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Adventure is made up of small bumps which, at the time, feel like nothing more than a continuation of all of one´s previous moments. Adventure is only so called in retrospect, and so being laid up in a cheap hostel in Bariloche, on the western edge of Argentina, with an inner left thigh that decided suddenly to swell to uncomfortable proportions on the bus ride from Buenos Aires will one day be seen as a small adventure, but today it hurts like hell. Though I am a proponent of universal public healthcare, one must also be realistic and, if a country is to go that route, very vigilant. A trip to the free public hospital yesterday administered a stiff slap in the face in the form of long lines everywhere, with seemingly no order being imposed ... read more

How sweetly memories comfort when we're far from home. We're getting ready to set sail tomorrow. I feel like, other than the language, there's not been a whole lot that has changed in my day to day life. I'm still fixing things and cooking and continually being amazed by the beauty of this place. I feel like i've been busy, but to no particular end. Even though i know logically we're going to sail around the southernmost piece of any of the six habitable continents, it's still an abstraction whose reality is masked most of the time by the routines of turning wrenches, checking lines, stocking up on food, buying Christmas presents for family and friends at the large markets a couple kilometers down the shore. There's an amazing fish and seafood market that has salmon, ... read more

After several days of being lulled by beautiful spring weather, I woke up this morning to the slap-slappity sound of waves lapping against the hull of the Maggie B pushed by a strong northeastern wind screaming down off the Andes. I'm still struggling to get my bearings as far as directions go. At night Orion and his companion Canis major (which I thought I would not be able to see this far south) stand on their heads in the northern sky, and the city lights of Puerto Montt drown out most other stars that I'm excited to get to know in this new austral sky. Chile, or the tiny bit that I've been able to see in the week since arriving, is a place I could fall in love with. Imagine California after a north/south tug ... read more