Valdivia and Puerto Montt

Saturday, 26 October 2013, Rio Valdivia

We have arrived at Valdivia after beating against a 20-30 knots Southerly winds for 400+ miles. Even the 60 foot Dana Felicia had problems keeping speed in these waves, a stanchion was bent on which the kayak was tied. I think we saw our first black browed albatross and some petrels, wonderful gliders. Helas no fish caught yet, primarily due to our low speed (mostly 3-6 knots).

The marina in the Rio Valdivia and the whole area is very peaceful and beautiful. Above our heads, in the trees is a group of noisy Bandurra's, an Chilean ibis.

In the marina we met our first fellow cruisers John and.. on Sea Ray from California and Karl and Lisa on Bomika from Munchen. This German couple have overstayed their one year period in Chile, not out of free will. Their 40 ft Bavaria was set high on the rocks in the Beagle channel, quite near Puerto Williams. It took two month before a fishing vessel managed to drag the boat from the rocks and Karl and Lisa were able to bring her afloat to puerto Williams. After endless bargaining and begging the Chilean navy gave in and managed to set Bomika as a first yacht on the hard. That must be a world record, the most southerly hardstand for a yacht. Karl repaired the boat there provisionally and then managed to sail the boat north to Valdivia where a competent marina repaired the boat finally.

Our trip to Patagonia and Antarctica is not without dangers is proven again, but we did take advantage of the son of the marina owner here, Sven, who was an excellent rigger. Within a short time he managed to loosen the front stay in the top of the mast. After a full day work we repaired the furler and with Svens help Dana Felicia was a full blown sailing boat again by the end of the day. Nice people who built strong, large catamarans that look a bit too heavy for fast sailing.

Today we took a day off to explore Valdivia, a town claimed to have 170.000 inhabitants. We did not get the impression that the town was that big. The market however was excellent, promising much more for the next stops. Abundant fresh fish, lots of good vegetables and herbs and smoked salmon from Puerto Montt. The people are a curious mix; a majority of German sounding names but faces show a mixture of European and Indian features. Some people are very small and have wrinkled faces. The atmosphere in the streets feels like Europe 40 years ago. In one place I saw graffiti with a swastika. It does say something that that is not taken away quickly? Upcoming presidential elections led to many parties rallying in the streets for their candidates. No competition seemed to happen however, just a friendly side by side show for the different candidates.

Puerto Montt, October 30, 2013

We have arrived at Marina del Sur in Puerto Montt. The windgods were favourable on us with easy winds in an area that is notorious for strong southerly winds and high swell. In the famous Canal Chacao we could even enter with tide against wind, experiencing only minor overfalls.

We did see plenty of penguins seals birds and fishing boats, all curious to see this strange thing called a sailing vessel.

Underway nature played games with us by posing a puzzle with sunlight. We did post the foto on facebook with the question how to explain it, so far nobody came up with an answer. Here is my hypothesis: The brightest light are direct rays of sunlight and the angled lights are actually reflected light from a bright high cloud above the cloudlayer we are looking at. In that way the difference in angle of the lightrays can be explained. Still puzzling is why we do not see direct sunlight coming through the second hole in the clouds?

The first impression of Patagonian waters is a reminder of Danish waters; confined spaces with gentle sloping hills and lots of settlements. We slept downwind from a salmon smokery at anchor and enjoyed the tasty smell all night. Again a long lists of tasks awaits us here before we can venture further south. The most difficult one might be to do the antifouling as all slipways seem to be booked for the coming month. Just a slight set-back that cruisers are used to overcome....

This is the bow of a huge Swan yacht, still in wraps... "Gloriana from Valparaiso".

For now best wishes to you all and enjoy life, Rob.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

After a nice lunch in the Meli restaurant at Marina del Sur it is time to share some more impressions of Puerto Montt.

People dress and behave as 'not to stick their heads out'. They will follow mostly, quite contrary to Dutch people who will always look for a way to do things differently. Animal life here is full of youngsters, just born in the southern hemisphere springtime.

The black necked swan carries her young between the wings.

Puerto Montt, Sunday 10 November 2013

We believe we can leave next Tuesday. Taxi loads of provisions are on board (45 kg of potatoes, 20 kg bananas, 30 kg onions etc), we still have to get diesel, gas refills and a zarpe. But that gives us a day off to go on a photo safari to Puerto Montt. The results are a view of the 'Deutsche Verein', some serious football supporters and even more serious policemen around the corner, a group of dogs who do not care for either of them but do keep to the zebras. In the meantime some artists are doing their thing without anybody noticing.