After letting a serious gust of wind pass, we are heading towards Scotland. The forecast is good: NE wind 3 to 5, occasionally 6, with fine to slightly rough seas and good visibility despite rare rain.
We leave Belfast Bay, leaving the town of White Head and its lighthouse, the Black Head, on our port side.
We hoist the mainsail while reefing as a precaution, hoist the mizzen high and unfurl the yankee and staysail. The cliffs overlooked by green pastures, as well as the numerous anchorages in small bays marked on the map, pass by and invite us to return for more time to Northern Ireland. The next time !
Around 4 p.m., 20-22 knots hit us head on, which was not expected. We reduce, mainsail 2 reefs, mizzen 1 reef, staysail 2/3 and a little piece of yankee to continue, upwind, to pass Rathlin Island and the Altacarry Head lighthouse, with lots of current and “eddies ” (swirls).
A bit stubborn we insist in the direction of Loch Indaal, taking a series of tacks to reach the west. Then the flashes of the lighthouse left in our wake appear, reminding us that night will soon arrive. Reluctant to drop anchor at night, and tired of persisting at 3 knots with the current becoming really contrary this time, we resigned ourselves to heading north, towards Kilnaughton Bay. The Scottish courtesy flag is now raised for several months!
We drop anchor in Scotland, in Islay, near the Flying Dutchman, an old 28m sailboat and the next day the discovery of the surrounding landscape is magical: white sand beach, hills with ocher and gray hues,… and the smoke of the Port Ellen Malthouse on our starboard side. All this just for us, Milagro being all alone in this large bay. Port Ellen is the name of the village but also that of an old distillery which closed several decades ago and which is now dedicated to preparing malt for the surrounding distilleries (there are nine on Islay). The few bottles of Port Ellen whiskey that have been preserved now sell for sometimes astronomical prices.
We took advantage of this stopover to hike several times in the surrounding area, of which here are some images:
[#3 Ireland – Scotland 2024] From Bangor (Belfast Lough) to Port Charlotte 25
And also, to visit the surroundings of Laophraig under a sky as beautiful as it is threatening which made us choose the Port Ellen pub facing the beach, rather than continuing towards Lagavullin Bay and Ardberg Bay:
[#3 Ireland – Scotland 2024] From Bangor (Belfast Lough) to Port Charlotte 38
Two days later we weigh anchor, determined to reach Loch Indaal, near Bruidladdich. The forecast promises us a certain slowness under sail (2 to 4 Beaufort) and we therefore make part of the journey under motor, leaving on our starboard side the cliffs of the Oa peninsula and the 20m high monument named Mull of Oa, dedicated to the memory of American shipwrecked in 1918, during the First World War.
At the end of the afternoon we arrive at our destination and leave Milagro alone in this immense bay, north of Port Charlotte, between Bruidladdich and Bowmore, names which immediately appeal to lovers of peated Scottish whisky!
After a brief stopover in Dún Laoghaire, the official stamp on the passport of the animal Toupie (which gives him the right to travel to the United Kingdom) and the passage of a gale, Milagro and his crew set off again. towards the north, in scattered areas. rain and wind W to SW 4 to 6 Beaufort. Under 2-reef mainsail, 1-reef mizzen and Yankee, Milagro sails at 6.5 knots, leaving the Baily lighthouse in her wake.
In the evening the wind drops seriously and the choice is made to enter Carlington Bay (Carlington Lough, on the border between Ireland and the United Kingdom), to drop anchor in front of the village of Greencastle. The entrance is narrow via the north channel and the markings are not always lit after dark. After a night slalom between the mooring buoys (thanks to the flashlight!), we drop anchor a short distance from a pontoon used by fishermen and maritime pilots dedicated to going up the river to the ports of Warrenpoint and Newry.
The next morning we discovered the ruins of the castle which overlook the village. We learned a few hours later, during the visit, that it was built in the 13th century and that it was the scene of numerous clashes. Around us are green hills and meadows, and a blue sky which contrasts with the weather information from France received from our loved ones: in Nantes, it’s raining!
After britton pancakes and chocolate-banana cake, we set off again to anchor in front of the small port of Kilkeel. No wind and no swell, enough to make us forget that we are sleeping in a boat! The next morning, same thing: calm. We will have the nice surprise, a few days later, to discover that while we were sorting out a small detail on the Mainsail, Stuart Pirie took a beautiful image of Milagro and completed his profile on Marine Traffic!
We choose to move forward despite the absence of wind, the objective being to be in Bangor that same evening. So we go back to the engine near the coast to enjoy the landscape and Damien then devotes himself to replace two reefing lines which crossed each other in the boom. Among the things seen that day, the St John’s Point lighthouse, the entrance to Donnaghadee harbor with its church and colorful houses, large gray dolphins escorting us into Donnaghadee Sound, under a sunset, into Belfast Lough.
After sunset and a brief stop at the diesel pontoon, we moor in the Bangor marina. The next day a strong gale is forecast, we will stay sheltered!
A scientific team listens to the white continent’s sea wildlife by immersing microphones in its depths. This is a fascinating journey.
In the depths of the Antarctic Ocean, immersed microphones record sounds of “spaceshifts” and a range of “impressive” buzzing. This is what the Colombian scientist Andrea Bonilla explains, while she monitors sea life during an expedition to the edges of the white continent.
500 meters below surface
This biologist from the New York Cornell University immerses hydrophones 500 meters deep. They are wrapped with titanium and will register these depths’ soundwaves during one whole year.
Once the soundwaves are deciphered, they will help to understand the sea mammals’ behavior and their movements during austral winter, when the Antarctic becomes almost uninhabitable.
“Here, you can find species whose sound is impressive, literally like in Star Wars, they sound like spaceships. Very few ears have the privilege to hear them.” the 32-year-old scientist reports aboard the ARC Simon Bolivar, a Colombian navy’s ship.
Tension and excitement
Andrea Bonilla – who holds a PhD in marine acoustics – and the other scientists aboard the tenth Colombian expedition in the Antarctic also gather the microphones that were left the year before during a mission operated by the Turkish Navy.
Guided by the GPS, the boat is entering the meeting zone. In order to make the hydrophone come back to the surface, Andrea Bonilla is releasing the anchor that keeps it immerged. The whole team is now peering into the quiet waters during eight long minutes until a little flag unfurls at the surface, welcomed by joy.
She’s warmly congratulated by her co-workers and expresses relief. “I’m really excited because it was the first time we did this operation in those waters. Everything turned out great.” the Colombian scientist says delightedly.
Assessing the impact of human activity
Once back onto dry land, she will analyze one year of recording. “In a marine environment, sound is one of the core elements.” she says. It is, because noise or auditory disturbances can affect intraspecies communication or hinder the normal continuity of natural activities such as hunting.
Illustration photo Sipa/Chine Nouvelle
These investigations also intend to assess the impact of human activity and of the pollution to which mammals are exposed in one of the most preserved spots on earth.
“Protected marine area »
Another purpose is to support the proposal, which has been promoted by Chili and Argentina since 2012, to make the Antarctic peninsula “a protected marine area”. Andrea Bonilla works with spectrographs who visually represent the sound frequencies. Medium and high frequencies arise from animals of different sizes.
Her discoveries won’t just be used to monitor the sea mammals, they will help as well geophysical research: the microphones capture low frequencies that are emitted by Earth movements and melting ice.
Penguins and whale
Not far from the ship, a penguin colony is walking on a giant toboggan-shaped ice block while on the surface, the scientists are watching a humpback whale take a last breath before winter makes it leave towards Pacific’s warmer waters.
Illustration photo Sipa/Chine Nouvelle
“My first encounter with a whale happened with a singing whale, and I think it changed my life”, the scientist remembers.
After having eaten for months in the Antarctic peninsula and the Strait of Magellan in Chile, thousands of these large mammals meet between June and October in order to breed, in a sea corridor which stretches from South Costa Rica to North Peru.
Melodious animal songs
But “there are also species which live only here”, she stresses, such as Weddell seals and leopard seals, which make high-pitched songs of various tones and melodious compositions which provide information about their behavior.
Andrea Bonilla is getting ready to drop new hydrophones and is tying on top of the titanium tank a red flag which will be used to detect it in the midst of the waters when she comes back next year. During the expedition, three microphones have been immersed, two in the Strait of Bransfield and one in the Drake Passage.
Source: https://www.leprogres.fr/environnement/2024/02/18/des-micros-dans-les-fonds-de-l-antarctique-pour-comprendre-la-vie-marine#Echobox=1708238993 (translated from French by the Karukinka association)
Through travelling light projection, Corporation Traitraico and Delight Lab artists help highlight the depossession history of the Selk’nam people and the fight for their recognition and repair.
Translated from Spanish – Article from the El Mostrador newspaper (Chile)
A light art piece travelled through the Chilean South Patagonia to shine light on the recognition and repair of the Selk’nam people.
The Selk’nam people has been indigenous to Patagonia for thousands of years. During colonization, they suffered persecution, murder, rape and hostage to be shown in European human zoos. The Church banished them and forced them to abandon their culture; and the Chilean State did not recognize them as subjects to rights and later even considered the culture as extinct.
Thanks to two decades of fight, the Chilean Congress finally approved, in September 2023, bill 19.253 for the State to recognize the Selk’nam as an Indigenous people and its culture as living, adding them to the list of other ethnic groups such as Mapuche and Aimara.
« We will now be able to promote our culture more heavily. We need a political presence, and laws to protect our heritage because we suffer from a lot of cultural appropriation. It is the responsibility of the State to repair, through education, the content that is taught today and that leave the Selk’nam people for dead”, says Mauricio Astroza, young Selk’nam individual and member of the Telkacher Assembly.
To help remember, highlight and support the people, cultural and environmental organization Corporation Traitraico and video projection team Delight Lab have gathered the testimonials of Selk’nam individuals from Chile and Argentina and projected them, using their territory as a background.
The projections are part of the “Relatos de Luz” (Stories of Light) project started in 2019 and that travels through the Southern territories. The team also went to Los Lagos, Aysén, Los Ríos et La Araucanía.
The project was made possible thanks to the 2021 Regional Artistic Fund for the Culture of the Native Peoples of the Magallanes Region and Chilean Antarctica; the National Arts Foundations; the Visual Arts and Creation and Production; the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage. The Telkacher Assembly, Bandera Selk’nam, the Selk’nam Language Academy, the Selk’nam Women Group Khol Hool Na from the Lola Kjepja Lineage and representants of the Rafaela Ishton Indigenous community also help support the initiative.
The Assembly has approved a bill to add the Selk’nam people among the list of Indigenous Ethnic Groups recognized by the State.
Before it moved to the Executive for enactment into law, a bill was still waiting on a vote (bulletin 12862) to officially integrate the Selk’nam people to the Indigenous Ethnies recognized by the State.
This was made possible thanks to the Chamber Assembly, who approvel the modifications that were asked by Senate. The requested amendments were mainly about formality.
For the first review, the Chamber had drafted a text that specified the inclusion of the Selk’nam people into the norm of law 19.253 about Protection, Promotion and Development of Indigenous People. The Senate chose to refer to this norm and re-write the bill to include the Selk’nam people.
On this topic, the official bill now states:
“The State recognizes the following as main people or Indigenous ethnies of Chile: Mapuches, Aimara, Rapa Nui or Pascuense, Atacameño, Quechua, Colla, Diaguita, North Chango, Kawashkar or Alacalufe, Yámana or Yagán of the Southern Canals, and Selk’nam. The State recognizes their existence as an integral part of the foundation of the Chilean Nation, as well as their integrity and development, in accordance with their customs and values.”
The initiative started back in 2019 with a motion brought on by Claudia Mix (Comunes), Emilia Nuyado (PS), Camila Rojas (Comunes), Andrés Longton (RN), Jorge Rathgeb (RN) and Cristóbal Urruticoechea (PREP). Former Deputees Jaime Bellolio, Gabriel Boric, Amaro Labra and Gabriel Silber later joined the movement.
Justice for the Selk’nam people
The debate and original motion were presented by three of the authors: Claudia Mix, Cristóbal Urruticoechea and Emilia Nuyado; as well as independent speakers Hernan Palma and Carlos Bianchi.
The Deputee unanimously supported the proposition and marked the importance of justice and providing those who survived the near extermination of the Ethnic group with rights.
In this context, many turned their speech and their looks towards the benches to recognize the work of Selk’nam community leaders who had long fought to make this legal recognition happen.
The specificity of the Selk’nam people and their unique lifestyle at the Southernmost areas of our country were also highlighted. At the same time, the Chilean State’s role in the relentless hunt of Indigenous people in the 19th and 20th century was reminded. This genocide was motivated by land ownership and livestock farming.
Javiera Toro, Minister of Social Development, declared that this announcement helped repay the debt that the Chilean State owed the Selk’nam people. She also highlighted that the State now recognize them as ‘people’ and not just as an ethnic group.
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