W inter in Fireland : a Patagonian sailing adventure

Summary: After assignments as a Canadian diplomat in Mexico, Colombia, Sudan and South Africa, Nicholas Coghlan and his wife Jenny unwind by sailing Bosun Bird, a 27foot sailboat, from Cape Town across the South Atlantic and into the stormy winter waters of the Beagle Channel, Tierra del Fuego, and the Strait of Magellan. Coghlan recalls earlier adventures in Patagonia when, taking time off from his job as a schoolteacher in Buenos Aires in the later seventies, and with both Argentina and Chile in the grip of harsh military dictatorships, he and his wife explored the region over three successive summers. And now, as they negotiate the labyrinth of channels and inlets around snow-covered Fireland, he reflects on the voyages of past explorers: Magellan, Cook, Darwin, Slocum, and others. Sailing enthusiasts and readers of true adventures will want to add Coghlan's world-wise narrative to their libraries. Coghlan revisits their past adventures in Patagonia: Twenty-five years prior he was a school teacher in Buenos Aires; he and Jenny would lead trekking expeditions to remote areas in the South of Argentina and Chile while both nations were in the grips of military dictatorships. This time, as they negotiate the labyrinth of channels and inlets around Tierra del Fuego, Coghlan reflects on the voyages of past explorers-Magellan, Cook, Darwin, and others. Sailing enthusiasts and readers of true adventures will want to add Coghlan's world-wise narrative to their libraries.