The Archipiélago de Chiloé is comprised of one large island, Chiloé Island, and several smaller islands that lie to the east of Chiloé Island in the Golfo de Ancud. Chiloé Island, or just Chiloé, is 118 miles long with an area of approximately 3,200 square miles. Its north coast is a little over 30 miles southwest, of Puerto Montt. The two mile wide Canal Chacao separates it from mainland Chile.

Chiloé Island was the first land we saw after being at sea for 30 days. We first dropped the anchor in Puerto Inglés on the north coast of Chiloé. This was our staging point to transit Canal Chacao. The canal is a small channel that separates Chile and Chiloé and has a current of up to 10kts in either direction dependent on the tide. The tidal range in this area runs 15 to 20 feet; that is a lot of water to push through a mile wide channel. To avoid the current at its strongest, we needed to transit the channel within the first hour of the flood tide. Needless to say, I had thirty days to worry about this part of our trip and the real kicker was that according to our guide book the area is usually shrouded in fog. So I got to spend days imagining flying through a narrow channel in zero visibility. Fortunately my imagination is way worse than reality, most of the time. We made it through easy-peasy.


At the top of the picture you see our SOG is 13.3; this was our speed over ground going through the channel. We were going practically double our hull speed.


To put the tidal range in perspective, here is a picture of our dinghy in Castro. When we left it the water was just at the stern. This is what it looked like when we returned 5 hours later; that's me at the bottom of the ramp. In case you are wondering how we got it in the water, we have a pvc pipe that we roll it on.

In April after Tom and Susan left, we took a couple of weeks and cruised the archipelago, stopping off to visit the small towns of Chiloé Island and the even smaller villages on some of the out islands. The people of Chiloé, the Chilote, have a distinct history, appearance, and culture that make them very different from those on the mainland of Chile. My guide book describes them quite accurately as "a distinct enclave, linked more to the sea than the continent, a fragile society with a strong sense of solidarity and a deep territorial attachment".

They are a mixed race of Chonos and Mapuche Indian who intermarried with the Spaniards who settled in the archipelago after being driven out of mainland Chile. Even though the Chilotes were mostly enslaved by the Spanish they wound up being their strongest supporters. The last stronghold of the Spanish Crown in South America was Chiloé Island. The royalist armies were defeated in 1826, eight years after the independence with Chile. To this day, a lot of the Chilotes consider themselves more Spanish than Chilean.

Castro, the largest city on Chiloé Island and its capital, is one of the oldest cities in Chile. During the time of Spanish rule it was the southernmost city in the world, today it is famous for its palafitos. Palafitos are traditional wooden houses built on stilts. They were originally built in the 19th century for local fisherman, who would moor their boats in the water before climbing a wooden ladder to their family home.


The palafitos of Castro.


Typical fishing boats of Chiloé.

Our first encounter with Chiloé and the Chilote people was in the small town of Quemchi. We chose this spot for no other reason than we had weather closing in and we needed a good anchorage with wind protection from the north.



It was a quaint town with a small museum and a wonderful library where we were able to get free wifi. For us it will always be fondly remembered as the place where we were first introduced to the Pichanga. We were at a restaurant in town and saw the waitress bring what looked like a large chef salad to another table. We had not seen anything on the menu that looked like it was a chef salad (remember the menus area in Spanish) so we asked the waitress what it was called. She said it was a Pichanga!!! What is a pichanga you ask; it is definitely not a chef salad. Clint describes it as the perfect complete meal. Imagine a large bowl filled with French fries (not lettuce) and then topped with chopped steak, ground beef, chorizo (sausage), chopped grilled chicken, pieces of hotdog, pickled carrots, onions, and cauliflower, hardboiled egg, avocado, tomatoes, black olives and chunks of melting cheese. This my friends is a pichanga.


Hey don't knock it until you try it.

With VERY full bellies we left Quemchi and spent a couple of days anchored off of Dalcahue.



Dalcahue is the sales hub for craftsmen from the nearby islands who sell their wares at the artisans' market. The big market day is Sunday. Unfortunately we were there during off season so it was not as big as other markets we have visited but it was still a nice opportunity to walk around and see the local handicrafts.

Our favorite stop was Isla Mechuque. Isla Mechuque is one of several islands clustered together just off the coast of Chiloé Island. The islands are separated by narrow channels with deep water that offers a lot of exploration and protection.


Dwyer aboard s/v Rascal anchored next to us.


Dwyer and me strolling the beach solving the world's problems I'm sure.


No need to haul out, this is how you clean your bottom. Tie off and wait for the tide to go out.

We stumbled upon this guy "working" on his boat:









It kind of puts our boat "projects" into perspective.

Mechuque is home to a "seafaring" museum. Visiting the museum is a tradition for the (few) cruisers who transit these waters. It was founded by a local as a tribute to his parents. The mishmash collection of antique objects collected from the sea is housed in the bottom floor of his parent's home.


That's Dwyer in front of the museum, that is not his boat; Rascal isn't that big. LOL

After visiting the museum we headed back to the dinghy to find that the tide was up and our dinghy that had been on the beach was now in the middle of the bay. Fortunately, Clint was able to hitch a ride to the dinghy. It is always an adventure.


The boat they are rowing past is the one that is beached in the picture above where I talked about cleaning the bottom.

Aside from the charming people and its natural beauty, Chiloé is home to over 180 churches and chapels. Christianity came to the islands in 1608 when the Jesuits arrived. They convinced the Spanish settlers to build a chapel in every small community that would be visited once a year by the Fathers who traveled between the islands by canoe. When the Jesuits were banned from South America by Spain in 1767 the Franciscans took over and continued their work . Interestingly, the Jesuits were banned by the Catholic Spanish Crown because of their international influence and strong ties to the Pope; in other words it was a quibble over power not religion, some things never change.

The archipelago's oldest church, Inglesia Santa María de Loreto, is in the town of Achao nestled on Isla de Quinchao's. Isla de Quinchao is a small island just off of Dalcahue. From Dalcahue we took a bus that crossed to Isla de Quinchao on a ferry and drove us to the east side of the island.





Built in 1730, this church is the single surviving structure from the Jesuits' original mission. Like all of the Chilote churches it is built entirely of wood; even the pegs , used instead of nails, in its construction are made of wood.


It is all wood.


Even the altar.


This colorful church is Inglesia San Francisco in Castro. Any LSU fans out there...Robert?

Inglesia San Francisco's facade, not as impressive as the church in Achao, is clad with sheets of beaten tin. The church features two 130 foot high bell towers, the tallest structures in Castro. For decades, these towers were used to guide ships arriving at the port.

This church is a perfect example of not judging a book by its cover.









The entire interior is made of wood, amazing. I do not know how to describe it, but there is something about these churches that takes your breath away. We have visited a lot of churches and cathedrals and these by no means are these most grand but they are just as inspiring.

As much as we have fallen in love with the ruggedness of the fjords, it was a nice treat to visit Chiloé and experience such a contrast in such a short distance.