Patagonia Adventures - THE PRICE OF ADMISSION The passage across the �"Gulf of Sorrows�" By Clint We arrived Puerto Millabú (45 44.07S:74 35.96W) on October 15th. Puerto Millabú is a beautiful anchorage just east of Bahía Anna Pink. Bahía Anna Pink is where we would be exiting the protection of the fjords to enter the open waters of the Pacific for our passage south across the Golfo de Penas to re-enter the protection of the southern fjords. There is no other way south and this will be the only part of our trip where we will be out in the open ocean. This anchorage is an ideal spot to wait for a good weather window. We waited 8 days for an opportunity to make our crossing. During that time we pulled weather from several sources twice a day and also analyzed the Grib files (they are the forecast maps). Thank god we have a good signal with the Pactor modem. (Of all the places we have travelled the ability to use our SSB radio to send and receive emails and weather information has been best here in Chile, go figure.) Once leaving Bahía Anna Pink it is about 70nm southwest to the entrance to the gulf. From there the gulf itself is only 70nm across. It is a shallow body of water that is completely open to the Pacific Ocean and its notorious for its harsh conditions and large southwest swell that is raised by the southern ocean storms. At the north and south ends of the gulf there are manned light houses that keep track of the vessels transiting the gulf. This is an important commercial area because of the shipping traffic that transits to and from the Atlantic through the protection of the fjords. This passage is an especially difficult one and is not to be taken lightly. Let me remind you that the body of water we are crossing is called the Golfo de Penas or Gulf of Sorrows. I refer to it as the Gulf of Pain (I can't print what Reina refers to it as), both names are appropriate. I also remind you that we are almost out of the �"Roaring 40's�" and are further south, into (not sure what they call it) the 50's; I know the 60's are the �"Screaming 60's�". The point is we are going to be out to sea in open ocean that has traveled, unencumbered, all the way across the Pacific to greet us here in shallow waters off of Chile. The entire passage was to be about 160 miles with the first half heading southwest then the second half heading southeast; this in and of itself makes finding the right conditions very difficult. There is a predominantly east setting current; although as we subsequently discovered that is not always the case. Like in the Gulfstream, this is a strong enough current that you need to be careful of winds against current. Winds from the northwest would be ideal for both legs of the trip; however down here when winds that are from the northern quadrant tend to blow very strong and would make the trip very uncomfortable with the opposing current. After eight patient days of waiting, this was the forecast we went by for the call to �"GO�": WIND SEAS DATE HR dir/deg range(kt) dir/per range(ft) ---- --- ------------------ -------------------

10/23 03 SE 139 11 - 14 WSW 14sec 7 - 12 10/23 09 SE 134 12 - 16 WSW 14sec 7 - 11 10/23 15 SE 149 7 - 10 WSW 13sec 6 - 10 10/23 21 SSE 160 9 - 13 WSW 13sec 6 - 10

10/24 03 ESE 117 10 - 14 WSW 13sec 6 - 10 10/24 09 ESE 102 9 - 12 WSW 15sec 7 - 11 10/24 15 N 353 8 - 10 WSW 14sec 7 - 11 10/24 21 NNE 10 7 - 9 WSW 14sec 7 - 11

We needed to try to time our arrival during daylight hours, so the plan was to leave at 0700 on the 23rd sail 210 degrees for 72 miles then that evening we would make our turn and head 136 degrees. With the forecasted wind direction of 117 degrees, the second leg would be more difficult and we were hopefully optimistic that the winds would turn north early or be a little more east than predicted. If the forecast held true we felt that we would at least be able to tack and still make it. Worst case scenario there are several spots before you enter the gulf that you can tuck in if everything should go to shit. In our opinion, it was the least/worst opportunity we had seen; the conditions were benign and we could not wait around forever. Now for the real story: At 0700 on the 23rd we left the anchorage with winds around 15 knots from the east, not the southeast. We also had some gusting over 30 knots; we have come to learn that the forecast wind is always stronger than predicted. I said to my copilot that we needed to get away from land to see what the actual conditions were like. By 0900 we had winds sustained at 30 knots although it was clocking southeast. The winds being against the south west current affected us in a couple of ways: 30 knots of winds by itself will create 12 to 15 foot seas very close together. Now add the swell that was coming from the WSW at 7 to 12 feet and complete the formula by adding a current against us and pushing us east. This created a very difficult and very uncomfortable condition. Reina and I know how to set up the boat for heavy seas. We had a lot of time to get everything ready for this passage. In spite of our experience and efforts, things that never moved before on Karma were getting chucked around the boat and I was all over the place trying to keep everything together. Did I mention the really nasty looks I was getting�.... I know Reina wanted to head back but we had a backup plan to tuck in on the north side of the cape (about 60 miles) if this crap continued. Someone had to make the call�....I being the captain�... did. We had two reefs in the main and 1/2 the head sail rolled up. I must say that Karma was handling all the abuse like a champ. I never felt that she was over powered or out of control. She just kept moving along in spite of the hell that was out there. After about 3 hours of a beating the winds started to turn more southeast and dropped down to 10 to 15 knots then eventually died. After another hour, the wind waves settled down and made the rest of the trip palatable. At one point we needed to run the diesel to keep our forward progress. The winds eventually picked back up to a reasonable 10 to 15 knots out of the southeast and we shook out the reefs and made good progress. It became apparent that when we got to our turn the wind was going to be on our nose. I hoped that the wind was being affected by the cape and that it would turn as we got further away. We continued 10 miles past our intended turn hoping for a more favorable wind direction. At about 0300 hours we tacked to see if we even had a chance of making it. With the wind still SE (the direction we needed to go) and the current pushing us north and west, our heading was essentially back the same direction we had just came from. The current made it impossible to make any progress. So it was time to head to our back up location, you know the one we were close to 8 hours earlier. The one we could have gone to while there was still enough light the evening before. We got to Caleta Suarez (46 36.80S:75 27.60w) after having traveled 158 miles to only go 80 miles. By 1100 hours on the 24th we were safely anchored and shore-tied. It was lights out for both of us. We were both very sore and tired. We were up by 1500 hours both starving. With Reina, no food on the passage is a given; for me, I am usually able to eat something, not on this passage. Even I was on the fence with my stomach. Now we must start the process all over again. The good thing is that we knocked about 60 miles off the trip and only have about 20 miles before we make the (GD) turn at the cape and head to our final destination. Even if we had to motor for the first 20 miles to make the turn that would be ok. While we were anchored at Caleta Suarez the weather on the 25th through the 28th was out of the north 20 to 30 knots and because of a big storm to the south the swell was in the 15 to 20 foot range. With the wind waves on top of that�....not nice. But wait there is good news, we had a small window that would work. Here was the forecast just west of the cape that gave us a chance on the 29th: ---------------------------------------------------- WIND SEAS DATE HR dir/deg range(kt) dir/per range(ft) ---- --- ------------------ ------------------- 10/28 09 W 277 18 - 24 W 9sec 11 - 17 10/28 15 WSW 244 17 - 23 W 10sec 11 - 17 10/28 21 WSW 247 12 - 17 WSW 14sec 11 - 17

10/29 03 WSW 257 12 - 17 WSW 13sec 10 - 16 10/29 09 WSW 233 10 - 14 WSW 13sec 9 - 15 10/29 15 W 263 8 - 11 WSW 12sec 9 - 14 10/29 21 WNW 281 13 - 18 WSW 11sec 8 - 12

10/30 03 WNW 295 17 - 23 WSW 10sec 8 - 12 10/30 09 WSW 232 16 - 22 WSW 9sec 10 - 16 10/30 15 SW 221 11 - 15 SW 12sec 12 - 18 10/30 21 WSW 238 12 - 17 WSW 12sec 12 - 19

This is the forecast for the area inside the cape along our rumbline: 10/30 03 WNW 309 13 - 18 WSW 10sec 5 - 8 10/30 09 SW 216 20 - 28 WSW 9sec 8 - 12 10/30 15 SW 228 8 - 11 WSW 11sec 8 - 13 10/30 21 WSW 239 13 - 18 WSW 12sec 8 - 13

The run was about 97 miles with an additional 10 miles to get to our protected anchorage. The winds after the 30th were starting to clock from the west to the east which would be a problem for us. Based on the forecast it was apparent that there was a pressure system coming through early on the 30th but being hopefully optimistic again, if we were able to maintain 6 knots we should be tucked into our anchorage before the winds shifted south and started blowing. Of course this also assumes that you can take the forecast as Gospel and when it says 0900 it means 0900. Anyway, this is what I mean by a small window. We planned to leave at 1500 hours on the 29th. This allow us to arrive at dawn if we made good time. If we were slow we still had the whole day to get in. We were concerned with the 0900 forecast on the 30th showing the wind clocking to the SW but with gusts up to 28 knots but again we could not wait around forever. As a side bar we ignore the small number for winds and take the gust as the primary number for sustained wind and then assume that the gusts will be higher. And now, the real story part two: When we left Caleta Suarez we were getting SW winds instead of WSW as predicted. Reina was already starting to give me �"the look�". We (meaning I) felt that we were still getting land effects and needed to get farther offshore to see what was really happening. We went about 8 miles offshore and then made our turn to the SSE for the first leg. Fortunately, the wind had turned to the west (thank God) giving us perfect winds for this run. We did have a 12ft swell that was about 12 seconds apart which is big but not unusual for the area. The wind waves were with the current which made them much more manageable. We had about 15 knots of wind on a broad reach (wind behind midpoint of the boat) which made for a very comfortable run with good speed. I had one reef in the main and 25 percent of the genoa rolled up and we were still going over 7 knots. I chose to put the spinnaker pole out before dark just in case the winds continued to clock more behind us. By midnight winds picked up to over 20 knots and I put a second reef in the main and rolled up another 10% of the genoa. At the same time our fancy barometer gave us a beep warning that said �"rapid drop alert�". We have come to hate that sound, it takes the stress level up because we feel that something is coming! We were going about 7.5 knots by now and we were starting to get worried about arriving too early (this is a good problem). I decided that I wanted to keep our speed going because everything was going so well. By 0200 things continued to pick up and the wind backed to the NW (earlier than forecasted). The wind was picking up to over 30 knots and increasing. We were now sailing wing on wing (main on one side of the boat and the genoa on the other) with the genoa poled out. This set up is great for keeping everything tight and not getting beat up by the wind. The seas were really cranking behind us with the wind waves stacking on top of the swell (good thing it was night time�...can't see how big they really are). The spinnaker pole is important because without it, when the boat is rocking side to side, the genoa can collapse and lose the wind for a second then it fills again but it snaps like a wet towel and that is not good on the rigging or moral. But with the sail attached to the pole everything is quiet and tight. By this point, I had put a third reef in the main. I have only had to do that one other time. It leaves only a very small sail exposed to the wind. We had rolled up 80 percent of the genoa and we were still going over 8 knots. The swell was big enough that it was cresting over and we even started to take some spray up on the bimini. It is a little strange because you hear the white water from a cresting wave (different than a breaking wave) coming then it slams into the side of Karma. Fortunately we were dry and comfortable in the �"bubble�". We finally rolled all the genoa up trying to slow us down and we were still going 6 knots. By 0400 we needed to head more south to make it to our anchorage. That was putting all the heavy seas on our beam, but it also slowed us down. We had a current on our nose that helped to reduce our speed. As we got behind some of the land the wind started to come around on our nose and the seas laid down. I even had to start the diesel to keep going. The last 10 miles of the journey took us about 4 hours which is frustratingly slow (3k) especially after the sleigh ride we had just had. We arrived at our anchorage, Caleta Ideal (47 45.40S:74 53.50W) at 0800 on the 30th. We made it!!!! Reina is still is giving me the �"look�" for putting her through all of this!!! I tell her it is the PRICE OF ADMISSION!!!!!! Disclaimer: The thoughts and feelings expressed above are based solely on the impressions of the author. Any other parties involved in said passage might have some different comments and thoughts and possibly expletives (LOL).