Farewell, Argentina!

Our week in San Fernando was spent in the hustle and bustle of the final commissioning of Milly which Memo orchestrated beautifully. Each day a brigade of factory workers would arrive to work on the list of things that needed attention, Peter and I would leave to top up our provisioning, and at the end of each day we would check the tasks accomplished off our “Memo list”.  The list was cleared in four days and Peter and I began to make plans for our final leave taking.

Peter up the mast lubricating the mast track

Monday was spent immersed in the bureaucracy of “checking out”.  We take for granted how simple it is to arrive in and leave a country through an airport - one staff, perhaps a little taciturn, to stamp and ask questions.  Not when arriving in or departing from a country in a sailboat.

We had checked in the week before - the tour of offices to check out happens in reverse.  Each time we went through the half day process, Santiago lead the charge and we followed along, once again grateful for his expertise, diplomacy and guidance.

Checking out in Argentina requires a visit to the yacht club office for a stamp to say that we are in good stead.  Then to immigration in Tigre, another town about 10 km distant, to check Peter and I out. Then to customs an office right next store to customs separated by a glass partition but never the two do mix, not even to pass papers.  Instead, the papers in immigration were returned to Santiago who took them to the next window, on the other side of the booth to the ladies in customs.  They took same papers and stamped away.  Then off to the prefectura or coast guard in San Fernando for a final stamp which on all previous Antares visits had been rubber.  Up to now the process had been efficient and at all points with friendly, smiling staff.  

The prefectura had a new first officer on duty.  He told Santiago, without a smile and with no room for negotiation, that Milly needed to be inspected.  We would have to take her to their inspection office up river.  With some frustration and disbelief that this new rule was in place, off we went.  Memo joined us and we motored up to a delapidated, floating “dock” with only one point to tie to, a fleet of sorry looking prefectura boats, some with very large steel bumpers and one other sailboat also waiting for inspection.  No one expected or assisted us and staff seemed a bit perplexed that we had arrived. Santiago leapt ashore and waited for the new officer to arrive from the first building we had gone to less than a five minute drive away.  We waited 40 minutes.  A stressed out junior officer eventually came on board to inspect for his new boss.  He walked the foredeck, stepped inside the saloon and, with sweat on his forehead, stamped our papers.  Santiago then jumped ashore to gather the said papers.  Meanwhile the floating dock floated away.  The piling that we were tied to was no longer accessible to Santiago who had to leap from another higher dock to Milly as she motored by.  Luckily, his leap was sound and he did not fall into the brown waters of the delta.

The prefecture inspection office with Milly tied to the piling and dock that escaped.

A visit back to the yacht club office to give in a couple of the stamped papers and a final visit back to customs in Tigre to give in two papers stamped by the prefectura saw the end of a very full day.  Peter and I then ventured forth to fill Milly with diesel for the first time - another adventure.

Good-bye, intimidating cement dock

We untied the lines at 7:00 a.m. the following morning in a beautiful dawn light.  We said good-bye to our cement dock and ominous steel block and motored out of the club.  Although we had had a good stay at the Yacht Club Argentino, we were ready to leave and set off for the first stage of our grand journey north.  However, we now understand the sadder part of cruising - saying good-bye, perhaps forever, to friends made along the way - this time Memo and his family and Santiago. 

Farewell, Argentina!

We are very grateful to Memo and Santiago for their patient diligence and guidance in so many facets of our stay in San Fernando.  And we have continued to be impressed by the skill and knowledge of those who work at the factory.  We always knew that Milly was in the best of hands.