As the most glorious Seattle summer faded away and the pile of boat spares and gear was starting to ooze out of the basement , our time drew short and on the 14th of November on three separate flights, Ned, Rachel (our dear friend and crew) and I headed down to Seatac for the long flight South. All went smoothly and our 6 overweight, checked bags and 6 carry-ons arrived without any charges. We decided that a short jaunt to Valparaiso would be nice and hopped the bus for a picturesque ride to this breathtaking Oceanside city.

On the Jones recommendation, we headed to La Casa de Henae, a lovely hostal run by Jose, an ex-US marine and his Chilean family. After a more than comprehensive “briefing” from Jose we set out for two lovely days of walking and funicularing up and down the steep hills and viewing the murals on nearly every building. It is said that taggers will not deface a wall that has a mural on it so in order to keep the walls clear of tagging people hire artists to paint murals nearly everywhere. It is the most colorful city with terrific views of the Pacific, great public transport, and interesting crumbling architecture. Recovered from our long flight we are off to Puerto Montt where the work will begin in earnest.