Imvubu

Last weekend I rented a car and drove to the neighbouring town of Puerto Varas. It is a pretty town with a picturesque setting on the shore of lake Llanquihue. The German heritage of the town is visible in its architecture and use of many German words such as Kuchen (Cake). The towering Osorno volcano, with its snow covered peak, provides an impressive backdrop on a clear day.
I spent a day skiing at Osorno with Tatiana and Guilerme, a Brazilian couple, that I befriended in Puerto Vars. The ski resort is small with only two ski lifts. The snow condition at the upper runs was still good, even this late in the season. There were only a handful of people skiing - no queues!
I have now spent nearly a month in Puerto Montt attending to the various maintenance issues. Unfortunately the marinas here do not have facilities to haul out a boat of Imvubu’s weight which required me to don my tropical wetsuit and venture into the 10 degree water to replace the prop shaft and propeller anodes and remove the marine growth which has accumulate don the hull during the past five months.
Yesterday I took the boat to the fuel dock and uploaded 1200 litres of diesel. Imvubu is now ready for the next leg of the voyage back south through the Straits of Magellan to Punta Arenas. From there it will be to the Falklands.