After her expeditions through the Mediterranean, the crossing of the Atlantic and the voyages through the Caribbean, Sil Fernandez, a young lawyer from La Plata, plans an adventure that will lead her to live new experiences.
Silvina Fernández was born in Verónica, a small town of seven thousand inhabitants in the Province of Buenos Aires. She traveled to La Plata, studied law, graduated, set up a firm with a colleague, and began working as a lawyer and notary. None of this was the typical story of a middle-class girl who migrates to a capital city to complete her education and dedicate her time to her work in the city center. However, as life isn’t always straightforward, one day, during a vacation with her boyfriend, she boarded a sailboat, crossed from the port of Mar del Plata (in Argentina) to La Paloma (Uruguay), and the classic, monotonous story was transformed from one end of the bay to the other.
“I had never sailed before, I had never been on a boat in my life, not for a trip, not for vacation, nothing. I was terrified of getting seasick; that was my main concern on that first trip from Mar del Plata,” she laughs now, recalling the experience that changed her life. Against all odds, the sailboat set sail with its small crew: Silvina, her boyfriend Wen, and his uncle, who owned the boat. At the Mar del Plata Yacht Club, they were warned of a predicted Pampero, one of the strongest and most unpredictable winds in the Río de la Plata and the Argentine Sea, a dangerous wind to be reckoned with.
Nevertheless, they left the port because Silvina had five days of vacation and wanted to make the most of them. “But look, they’re saying a storm is coming,” Silvina told Wen. “Nah, everyone here is just worried sick.” Since then, beyond that storm that battered them on their first voyage (an ocean voyage, no less), much water has flowed under the bridge: they’ve traveled through parts of South America and the Caribbean, crossed the Atlantic under sail, and, on different sailboats, visited islands in the Mediterranean and the canals of Holland, France, and Belgium. They captured it all on Sailing Around the Globe.
Now Silvina Fernández is separated from Wen, and is planning her first solo voyage, crossing the Pacific, where she’s preparing to experience one of her most longed-for adventures.
What were those early years like in sailing?
Wen and I were studying in La Plata: I graduated with a law degree in 2014 and he graduated with an engineering degree in 2015. Free helmsman courses were offered to students at the National University of La Plata (UNLP), and he started taking them at the Berisso Yacht Club (a town a few kilometers from La Plata, in the Province of Buenos Aires).
He suggested we go together, but at the time, I was working and the class schedule didn’t work for me. He got his helmsman’s license, and to continue with the skipper’s course, he had to accumulate nautical miles (a regulation that is no longer in effect in Argentina but was necessary for practical experience at that time). He took a few days off work, and we traveled to Mar del Plata to cross to La Paloma. Up until that point, I had never been on a boat in my life. I hadn’t even sailed on the Río de la Plata.
Did a Pampero wind take you by surprise on that trip?
Yes, we set out at six in the morning: the sea was very calm, the sunrise was beautiful, I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. I was so happy because I didn’t get seasick, I started eating and eating and eating. Then we went fishing and I also made a fish and rice dish.
At seven in the evening the Pampero wind started, we were out at sea, we lowered the sails, lightning was striking all around us, with waves over five meters high, we put on our harnesses because the boat was being tossed about. It’s all on video. I stayed inside the cabin, but I was very sick, it was like a horror movie. It was about four hours of constant storm. Afterwards the wind calmed down a bit but the waves remained.
But did you steer it?
Yes, at six in the morning my boyfriend said to me, “Will you take the helm?” Because he was completely exhausted. I had never steered a boat before, but I stayed with him until two in the afternoon when we both came to. When we reached land, I couldn’t believe it: Wen’s uncle told me, “What happened to you is something a sailor rarely experiences.” As if to say, nothing bad can happen now, because people set out with an assessment, a forecast, certain coordinates. I got off in La Paloma, anyway, with an indescribable joy at having arrived propelled by the wind, in a boat.
What did your friends say when you told them?
When I got back to La Plata, I told my friends, “You have no idea what it feels like! With the wind, we can go anywhere in the world, it’s incredible.” They said, “Well, go ahead and go, we’ll stay here” (laughs). Then Wen and I started saving up to buy our own boat, and in 2018 we traveled to Spain to buy our first one, a 31-foot Tornado from 1976.
Then we moved on to a Jouet 37 from 1979. Later, we got the Voyage 40 from 1986. We traveled all over the world.
What are your plans now? And how are you preparing for your new project?
The plan now is to cross the Pacific solo and eventually reach Australia. I learned to sail with Wen, living on the boat, but then I took a helmsman’s course in Spain, which doesn’t qualify me to sail in Argentina. So I started taking classes here to pass the exam before the end of the year.
I’ve also begun studying celestial navigation and even researching engines, because it was something I used to delegate to my partner, and now I need to know how to do it for solo sailing. I think celestial navigation is essential because even with all the apps and devices, something can still go wrong, and you need other tools. I hope to become self-sufficient in that area as well and learn this type of navigation.
What type of boat are you looking for for this voyage and how do you think it should be prepared?
May ex-boyfriend and I are selling our catamaran, a Voyage 40, registered in Poland, so we can each buy a new boat. It’s currently anchored in Huelva, Spain.
I don’t want to buy a big boat; I’d like one that’s easy to maneuver. I sailed solo on the Jouet 37 and I loved it. I sailed in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. It’s a sailboat that I think suits my current needs and could be very suitable for solo sailing.
You’ve also sailed many times with guests or other crews, what are you looking for now?
It’s an environment where everyone knows each other, you bump into each other all the time, and someone’s always there to lend a hand. I’d like to cross the Atlantic with a crew—I have some friends who’ve already told me they’re interested—but I want to do the Pacific solo. The idea is to take some time to get the boat ready (which I’ve already got my eye on) and get it in top condition for these crossings.
Of all the places you sailed to, which ones caught your attention the most?
In the Mediterranean, I sailed along the entire coast of Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Tunisia, and Albania. I also sailed around the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, and Corsica. Then I crossed the ocean twice, round trip, from the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Cape Verde (in Africa) to Barbados, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Dominica, Curaçao, Aruba, Colombia, and Panama in the Caribbean. Among my favorites were the Azores and Menorca.
One of the most beautiful moments was the opportunity to sail with a whale, which happened during one of the Atlantic crossings: it was truly magical.
Link IG La Capitana Viajera:
https://www.instagram.com/lacapitanaviajera?igsh=Y2cxejBwbjNzNGly
Pódcast Verdad o reto:
https://www.instagram.com/verdadoretopodcast/
Linto to interview Navegando por el Globo:
From “Navegantes Oceánicos” (Bluewater Sailors), we thank Sil, la Capitana Viajera, for her collaboration in this interview and wish her the best of luck on this new and courageous solo adventure.
Fair winds and following seas, we’ll be following you!
