Benno & Marlene just sent me this via satellite email from their 41 DUCK!

It is time to celebrate. Your design, the Diesel Duck 41, just rounded Cape Horn from the west to the east today the 19, Feb. 09 at 17:30 hrs.
Diesel Duck behaved wonderfully even in a shitty sea here at the Horn. She always demonstrated seaworthiness and safety to us. Diesel Ducks are good boats. You can be so proud of the Duck. We are very proud of our Diesel Duck and we will drink a bottle of Martini Spumante as soon as we have the hook down in a safe anchorage tonight, following with a nice dinner.
We have to say "thank you" to Georgs Kolesnikov too, who hooked us up with a good commercial boat yard in Canada who built a strong aluminum duck which withstood a good pounding by working her way toward Cape Horn.

It's good to see my pic is still in
circulation. Seeing their boat is how
I found this place, for a land locked
Texan, their adventures are pretty
amazing. Mike

Long post from Benno and Marlene about their amazing adventures before reaching the Horn. From PUP.


From: Benno Klopfer <bennoklopfer@yahoo.com>
Subject: [PUP] Long, long, long story! Part two from Diesel Duck

> Dear Friends,
> This is the follow-up of the first part of our Diesel Duck
> 41 story, which was published in January on this list. This
> part will cover briefly our travels.
>
> With a finished new Duck we left Whitby, Canada in Sept.
> 2005 the way Ontarians do, down the New York Canal, Hudson
> and the ICW. By the time we reached Miami, our seamanship
> skills were sharpened up. While in Canada my theory in
> navigation was paper charts only, having done a big trip on
> our sailboat 20 years ago with two Atlantic crossings, the
> use of paper charts was burnt into my system. Well, from
> Miami on, I basically used electronic charts, C-Map, which
> came with our Furuno Navnet. Oh, what a joy these
> electronic charts can be. Our paper charts were not thrown
> overboard. I still use them for route planning and as a
> back-up.
> Our route brought us through the Caribbean with all the
> pleasant islands like: St. Thomas, St. Martin, Martinique
> etc. all the way to Margarita, Venezuela. The diesel fuel
> is dirt cheap there and very clean, but high in sulphur
> content. (Not a bad thing, really). 3000 liter (800 gal)
> was US $36. Unbelievable isn't it?
> The winter 2006/7 was spent in St. Thomas close to sources
> for Butterball turkey and the whole works for Xmas. 2007 we
> did the Caribbean cruise again and stopped in Cumana,
> Venezuela to fill up the Duck with the good, inexpensive
> diesel. Here is some food for thought. Two 24 pack of
> excellent Polar beer cost US $12, and 1000 liter (265 gal)
> cost the same. What would you buy?
>
> We managed to get a cruising permit for Venezuela and the
> permission to go to Puerto Ordaz up on the Orinoco river.
> The route to get there logically is to bypass Trinidad in
> the Gulf of Paria and entering south of Trinidad the Rio
> Macareo, one of the delta arms of the mighty Rio Orinoco.
> The Orinoco forms 5 delta arms emptying the water into the
> Atlantic. Three of them used to be navigational, but not
> any more. The arm Rio Manamo got closed up with a dam to
> save the city of Tucupita from flooding. The arm Rio Grande
> is still used for shipping and ore carriers use it. The arm
> Rio Macareo was used during the war and dredged. German
> U-boats kept a check on the mouth of the Rio Grande, but the
> Rio Macareo flows into the Gulf of Paria and this section
> was too shallow for the U-boat. Dredging stopped in the
> fifties, but with the knowledge of a few way-points, Diesel
> Duck was able to venture into an area which is pure
> undisturbed jungle with the exception of Indians and drug
> runners. No law and order. Even the chief of the village
> works with the Columbians and Trinis. Fast pineros loaded
> down with 50 gal drums of Acetone passed us. The Indian
> women were employed by the Columbians in plants hidden in
> the delta to manufacture Cocaine. Twice we were stopped and
> checked out by drug bosses and every time we convinced them
> we were only a mom and pop boat and gave a dickens about
> their business. It cost us some cold beer. After 120 miles
> in currents that ran up to 2 knots, we hit the Orinoco,
> which has a 4 knot current running. Almost no tourist boats
> go up there. Maybe one boat every few years. The Orinoco
> is being used by commercial shipping and patrolled by
> Guardia National toting machine guns on fast metal crafts,
> with two 250 hp Johnsons on the back. We caused quite an
> upheaval with our presence and the teniente told us:
> "You cannot anchor here. It is too dangerous. Mucho
> banditos! You have to go for the night to Puerto Ordaz
> which is only two hours away." 20 miles and more
> upriver with a current of 4 knots. It would take us about
> 10 hours to cover this. We were doing only 2 knots over the
> ground in one hour. But the Guardia National boat would
> cover this in a breeze. I almost convinced the teniente to
> leave one of the FN Assault rifles with us for protection,
> but after consulting with his superior over the cell phone,
> the deal was off. The following day we got to the Armada
> base in Puerto Ordaz, where we were incredibly well
> received. They even brought us supper to the boat. There
> at the base they told us to always lock up the boat. I
> asked, "Banditos?" "No" they said,
> "Ratas." Marlene couldn't get the DD fast
> enough closed up. The whole trip was 185 miles upriver.
> Many times pure jungle and lots of floating rafts of
> hibiscus. One morning a tarantula was already halfway up
> the anchor chain before we could persuade her to get back
> onto the floating island which had rapped itself around the
> anchor chain. Finishing the trip back down river, DD
> sometimes topped 12 knots over the ground. Amazing!
>
> For the winter 2007/8 we sailed from Bonaire to Puerto
> Rico, to spend another Xmas in St. Thomas. To be more
> precise, only two months while fitting a furling jib to the
> Duck and to replace the guts of the freezer. We had the
> furler shipped from Defender and the jib made locally. The
> freezer's 12 V compressor and the evaporator plates came
> from Sea Frost in the States.
>
> On 2. Jan. 2008 we started moving. A real Diesel Duck
> blitz. 12. Feb. Margarita, Venezuela. After a visit in
> Puerto La Cruz, we stopped in Caya Borracha to clean
> DD's bottom while diving and from there onto Carabelleda
> to fill up with diesel fuel. Please click up Piracy at the
> noonsite webpage of the recent terrible pirate attacks in
> Borracha and Caraballeda.
> http://www.noonsite.com
> With a 2 day stop in Curacao we arrived in Panama, Colon on
> Easter Saturday. Darn! We missed tons of action there just
> by a few days. Part of the new James Bond movie was made
> there in the Shelter Bay Marina, Colon and surrounding
> waters. All participating cruising boats were paid $100/day
> up to 16 days to take part in spicing up the scenery while
> Daniel Craig (James Bond) was shooting holes into boats.
> Leaving DD in the marina we took a trip to Germany and
> after our return hauled her out of the water for a bottom
> job. A problem emerged from the Panama Canal Authorities in
> Apr. 08. Canal transit time was backlogged up to 10 weeks
> waiting time, because the canal pilots operated on a work to
> rule campaign. Having blasted through the San Blas islands
> before our trip to Germany, we then decided to sail back to
> the 350+ islands of the San Blas to explore the reef
> surrounded islands before they sink away by the global
> warming. These islands are on the Atlantic side of Panama.
> You don't have to sail 1000 miles west to lay hand on a
> paradise like this. Almost every day we spent snorkeling
> exploring the underwater world. One time in the Coco
> Bandero Cays, a group of extremely scenic islands situated
> behind a four mile long protective outer barrier reef, we
> noticed a 35-40 ft. speed boat coming in at sundown. The
> guys on it went overboard diving and before nightfall the
> boat took off again toward the open sea. Next morning an
> outboard powered Kuna Indian boat with three men arrived and
> chased away another Kuna Indian in a dugout who started
> diving at the same spot. We didn't think much of it at
> the time, but a few days later, the same exercise repeated
> itself. Being curious and always looking to explore new
> areas, I snorkeled past the spot on the way to a reef I
> hadn't explored yet. There I noticed a 20 ft container
> with an open door in 30 feet of clear water on the sea
> bottom. It looked like a little underwater warehouse. What
> the hell is going on here? Columbia was less than 100 miles
> south. Well, I leave it at that. Marlene purchased several
> Molas from the Kuna women. At times we were totally swarmed
> by industrious Indians pushing their wares and we tried to
> explain that we already had enough and didn't want any
> more.
> In the Eastern Lemmon Cays on Banedup island lives a Kuna
> family running a little bakery for Kuna bread. Kuna bread
> looks like a hot dog bun, but tastes like French bread.
> Kunas are very business minded and dollars are very much
> on their minds when they spot foreigners. This family
> counts the anchored boats and how many people are on board.
> Then, in the afternoon, when the bread is ready, the baker
> blows a conch shell horn and the surrounding cruisers jump
> in their dinghies to purchase this warm, crusty, fresh
> bread. We followed the example and brought a half a dozen
> loafs back to DD to be devoured with gusto. However, my
> appetite diminished when I discovered the added protein
> baked within (weevils).
>
> Our biggest problem in the San Blas was the rain and the
> relentless thunderstorms at this time of year. Quite
> unsettling sometimes to watch lightening all around us. The
> rainy season had arrived and the humidity climbed sometimes
> up to 100%. Change of plans! DD left the San Blas and did
> an overnighter to Boca del Toro at the Costa Rica border.
> However, it rained a lot there too so we sailed into the Rio
> Chagres by Colon. An old pirate holdout and pure jungle
> teeming with wildlife like jungle cats and monkeys. There
> were plenty of wild mango trees. Fruit ripe to eat and
> plentiful to pick. Hoards of monkeys gorging themselves on
> these sweet fruits and they didn't mind when we helped
> ourselves also for an easy picking.
> While we sat in these still waters I used the opportunity
> to do engine maintenance. Changed the timing belt, a 2000
> hrs maintenance requirement on our trusted Perkins diesel
> engine. Then exchanged the transmission fluid and the
> engine oil. We had heard that the canal pilots run the
> engines at full throttle. Buggers they are! Being prepared
> is better than having an engine problem in the middle of the
> canal.
> With a freshly serviced engine and a good load of juicy
> mangoes, DD arrived on Independence Day, the 4th of July at
> Colon harbor. We visited the Panama Canal Authorities'
> office, paid the $600 fee and the $800 deposit to get the
> ball rolling for the canal transit and made an appointment
> for the Admeasurer, a name for the guy who is like some kind
> of inspector. He inspects your toilet and makes sure the
> canal pilot does not have to use a bucket or bed pan on your
> boat. I am convinced, these pilots have seen it all and
> have had wild experiences. The Admeasurer measures as well
> the boat's length, width and heights and tells you to
> feed the pilot an evening meal, a breakfast and a lunch plus
> snacks in-between. Just in case these meals are not up to
> snuff, the pilot will have himself meals catered from a
> fancy outfit to the boat and the cost will be deducted from
> your $800 deposit. A dry cleaning of his clothes or uniform
> if your boat is filthy will as well bring your deposit into
> trouble.
>
> In Balboa by Panama City, DD entered the Pacific Ocean and
> sailed on to the Perlas islands. The Perlas get their name
> from when the Spanish conquistadores Casper de Morales and
> Francisca Pizarro robbed a large amount of pearls from the
> indigenous King Toe. They defeated the king and enslaved
> his skilled pearl divers. Queen Mary Tudor of England's
> 31 carat "peregrina" pearl came from these
> islands. We snorkeled there also, but didn't find one
> single pearl. However, on the northern shore of the Isla
> San Telmo, we noticed a beached
> U-boat. It looked like a Japanese midget WWII submarine
> were you lash a torpedo on each side and with a kamikaze
> pilot it is steered into an enemy harbor and blows up an
> important target. Later, while in Ecuador, I did some
> research on this sub and found some interesting web sites
> about this boat.
> http://www.spiegel.de/internat...0,1518,412287,00html
> http://www.thehunley.com/NEWSL..._MAY_JOIN_THE-HUNLEY
> http://wikipedia.org/wik/Sub_Marine_Explorer
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_H_Kroehl
>
> The other attraction at the Perlas islands were the TV
> stages on the beaches for the TV series "Survivor"
> Brazilian and Columbian film crews were shooting their
> episodes.
>
> Passing Isla San Telmo, DD steered toward the Golfo de San
> Miguel and stopped overnight at La Palma, the entrance to
> the Rio Tuira for an adventurous trip. We traveled the
> Orinoco last year, so this year we had the Rio Chargres and
> the Rio Tuira on our plate. The Rio Chargres is dammed
> after a few miles and is now part of the Panama Canal. But
> the Rio Tuira is wild, forbidden jungle and not without some
> danger, we found out ourselves. Our plan was to go all the
> way up to the town of Yaviza, a wild west town with a
> special police detachment to stem the flow of trouble from
> the nearby Columbian guerillas. From Palma to Yaviza
> it's 52 miles of jungle river. DD with 4-1/2 ft draft
> still had to use the rising tide to navigate this river.
> Rising tide allows you to float free when you hit ground.
> In Yaviza, the Pan-American Highway stops. It begins in
> Alaska and ends at Tierra de Fuego, Argentina. Between
> Yaviza, Panama and Arquia, Columbia are 60 miles missing to
> link the highway. Stupid political reasons prevent this
> important road to be finished.
>
> DD worked itself up the river with the tides to Yaviza
> covering the 52 miles in two days. Not easy while dodging
> huge debris floating down river. The wildlife was
> incredible. Alligators, snakes and colorful birds. When
> the tide was running out, the current reached 4-1/2 knots.
> On the 3rd of Aug. we reached Yaviza. While on the approach
> to the river harbor and the current against us (thanks God)
> concentrating our eyes on a pedestrian suspension bridge in
> front of us, we hit high power overhead lines, which stopped
> the boat. Marlene screamed "Wire overhead" and I
> hit the gear into reverse, gunning up the engine. DD
> separated from the cable and with shaking knees we anchored
> a few hundred yards down stream. Somehow we weren't
> electrocuted but we felt the static. All equipments worked
> still fine. Only the extrusion of the jib furler was bent
> and the upper bearing block had deep scratches and burn
> marks. The new furling jib took the impact.
> The locals of Yaviza were parading along the harbor front
> and over the small suspension bridge to have a peek at DD.
> Two special forces policemen came by to see our papers and
> mentioned to us that they had never seen a tourist boat up
> there before. After a night anchored off the town, we
> ventured back down stream, but against the tide. During the
> night we struggled to free a huge mess of bamboo trees and
> logs that had tangled in our anchor chain.
>
> Once back in the Pacific, we plotted a course to Isla
> Gorgona, Columbia, just SW off the city Buenaventura. The
> island used to be a prison island from 1967 to 1984. Now it
> is a presidential retreat for the president of Columbia and
> a resort. It is heavily guarded by the Armada and special
> police troop when the president or family members are
> visiting. When we arrived on Sunday, the First Lady and
> daughter were there but after they left on Monday, we were
> invited to come ashore and dine with the manager of the Bio
> Resort and to tour the prison ruins and area.
>
> From Isla Gorgona, DD sailed further down the seashore,
> always hugging the coast to pick up a counter current in the
> lee of the land. The sea is often calm at night. We
> stopped in Ecuador at the Bahia de Caraquez, where we spent
> six weeks under anchor at Puerto Amistad socializing with a
> bunch of nice cruising folks. Next stop was the very nice
> Marina of Puerto Lucia in Salinas, where we left DD to fly
> home to attend our son's wedding.
>
> On Nov. 26th we started from Salinas, Ecuador on a nonstop
> sail to Iquique, Chile, bypassing Peru. It took us ten days
> to sail these 1400 miles. We were somehow a little late in
> the season to get down to Chile before the wind along the
> Peruvian coast picks up, but we just managed to slip by.
> Yes, we had strong winds in the Golfo de Guayaquil where the
> Humboldt current meets the South Pacific Equatorial current
> and kicks up a sea. Our outboard motor bracket with the 15
> hp Yamaha mounted on broke off. But just in the nick of
> time we were able to lash the Yamaha to the main boom and
> save it from falling overboard.
>
> We sailed along the coast of Chile with pit stops in
> Mejillones des Sur, Coquimbo and Algarrobo to pick up diesel
> fuel or to break up the voyage without night watches for a
> night or so. Our plan to sail from Algarrobo to Valdivia we
> had to change NW on Isla de St. Maria, when a weather
> warning of 30-35 kt winds and going to 40 kt forced us to
> turn around and run back to Talcahuano, which we had past
> during the night. The last couple of hours of getting into
> the safety of the protected harbor were slaughter motoring
> into 30 knots with an ugly side effect. The rapidly
> dropping barometric pressure caused our compass to develop
> an air-bubble. This compass is a Venus from C-Plath,
> apparently one of the best. Our plan was to spend Christmas
> in Valdivia, but now we were here, 220 miles north of
> Valdivia and being guests at the Chilean Armada's own
> marina. They furnished us with a special pass to get
> through the gate of the military compound.
>
> Up to now the weather gods were kind to us. it was a beat
> from Panama on against current and wind. Our trick was to
> use the lee of the land, hug the coast and most nights there
> was no wind or variable winds caused by the land effect.
> Many times we picked up a counter current and the Duck was
> doing up to 7 kt. But my diesel fuel usage calculation was
> down the drain. In the Caribbean the Duck managed to burn
> 4.2 - 5.0 liter/hr and the sails were helping too. At the
> run along the western south American coast the fuel use hit
> 7 to 7.5 liter/hr. A price we had to pay beating into
> prevailing winds and current. We left Talcahuano and from
> that day on, to Valdivia and later to Puerto Montt, getting
> closer to the 40th latitude, everything started to change.
> The winds blew stronger out of the south or southwest. The
> night temperature went down to 7 deg. C. There were days
> where the Duck had to beat into 28 kt for hours on end. It
> was uncomfortable, but doable. Marlene produced lots of
> ready meals that just needed to be heated or cup a soup
> where you just add hot water instead of cooking elaborate
> dinners.
> Puerto Montt is a wonderful place to stop. The marina, in
> our case Club Nautico Reloncavi, was inexpensive, about
> $5/day + electricity for a finger dock.
>
> For cruising in the Patagonian canals, you have to get or
> buy at least 2 mooring lines, floating polypropylene lines,
> each 120 m long to tie up to trees or rocks while stopping
> for the night in addition to your anchor. The charter boats
> mount the lines on big stainless steel reels, but we stuffed
> them into empty sail bags, which worked fine. Luckily, the
> winds blew strong from the north in the Patagonia canals.
> We experienced 40 kt and when you are tied up for the night,
> rachas (williwaws) roll down the mountains fiercely, shaking
> the whole boat. Now you appreciate the two extra 3/4 inch
> polypropylene lines tied to the trees.
>
> After a restful couple of weeks in Puerto Montt, the DD
> moved on to Puerto Williams, the most southern town on this
> planet. A 1000 miles through winding canals and sometimes
> open waters. The Glaciers were a special attraction to us,
> waking up with thousands of ice floes next to the boat. We
> have not sailed the inside passage in British Columbia to
> Alaska, but this must be in comparison similar.
> Here is a little adventure which lurks beneath the water
> surface. One time in the channel, moving also, our
> propeller hit something soft, cutting through what turned
> out to be kelp. The rails of the DD started to vibrate and
> the boat lost speed. We hit the neutral gear and cut the
> RPM. Shifting into reverse or forward did not help. The
> propeller was rendered useless! The water temperature was a
> whopping 45 deg. F inviting me to jump overboard. I was
> really sorry at that moment I was not an owner of a wetsuit
> or better yet a dry suit. I had to investigate the state of
> the propeller. My tools were swimming trunk, mask, fins and
> a hooker for air. I did my fastest dive ever, cutting free
> the propeller from a pile of kelp which had rapped itself
> around the prop like a frigging mess in less than 60
> seconds. Hey, speed is everything!
>
> Now we are in Puerto Williams, tied to the famous
> "Micalvi", a retired Armada supply ship, serving
> now as a club house and bar. Meanwhile 40 miles further
> south a strong gale blows around the horn. Shall we go to
> the horn? It is only a few hours of cruising time away. We
> are ready in our minds.
> So long to you all.
> Benno and Marlene "Diesel Duck"

Golly George, all the great Duck milestones will have been passed before we can get out of Asia. I intend to take Dora Mac to either the South or North Pole, ,,, depending on which one melts first.
Randal

Well done George..and the owners...great little boat and voyage...too many fun things to do!!!

Hi
Congratulation . I hope you will upload some photos of you ship .

Jacques

Montreal / Canada