Ushuaia, pronounced 'oosh why ya', is the southernmost city in the world, and capital of the Argentinean province of Tierra del Fuego. Situated on the northern side of the Beagle Channel, it is in a most beautiful and dramatic setting, surrounded by a mountainous landscape that includes the Five Brothers all standing in a row, and the majestic Mount Olivia.
It is almost on the border of Chile to the west, where the Beagle Channel winds its way from the Atlantic Ocean westwards to the Pacific through innumerable islands ands tricky channels.
In 2005 the population was 64000, a striking increase over the past 50 years, due in part to the establishment of an international airport. This opened the city up to tourism, making it the gateway to the south with cruise ships picking up passengers here and, then taking them down to the Antarctic Peninsula.
The first yachtsman to call at this - then isolated - port was the intrepid Frenchman Marcel Bardiaux in his self built yacht The Four Winds in 1952. It was midwinter, not a good time to be wandering around those gloomy regions. He reached the Pacific all right, but he did it the hard way.
From Lemaire Strait he sailed south in the teeth of a southwesterly storm down to Cape Horn where he was headed by strong westerly winds that drove him north again among the islands from where he eventually picked his was through to the Beagle Channel…and Ushuaia.
In those days the town - as it was then - was principally a naval base (it still is but on a much reduced scale) and Bardiaux was scooped up on his arrival by naval personnel and royally entertained, for it was fairly unusual to have visitors. He was also looked after by one of the local families.
The prevailing winds here are usually west or south west, and powerful, especially in winter. It was Bardiaux's preference to sleep on board Four Winds, even in port, so that he was on hand if anything should go wrong, and one night he was thankful he had because his anchors dragged.
The gale blew with tremendous force from the south east and he found his three anchors were not holding where they were, so this tough little Frenchman went over the side and carried his anchors further up to where they were secure. The largest was a 90lb!
Ushuaia was named by early British colonists, adopting the name that was used by the native population. In the first half of the 20th century the Argentinean government set up a prison there. It was an ideal location - on an island in a remote region escape would have been impossible. Patagonia is a wild and desolate region, and Tierra del Fuego hardly less so.
It is surrounded by water: Beagle Channel to the south and the Straits of Magellan to the north with numerous stretches of water besides, with the ice covered mountain ranges to the north. Head west in the Channel and you are immediately in Chile with its myriad channels and waterways. In winter (our summer) the whole area is subject to much ice and snow.
The prison is still there having been turned into a tourist attraction with models of prisoners and histories of their crimes. It was a harsh prison for serious criminals. They had to work during their time there, cutting timber, and even building the town and railway.
This railway is now a tourist attraction known as the Tren del Fin Mundo (End of the Earth Train), the southernmost railway in the world. Tourists can use this train to visit the Tierra del Fuego National Park. Tours can also be taken to visit Cape Horn (in summer and settled weather), and the area is a naturalists' paradise with a variety of birds, including the albatross, penguins and seawolves on the islands in the Beagle Channel.
Ushuaia is now a busy place with a very pleasant atmosphere, a rather frontier town sort of feeling, but rapidly growing, with more than half a dozen cruise lines using the port. The close proximity of the Falklands Islands also makes it a useful stopover.
When I visited in 2005 I counted about a dozen yachts at anchor in the harbour, but it seemed that some of them were 'end of the line' yachts. After a battle with the Atlantic and the heavy south westerlies heading them through Lemaire Strait they sought the safe haven of Ushuaia for a much needed recovery period. Once there, the old inertia sets in, the International Airport is so close by, so what if we take a few weeks' break back in old blighty? Who can blame them?
This then is Ushuaia, a much more developed place than it was when Bardiaux visited over 50 years ago, but it suited him very well and he certainly enjoyed his stay. The workshops of the Argentinean Navy did several little jobs for him and took care of him and his yacht and he spoke very highly of them all.
