December 10 we are headed from the Chiloé side towards the mainland and want to stop somewhere for the night. Bahía Edwards is a stop on the way across Golfo de Ancud, but it doesn't sound that interesting according to the guidebook. Even it's name is rather mundane, but we take it anyway. We are pleasantly surprised to find it a lovely lonely picturesque little bay. There are no houses and only a deserted little shed. There are lots of picturesque rocks with wild looking foliage covering the slopes. An evening storm rolls in and a small fishing boat joins us for a safe overnight anchorage. They leave early the next morning and we explore by kayak.
Around a bend we find a jewel of a bay surrounded by craggy cliffs and dense trees, ferns and a huge leafed plant we've seen elsewhere in Chile. Jeff thinks the bay looks perfectly made, like one you would find at a fancy resort. It is natural made and covered with perfect round pebbles, the kind I often bought for landscapes back home. He names it, "pebble beach.". We get out of the kayak to explore on foot. There are tiny waterfalls in rocky caves, ferns growing on rocks and logs, trees sprouting on rocks, red flowered vines, a turkey vulture sitting in a dead branch, and seaweed covered rocks exposed at low tide near the shore. There are slippery murmuring sounds of water dripping, lapping lazily, waving fuzzy thwaps and hollow thuds. The water caresses the shore and with each breath hums an inhale and sssshhhhhhs the exhale. The fresh sea scented breeze is a salty whisper in the leaves. Small birds chatter and rustle, flit and fly. A larger crisp wet wave hits the shore with a hearty stammer followed by a spongy crash. I could have there stayed forever listening to that noisy silence filled with bird talk and wave wanderings.
We kayak along the rugged coast line. We startle, or are startled by a young sea lion playing in the surf near a large rock. We stare at each other a moment and Jeff and I paddle away quickly. We see and hear lots of different kinds of gulls. We get our exercise and have been refreshed and renewed by our stay at Pebble Beach. Now its anchor up and off on a sail to the majestic main land of rugged toothy mountains.