Patagonia
Patagonia
Impressions of an impressive land:
Windswept rocks where not even moss is allowed to grow by the violent winds that can pass here every moment. Humans look in awe to high rocks and steep cliffs all polished by ancient glaciers. The canals are frequently very deep, 800-1300 m is not uncommon. Snow is falling in this spring time at an altitude of 200 meters while we are here.
The weather changes rapidly, 7 day weather forecasts change their outlook on a 12 hour basis. The barometer drops more then 30 mBar in 24 hours and back again. Clouds are hanging low and most of the time fog obscures our view. Most maps are off about a mile and all detail is missing.
This is to rejoice the sailors under you. For landlubbers there is another story to this land though we still have to experience that ourselves after 5 days of sailing. There are wonderful secure anchorages plentiful, provided you have the right guides to find them. There are trees there, mostly, windbent and old, but a sign that the winds are a bit less violent. We can drop anchor in these secluded spots and tie our 4 150 long lines to the trees to secure Dana Felicia for any situation. The views are fantastic and promises to be even better when the sun may shine one day.
Four Sei Whales accompanying us 120 miles south of Puerto Montt. They were about 15 meter long.
We made a detour to the end of the Seno glacier, 200 m high ending with a wall of blue ice on the water. Drifting bits of ice that have broken off slow our speed and we feel the cold air from the glacier flowing down on us. It is impossible to estimate the size of the structures we see. There is no frame of reference here.
20 November 2013, Caleta Villarrica
Arriving in storm winds with heavy rain and low clouds and a autopilot that was broken, the signs seemed bad and got worse when our favourite anchor spot turned out to have been destroyed by a landslide. We managed to secure Dana Felicia with two long ropes and the anchor.
The next morning: a complete transformation. Bright sunlight on snow capped mountains, tranquil waters that reflect the green trees and far away mountains. Our bodies are warmed by the sunrays and we see orchids, lush moss and birds. The skeleton of a seal on the beach. This is the Patagonia of the photobooks and we are right in the middle of it. We manage to repair the autopilot and solve a long standing problem to make the fluxgate compass work. So spirits are high and we relax for a day in this wonderful caleta. The sunset is glorious with views on high and faraway mountaintops.
21 November 2013
Patagonia is back to business as usual; rain and fog and barren rocks. But the canales protect us from the waves and winds outside. A large part of the Andes is between us. We are estimating the time we will arrive in Puerto Williams optimistically saying we might arrive there in 5 days? (we are in a hurry to arrive in Puerto Williams before the end of the king crab season, end of November) Selecting possible anchorages for the coming days, each 80-90 miles daysailing away. Our daily routine:
6:00 wake up call by starting the generator for tea and coffee
6:45 sailing
Breakfast; healthy for the rest of the crew (muessli, yoghurt fruits) for me nice with two boiled eggs and lots of salt.
8:00 Teasing the armada of Chile by calling them on VHF and shortwave as is obliged by law. As usual they never answer an English call as they do not speak English. We hear them answer Spanish calls.
9:00 having a chat with 'Wilde Mathilde', an amateur shortwave radiostation that maintains contact with sailing boats in Patagonia and position reporting to Yotreps by satellite phone.
14:00 healthy lunch provided by anyone who volunteers to test his cooking abilities on us (mostly good to excellent)
19:00 about that time, anchor and secure our shore lines to the shore on trees or rocks, anything that is suitable in range. Jens and I use the dinghy to do that. Sometimes we need to use the dinghy as a tug boat to maneuver Dana Felicia in position to go backwards against the wind so that the shorelines can be attached. Jens and I are known locally as the weanies due to our inability to start the cold outboard engine. Sarah is known as lawnmower Jane as she manages with one pull.
20:00 diner based on the same principle as lunch
22:00 - 23:00 bedtime while it is still light outside
Apart from this schedule we have daily rotating chores for cleaning the kitchen, drying the windows from condensation. The task to oversee all the functions of the boat and control the technology is carefully left in the hands of the captain while the sailing is more and more becoming a democratic decision making process.
I myself frequently think of Mieke these days. She would have enjoyed sailing here. Memories of her last days and hours are quite vivid when we play her favorite music in these wild lands. I miss her.
In my mind you are the angel in white
Hallelujah
but like an angel you fade away and leave me with the golden fleece
of all what has been but cools in a bitter wind
Hallelujah.
Powerless tears flow from injustice
Hallelujah
no longer a body to love but only memories
a kiss my dear so long as kisses last
Hallelujah
At night a small fishing vessel from Puerto Natales came alongside us with a big bang and full of smiles. The four indian type people were minimally dressed for the cold and wet weather but kindly invited the five of us into their tiny kitchen and offered us beer which we refused with hand and foot language. After more handshaking, smiles and hugging we felt obliged to return the favor and showed them around Dana Felicia. More smiles and hugs but helas, they were still going out for fishing and did not have any fish or king crab for us. Their boat had an interesting contraption that could be called a poor mans watermaker: a barrel with the opening up and a funnel put in it. Their storage room was a box with bread packed in plastic on the aft deck. You must admire their perseverance.
22 November, Estrecio Maghellan
We are at 53 degrees south, the screaming fifties. They lived up to their name completely. The weather forecast talked about the passing of a front, which we took notice of without further thinking. The winds during the day were quite normal 20-30 knots. Nothing for us to be concerned about. Passing the estrecio Maghellan, which is a 17 mile wide canal, quite open to the NW winds and the open ocean, was still quite normal. We had selected a nice secluded anchorage which the pilot guide said, had less wind gusts then the next anchorage.
Entering this hideaway we were greeted by walls of water blown of the water surface by violent williwaws. Our first experience with these famous Patagonian surprises turned out to be a life changing experience for us. Our 65 kg anchor with 60 meter of chain was not up to these forces of nature. We managed to bring out one shoreline before the first williwaw hit us. The shoreline shot loose from its 5 ton rock and the anchor started dragging as a toy. Below you can see our anchoring maneuvers for the next hour. In the end we managed to bring out three shorelines in a triangle and we forgot about any effort to anchor. We enjoyed the view of the williwaws around us but were too andrelanined to make a film of the spectacle. Half an hour later the front had passed and we got our peaceful anchorage.
Saterday 23 November, Bahia Tilly in the Maghellan Strait
We are getting the feel of it; after 30 minutes the boat is secured at anchor with three shorelines in a triangle. The Maghellan strait is as you expect. Look at the fotos and judge for yourself. It is like sailing through the Alps. The Chilean Armada is checking us carefully, for the first time calling us in English asking our 'ETA' in Puerto Wiliams. This is about five days sailing, but we faithfully report to expect to arrive in three weeks only. This is not to upset the bureaucracy and is in line with our 'zarpe' or permit. They might start a rescue search for us if we arrive later then our ETA!
The next daysail ahead of us brings us through a pass that is, for mysterious reasons, forbidden by the armada. So we need a careful excuse, like dangerous weather for the recommended track. The forecast provides us with ample excuse which we meticulously document in the logbook. The pass features 8 knots of current thus we have to be there at the turning of the tide. This adds another day to our passage as we will have to wait before entering the pass. Behind the pass a stretch of open sea awaits us with forecasted gusts of 40 knots of wind. Nice sailing in Patagonia! Three days later the forecast promises us winds up to 50 knots. We hope to be far in the Beagle channel to Puerto Williams by that time.
Sunday 24 November
We have an easy day, only 40 miles sailing so we can sleep out (7:30). We are greeted with lovely sunshine and an occasional snowshower. Beautiful photo opportunities that entice us to walk uphill over 30cm thick moss that feels like walking on clouds, sometimes with an unseen crevasse in the moss. The trees are withered and old. Natural small mossgardens abound and nature proofs it can make the best of compositions, small or large. We see some traces of otters on the beach for the rest; no traces of life.
In the afternoon in Caleta hidden, lots of birds: ducks geese and hawks. Some of the ducks are flightless and on our arrival they paddle away like in a cartoon with frantically turning hindlegs and lots of whitewater behind them.
Monday 25 November
What a day, started at 4:30 to be in time cross pass O'Ryan when the tide turns, which normally runs at 8 knots. This pass is in a forbidden canal Alcawahan by the Chilean Armada. The reason seems to be pure bureaucratic ego's of some navy admiral. The canal is the best protected and shortest route from the Maghellan channel to the Beagle channel that will bring us to Puerto Williams.
After the canal Alcawahan 12 miles of open see with 30 knots of winds from the west awaited us. Then entering the canal Occasion with rocks on starboard and portside within 300 meters where the big swell played its spectacular game. After that we could safely move on to the Caleta Brecknock for a secure anchorage in any weather as promised by the pilot books. It turned out to be 3 kilometers deep with plenty of williwaws playing around us. At the very end a small cove on the left side offered protection and a magnificent view on steep 600 meter high cliffs of polished rock and many waterfalls flowing from it. By now we are experienced enough to tighten four shorelines to trees and rocks with the dinghy and bring them to Dana Feleicia and safely secure the boat in the cove. We agree to wait the coming storm (yes these williwaws are not the final extreme we will experience yet) of 45 knots forecasted for Wednesday.
We are looking forward to collect more water from the waterfall behind us, take a nice warm shower, hike to the lake 10 minutes up the mountain and dinghy into the lagoon behind us. All in a blowing storm with torrential rain. Good luck and a happy day to you all!
When the storm has subsided we expect to be able to reach Puerto Williams in 3 days sailing.
Wednesday 27 November, Caleta Brecknock
We will probably be staying here until Friday morning. A gale is blowing with 40 knots caused by a deep depression of 960 mbar in the Drake passage, 200 miles south of us. The next anchoring spot within range is by far not as good as this hideaway and certainly less spectacular. We managed to fill the watertanks yesterday from a waterfall, climbing up a slippery slope to find a place where the jerrycans could be filled more or less full. A cold and wet affair.
Filling the gastank of the dinghy with new fuel, it turned out that the gas station had provided us with 20 l of diesel in stead of gasoline. In spite of our repeated insistence we needed petrol and no diesel. Communication remains an art. It took us an hour hard work to get rid of the diesel in the carburator of the outboard.
We witnessed our first waterfall that fell upwards. Due to the fierce winds on the cliff, a rather large waterfall was completely blown uphill. See the film about it. This morning we were wakened with hail, snow and howling winds. Have a good day!
Friday 29 November, Canal NordEste
After four days hiding from the storm in Caleta Brecknock we are eager to continue our travel. We are making a good 100 miles during daytime after starting at 6 o clock in the morning and continuing until 21:00. We will be at the entrance (or exit if you want) of the famous Beagle channel. It is unavoidable in this area not to think about the famous sailors who have explored these most difficult areas on earth; Magellan, Cook, Darwin. Each has marked their endeavors by naming mountains, islands, canals and any other landmarks. We see Bahia Fiasco next to Bahia Escape. Compared to their task, our effort is a piece of cake, even though our GPS is 1,5 miles off, most charts are at times non-existent (meaning they give very little detail). But still we can navigate with good paper charts, have an engine to run against wind and current and look for the best anchor spots along the route in guidebooks. On top we receive excellent weatherforecasts by satellite.
Only very recently have the guidebooks for yachts been written. Twenty years ago the few yachts who ventured here had to find anchorages from previous hearsay or take a lot of time and effort to find them themselves.
On our portside, Tierra del Fuego is demonstrating high mountains with massive glaciers that flow slowly into large 'Seno's', sidearms. Large pieces of ice are floating while we pass. On the west side of Tierra del Fuego the clouds were low with mostly fog and rain around us. As we passed into the Canal Nord-este, east bound, we could see the clouds lifting and spots of sunshine appearing far ahead of us. The light is very special; dark clouds but lower, where the ice and glaciers are, the light intensifies. Further in the channel bright spots of sunlight give colour to this mostly black and white landscape. The distances are deceiving as the air is so clean that what seems 6 miles is actually 18 miles away.
Puerto Williams, 4-12-2013
We have recovered in marina Micalvi, a sunken wreck of an ammunition boat sent by the Germans to Chile in the second world war. The superstructure is still standing and 'original', nice warm showers, a bar which serves Pisco Sour (the Chilean favoured drink) and good company of famous sailors who have visited Antarctica and rounded the horn many times.
Pueto Williams is the southernmost settlement in the world and the first night our guide and friend Chico showed us to the most southern restaurant where we had a big meal with king crab, salmon and other niceties. The town is dominated by the navy who is prominently present. The civilians mostly live in shed like housing or corrugated iron with some insulation, dirt roads lead to the plaza's of famous navy officers (at least famous to the Chilean navy) and small shed act as office de turismo of souvenir shop.
7-12-2013, Puerto Williams
Yesterday i made a walk into the untouched woods south of Puerto Williams. Carina from Estonia who organises the tourism office showed me how to get there. It turned out to be a beautiful walk through untouched forests, with green, yellow and red birds abounding, an old beaver dam. On top of that the land got more and more marshland with surprisingly deep mudpools, pieces of fallen forest that made the track vanish. Turning back i lost my way four times and found the road back feeling lucky that this time i would not end up as a glacierman to be found 3000 years in the future.
I have no idea what the orange things are; a parasite? a fruit?
Below an abandoned beaver dam (I think).
The standing and flying bird are one and the same.