Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race 2010
Gathering in Yendegaia
Will Gray / 15.02.2010
At last, in the middle of this afternoon, I got some sleep. I couldn’t help it. I was listening to the TV crew marvelling at some of the great shots they have got during the race and despite being impressed I could no longer keep my eyes open. When my eyelids next rise, everyone has gone and race director Stjepan Pavicic is standing in front of me, smiling.
“Helly Hansen-Prunesco,� he says to me. “They arrived. Six-and-a-half hours.� That’s incredible for a 46km kayak and 35km trek. Machines. These guys are just unstoppable machines! Then I complete my slow wake-up. My mind does a quick sense check and I realise he means they are in Wulaia. That’s still a couple of hours quicker across the Beagle than we had expected, but it’s not the finish. They still have some way to go.
Meanwhile, I took the chance to look around our beautiful location this afternoon. Snow-dusted mountains, from a fresh fall last night, spin 360-degrees and the wind is whipping the rain on my camera lens trying to stop me from taking the view home with me.
In front of me, on the shoreline, is a small football pitch with some rickety goals. How anyone plays football in this wind, I cannot fathom. Although in winter it doesn’t blow so much. But then it’s snowy. I guess Chile’s World Cup hopefuls come from further north.
Anyway, after my stroll we have had a busy evening. Teams have been arriving thick and fast, and they will all line up early tomorrow morning to hit the Beagle Channel themselves. We will too. At 4:30am apparently. Glad I had that sleep then.
By the time you read this, Helly Hansen-Prunesco will probably have become the first team to win back-to-back titles in Chilean Patagonia. And I will probably be back on a boat amidst the frothing waves of the Beagle Channel.
I’ll let you know when I can…
SleepMonsters
