While everyone was heading indoors yesterday (Wednesday March 25) to begin the COVID-19 lock down, Wanaka mountain guide Mal Haskins and his Twizel colleague David McKinley were still roaming the seas looking for a safe port.

Mal and David have been guiding expeditions in Antarctica for Netherlands-based company Oceanwide Expeditions.

They left Antarctica on the MV Plancius on March 9 and were supposed to disembark at Ushuaia, Argentina, before continuing their journey home.

However, Argentina denied MV Plancius and two other Oceanwide Expedition boats entry in Ushuaia and then Buenos Aires, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The boats are now nearing Uruguay’s port at Montevideo, with Mal and David hoping it has not been closed and they can disembark in time to catch a flight to Santiago and then Auckland.

If the men get off the boat and miss the first flight, they cannot get back on the boat for fear of spreading the virus to the crew. If they miss the Santiago to Auckland connection, they will have to bunker down at Santiago Airport for three days and increase their risk of exposure to Covid-19.

If entry is denied and they stay on the boat with the crew, the next stop is the Netherlands, which is not where Mal and David want to go.

When the Wanaka App contacted Mal on Wednesday afternoon, Mal was trying to keep his spirits up, despite his dilemma.

“The rest of the expedition team (11 of us) are from Scotland (three), Holland (three), Germany (one), France (one), USA (one). All pirates of course,’’ he joked.

Mal’s anecdotes about his journey up the coast of South America began on March 14.

“At the moment we are facing some pretty big issues. Rumours Uruguay may be shutting down and or all flights cancelled,’’ he said.

“Latam Airlines flights are mostly showing as cancelled but mine (LA409 18:57 16th March) is about 48 hours away and us still showing as green. If it’s not delayed I’ve got a three hour window to make my connection in Santiago. Otherwise, it’s at least three days wait until the next NZ flight is available.

“I’ve activated my rescue/travel insurance through the NZAC (New Zealand Alpine Club) and various embassies have been informed but really there seems like not much help from the NZ Embassy really. I don’t think I can chance three days sitting in Santiago International Airport. I don’t want to be caught in South America with no commercial flights running and the world going to shit.’’

Mal said he was well and the climbers had been providing entertainment and lectures for the passengers. He has also been helping organise flights for ship passengers.

“The last two days has been an utter frenzy helping to get passengers’ flights sorted. The crew are normal ship’s crew, running the vessel. Expedition crew are there to run the expedition and manage activities and ship to shore operations. My role is to go climbing. And no, normally we wouldn’t be sorting out pax [people’s] flights but these are crazy times. Without confirmed flights out we can’t disembark. We can only disembark on the day of flight and go direct to the airport. Once off this ship we are forbidden to come back on board, as it stands, we are virus free. We cannot afford to infect the ship/crew etc,’’ Mal said.

If it all turns to custard in the next few hours, Mal will have to sail to the opposite end of the globe.

“I was trying to buy a house recently but now . . . Well, if I end up in Holland and things look grim around the world, perhaps I’ll buy an ocean going yacht instead and sail home. Because to be honest, I feel that everything is going to shut down. The world is facing a paradigm shift of epic proportions,’’ he said.

If all goes according to plan, Mal will arrive in Auckland on 5am on Saturday, March 28. But that will not be the end of his adventure.

With the country in lockdown and travel south curtailed, Mal may need a place to hole up in Auckland for a while.

“I don’t have loads of support and family up there is in the vulnerable bracket, so looking for something self contained or with the ability to share where I can keep myself separate for a while,” he said.

Mal promised to supply interesting tales of seals/whales/icebergs/pirates/big seas and wild skies.