene from Canada arriving this afternoon. Just as soon as they refresh from their long flights we will set sail, probably Sunday or Monday morning depending on the winds, to start another adventure. We look forward to the warmer climates as we head North to Antigua
Mark McRae
Port Stanley
Falkland Islands
12.30 GMT 21/02/2009