Eloisa

Mt Sarmiento – Patagonia
Painting – Oil on Board
61 x 45 cm
(Private Collector)

The painting depicts the 60ft ferrocement ketch Eloisa, sailing in squally winds, near Bahia Morris in Patagonia, with views to the northern icy fluted summit of Mount Sarmiento, during the 1977/1978 Scottish Tierra del Fuego Expedition

The expedition members helped build the ketch and then sailed it from the Port of Granton, Edinburgh, in Scotland on 1 October 1977, to the Strait of Magellan, in southern Pataonia, where they climbed in western Tierra del Fuego before making a successful crossing of the Southern Patagonian Ice-cap.

An excellent description of the expedition, including superb photographs of the region, is provided in the book PATAGONIA Imagesof a Wild Land written by a friend of mine, David Neilson, who was one of the members of the expedition. The book was published by Snowgum Press . Emerald . Australia.

Expedition Members:

Douglas Anderson: Expedition Leader
Ian Rennie: Boat Builder and Skipper
Ian Carr
Dick Peart
William Jeffrey
David Neilson
Wallace Rennie
Mario Roman

Specifications:

Builder and skipper/owner Ian Rennie
Construction type: Ferrocement and Ketch rig
Length overall 60ft
Weight 34 ton
Auxillary Power 88hp