Robinson Crusoe Island
Joy Sailors!!
We set sail a few hours ago like 12 more or less I can not say anything else that this is wonderful, that I needed to be the Captain of my life again and be with my Copernicus, I really realize that it is my home and here I feel special, I continue to learn from him and I am quite good at listening to him, We are simply one and I am determined to keep sailing it around the world…
The crew
Very good to all, after this statement that I do not know why I gave it to do it … I tell you that this is going great, it seems that the Copernicus the course does not matter, he always wants to run and sail smoothly, I really like to sail with this group, everyone wants to learn and Nacha I have to say that he explains very well, he reminds me of Hernán but version 2.0. I also learn a lot on this journey, on many occasions I find the explanation of what I did, but I was not clear because (well that has been happening to me all my life), with almost everything, business, friends, loves, sailing, riding a motorcycle, you can say that I am the king of doing everything by eye … heh, heh, Also write, I had no idea what I would write to you today and look at the one that is falling …
Robinson Crusoe Island
The stay in Robinson Crusoe Island was short, just over 24 hours, it gave us to rest, visit a wolf and all the crew bathed (I had the perfect excuse, the bionic arm I carry). We took the opportunity to receive the visit of the Brother of the German coast (Orca), a great uncle who visited us 2 times from afar, the authorities are always watching… He gave us some sweets, some potatoes, a toothbrush (which he did not have) and most beautiful of all, the latest edition of a work made by a lover of the island, Francisco Reyes that tells the story of another great lover of the island, Alejandro Selkirk, who not like me, he could go ashore and stayed here 4 years and 4 months.
Well as Brother Germán Recabarren (Orca) says, the third will be the loser, thank you, I will read the story of Alexander Selkirk and I will tell you all …
Communication problems
During the stay in Robinson Crusoe I have been able to communicate a little with the outside, the internet was very weak, but from the messages I received, I have to say that there was one that touched my heart, you know which, I hope we see each other in August … I’m glad you feel this way and that you move forward and do not let yourself rust, I admire you a lot, thank you for always being there …
When you are used to everything flowing and working, you do not realize the value it has until you lose it, years ago letters were sent, then you could go to a booth to call and it sounded very bad, digitization came and everything started running. It already seems impossible that you can not communicate by videoconference with others, I think that ocean navigation is one of the last spaces in the world that can still be separated from so much information technology and yet I am writing to you from a computer connected to a satellite tlf, where I can send and receive emails, But since it has no speed in data transmission I can not watch movies or documentaries…
This is the last straw!!! I’m a long-suffering navigator and purist and the only thing that differentiates me from the technology of the earth is that here it is more expensive and I can not afford it …
Sailing
Returning to the stay at Robinson Crusoe, my sailing companion Nacha from “Casa Bote” delivered some sails for a boat (I think there is only one sailing boat) on the whole island but I think these sails are for the second one they are rebuilding… For my part, I gave Brother Orca a couple of ropes and we set sail like lightning towards La Herradura.
This is a navigation of about 450 miles, sailing from Valdivia to the north of Chile is very pleasant and the Juan Fernández archipelago could not be better located, you sail to it with a fin and then you return to the continent with a tight (you can not have everything). It is assumed that in about 2.5 days we will be on the mainland, we will stop at Dama Island (we have been trying to ask for permits for 2 days) I like Chile a lot but I have to say that here everything is difficult and full of rules … But it has wonderful people and wines…
Well, that, I roll up like the blinds, we sail very well through, we do between 7 and 9 knots, we will run out of wind about 75 miles before reaching Dama Island where we hope to be able to go down, please if any charitable soul could help with this management, it would be very kind indeed, that it is frustrating to navigate the Chilean coasts and not be able to visit them …
It’s really frustrating to feel constantly watched…
Good to positive!!!
In a couple of days we will be in La Herradura, we will see our friends from there, we will prepare the boat again and we will stick 1650 miles towards the heat, you do not know the desire I have to complain about the heat it makes, I have been too long in the cold and humidity. Copernicus and I are looking forward to drying ourselves and getting tanned… Who signs up…
I pass the position in case one day you give me a surprise and appear here
S 32.36.95
W 76.58.03
Heading 56
Speed 7.5
Temperature, improving
Local time 04:30 h
Crew mood, very good
PS.
Sad news, when we set sail from Robinson Crusoe we were given notice to be aware of a red 9 meter boat with 4 crew members on board missing 28 days ago … may God help you…
Joy Sailors!!!
As I like to dream, sail and travel… Thank you for being there.
My dream is our dream, don’t tell us, come and live it.
Do not forget that life is one and one.
Everything can be done!
Robinson Crusoe Island
They say that, sometimes, reality surpasses fiction. However, in this case, fiction has not been based on a reality, since this has happened many years before. We are talking about the novel of Robinson Crusoe, a well-known story that has crossed borders and served as the basis for a large amount of material.
Robinson Crusoe’s novel was published in 1719 and, since then, we have been able to read a lot of new adapted stories or cinema films based on the famous castaway. If you are oblivious to all this history of Robinson Crusoe, it will be enough to know that he was a castaway who had to fend for himself on a desert island for 28 years.
What many do not know is that, years before, a person had suffered a fate similar to that of the well-known Robinson Crusoe. We are talking about Alexander Selkir, a Scottish castaway who served as inspiration to Daniel Defoe for the creation of his famous novel.
The True History of Robinson Crusoe Island
The differences that exist between the island of the novel and the true story of the castaway are more than evident. To begin with, the island that inspired Defoe is an island that is in the Caribbean and not in the South Pacific which is where the real island is located.
The real island is located in a small archipelago next to Chile, specifically, about 670 kilometers. This is the archipelago of Juan Fernández and the island where Selkir was living was named Robinson Crusoe in honor of the popular castaway of the novel.
As a curiosity, years later an expedition would be carried out on the island where some of the utensils that Selkir himself used to achieve his survival were found in the middle of the jungle.
In this case, beyond a shipwreck, the facts that gave rise to Alexander himself staying on the island is that his ship was intended to be repaired on those islands, at least, that was what the good man of Alexander thought.
Alexander himself had disagreements with the captain of the ship that invited him to think that the ship was not in perfect condition for its return to the sea. Alexander himself thought that someone else would want to stay on the island believing that the ship was not in good condition. Of course, this never happened.
The ship’s captain, Thomas Stradling, thought the best way to settle the argument was to land Alexander Selkir. With this ended all the controversy that arose about whether the ship needed any repair or not, the rest is history.
Who was Alexander Selkir
Alexander Selkir was that abandoned sailor who inspired Defoe to make him his private Robinson Crusoe. Selkir was abandoned on the island along with a musket, a bible, an axe, a knife, some clothes, blankets, tobacco and little else food.
During the first days that Selkir was on the island, he wandered around it in order to find a ship that could rescue him. Of course, that didn’t happen and the thought of suicide began to shake his imagination. Fortunately he discarded the idea and focused on surviving and, boy did he do it.
Although there was nature on this island in the Pacific Ocean, it was a rather inhospitable territory. Because of this, Alexander Selkir had to base his diet on fishing. Fish, crustaceans… He took advantage of wild turnips and nuts that were on the island and, in addition, he was lucky enough to find wild goats that gave him milk and meat.
With the passage of time he settled on the island and, as a result of necessity, he ended up building two huts with the materials he found on it. Unlike the novel Robinson where there were cannibals on the island, here the only enemies he had to deal with were rats. Some Spanish sailors also docked on the island, but Alexander Selkir was a British privateer, so he gave no signs of life to these and was not captured.
The story would come to an end on February 2, 1709. On that date, the Duke, a privateer ship captained by William Dampier, would arrive on the island. These corsairs had the help of Selkir who would help them hunt wild goats and thus obtain the sustenance that his crew needed to survive.
It was these sailors who, in gratitude, rescued Selkir from the island who on his return to England would become a celebrity. Selkir ended his last days contracting yellow fever and ending his life in 1721.
