I grew up in Rosses Point and for a long time, Sligo Yacht Club was like a second home to me. Coming from a large family of sailors, I did my first sailing courses as a kid there and finally progressed through the ranks to work as an Instructor in the club. I spent a couple of years competing in the Mirror class with my younger sister, but never very competitively. I loved racing with my friends, but could never commit to the training necessary to get to the top end of the fleet.

Hey Guys,

We spent the last four days trecking in the Torres del Paine national park in Patagonia. The park is one of the most popular sights in South America and one of the most popular National Parks.

We ended up having a lovely break in Bariloche. Camped out for the week, ate plenty of the local chocolate and just relaxed - enjoying the peacee and quiet of the lovely little campsite which was located out of the business of the town but luckily on a pretty frequent bus route. We finally got to do a bit of rafting - first time for the both of us and boy did we have fun! Twas absoutely savage. Thankfully neither of us got thrown out of the boat but we did hop in for a swim/bob down some of the rapids and got to laugh at some of the other rafts coming down behind us.

So so we spent a few days in Valparaíso. Crazy town, with lots of hills to keep us fit! We took it nice and easy here, rented a boat and got some more sailing lessons from peter…

We skipped the border from Chile to Argentina on Tuesday to a city called Mendoza. It’s in the main wine producing region in Argentina and wine is a bit of a big deal. We got a bit of a shock as things were more expensive here than in north Argentina at the start of our trip. The place was also mobbed and for the first time we had difficulty getting a place to stay. We went on a wine tour on Wednesday and got to see a few different winereys, as well as a museum of wine, showing how it was made through the years. The format of the tour was a little different, we rented bikes and got to cycle around to different vinyards all day.

So after the thrill of jumping off a cliff, we got back on the road. Our destination was a small town by the sea called Bahia Inglasia. I wanted to go there because kitesurfing was mentioned in the lonely planet book, but there was no wind and it was cloudy when we got there. We used our new tent and camped wild on the beach that night.