Well, are any of you still tuned in? Do you feel like we have left you adrift? (Sorry, I really love this picture above and I needed to work it into the blog...)

We have left you hanging for the second part of our navigation south, Golfo de Penas to Puerto Natales. I assure you we have not spent the last 6 months working our way to Puerto Natales; in fact, we arrived in Puerto Natales last November and we are still here.

As you have probably come to realize our plans change A LOT. The original plan had us back in Puerto Montt by now; instead we have decided to hang out in the Puerto Natales area for a while exploring and seeing what winter brings. Our current plan is to head south to Puerto Williams in September or October. We are hoping to have some special visitors in Ushuaia in December after which we will work our way back to Puerto Montt and haul out Karma in May 2017. Remember that rock we hit? That little oops still needs to be addressed so I am pretty confident that the Puerto Montt in May part of our plan will not change; but, let me not get ahead of myself, we have a lot of catching up to do...

After two attempts (see 11/02/15 blog), we successfully transited the Golfo de Penas and gratefully dropped the hook in Caleta Ideal (47 45.52S : 74 53.49W ) on October 30th. "...We weren't in Kansas anymore"; it was certainly colder and the snow line was a lot closer to sea level and to us it seemed that the rock walls of the fjords were different. Everything just seemed a lot grander and we definitely felt like we were on the road less travelled. Gone were the salmoneras and any feeling that civilization was close by.

We quickly found that the navigation in these southern canals could be a lot trickier. The topography and numerous channels have a big effect on the tides and currents. As we continued our way south the tides began to play a much bigger part in our planning. There are several angosturas, or narrows, where the tidal streams can reach over 8 knots. We got are first taste of these in Canal Messier, the main channel leading south from the Golfo. Fortunately, there are usually caletas (anchorages) on either side of the narrows where you can stop and wait for an ideal time to transit, if necessary.

There are also shoals. Even though these canals are not regularly traveled by cruisers like us, there is a main shipping route that runs north and south from the Beagle Channel and Magellan Straits to the southern end of the Golfo de Penas. The main channels are very well marked and charted. One such shoal, Bajo Cotopaxi is especially well marked by the old steam ship Capitán Leonidas.



In 1889 the English Steamship Cotopaxi, along with its sister-ship Capitán Leonidas, ran aground in Canal Messier. The Cotopaxi is long gone but the Capitán Leonidas still sits at its final resting place. Sailing past this wreck is quite eerie.



This was the first vessel we had passed in over three weeks and it was a Ghost Ship...creepy.

Not too long after our encounter with the "ghost ship" we were passed and saluted by the Chilean Navy.





Since saying goodbye to Dwyer and Jess on Rascal, in a period of six weeks, we only passed this ship and one other before our arrival in Puerto Natales; definitely the road less travelled.

Puerto Eden, a small settlement with a population of less than 100, sits approximately 90nm south of the Golfo. Our friend Richard, on Issuma, stopped in Puerto Eden a couple weeks before us and reported there was not much there in the way of fresh supplies so we decided to skip the little town. We were doing fine with provisions and we wanted to save the time so that we could take a diversion to the Glacier Pío XI.







The Campo de Heilo (Icecap) follows the canals most of the way south. Paralleling Canal Messier for its last 20 miles is Seno Eyre. Glacier Pío XI, named for Pope Pío XI, sits at the northern end of Seno Eyre. To reach the glacier we had to sail to the end of Canal Messier make a u-turn and head back north up Seno Eyre. The trip was well worth it. The last 20 miles required a lookout on the bow to make sure we did not run into any of those pesky bergy bits.



The very first and last glacier we had seen was Glacier San Rafael and we were very excited to be back in the shadow of a giant glacier. Pío XI is completely different than San Rafael. The face is 50 meters tall and over 3,500 meters wide. It was not only a lot bigger than San Rafael but it was possible to walk directly up to the face. San Rafael ended directly into the water, Pío XI has large sand dunes piled in front of it where it has carved its way into the Seno over the years.

We were able to anchor in a small caleta 3 miles from the glacier. Fortunately the weather was calm enough that we could dinghy to the glacier. The water near a glacier is a milky green due to the fresh water mixing with the salt. In this glacial water it is impossible to see the bottom even when you are only in water a few inches deep so we cautiously dinghied up to the sandbar, not sure when we would hit bottom.



Instead of the glacier calving off into the water like San Rafael, Pío XI plops its ice right onto the sand.



There were huge blocks of ice that had obviously broken off recently.



Seeing this massive wall of ice and the huge area of sand that it had pushed in front of it really gave us an appreciation of what a magnificent thing of nature glaciers are and how they formed these fjords millions of years ago.

After several days at Pío XI it was time to continue our way south. A lot of the caletas that we spent the night in were up long narrow cuts into the high mountains that terminated at a stream or waterfall. At several spots we stayed a couple of days and explored by kayak and on foot.

Since crossing the Golfo we had beautiful weather with light winds from the north allowing us a leisurely trip south mostly under sail. We knew the weather we were experiencing was not typical and would not hold out forever. We were right.

From our daily forecasts and Grib files we saw that we had some strong winds, 40-50 knots, coming our way. We consulted our trusty "Italian Guide" and found what we thought to be the perfect anchorage which would allow us a 4 point tie off in a snug spot no more than 50 feet wide.

Before it was all said and done we wound up tied to shore with six lines. We spent a week there with no problem. The first couple of days things were calm enough that we were able to explore by dinghy. Once the wind and rain started we broke out the Risk board and spent several days battling for world domination.

This down time also provide Clint a good opportunity to design and make our crab trap.



From our cozy little spot everything was tranquillo but we could see behind us, in the larger fjord, the wind was really howling.

After a week of being holed up we were anxious to get moving again. Our next anchorage was one of our favorites in our run to Puerto Natales (not counting Pío XI), Caleta Moonlight Shadow. With a name like that how could it not be spectacular?





From this caleta we were able to walk up a steep hill which led us to a flat rocky area that allowed 360 degree views of the canals and towering snow and glacial covered mountains that reach from sea level to thousands of feet.



For the first time we saw evidence that others had been there before us, there were small rock monoliths scattered about marking the trails from other explorers. It was a truly beautiful spot.



From Caleta Moonlight Shadow we were only a two day sail form Puerto Natales. To get there we would have to leave the main channel leading to the Straits of Magellan and Beagle Channel and work our way eastward. Before making our way eastward we had to transit to the end of Canal Union. As this canal works its way south to its termination it narrows and when the wind blows from the north, as in our case, it can really begin to funnel and accelerate. We had one of our best sails of the trip sailing downwind in 30-35 knots of wind and a large following sea. At its end the canal slowly bends to the east and ends in a small bay with a group of islands. All of the wind and water gets pushed to the end and as we got pushed with it we became a bit concerned of what kind of conditions we were going to find at the anchorage we had chosen for the night. We had selected an island at the very bottom of this canal with a small cut on its southeast side that according to the book had good protection from the waves; however, "strong winds from the NW (which we had) might raise gusts funneled and strengthened by the surrounding hills...". On the plus side they reported good holding. We had a hell of a ride all the way to the southern side of the island until we turned up into the wind and dropped the sails in the lee of the anchorage. The wind did in fact blow like stink but the anchor held through the night and the water was still.

From here we worked our way east through some of the most dramatic terrain of the channels. As we navigated our way eastward transiting through the Cordillera de los Andes we left behind the wooded land of the Patagonian canals that sees more rainfall than most places on the planet to the semi-arid pampa on the east side of the Andes. The terrain is totally different on the east side where the Andes create a barrier to the clouds. However this same barrier that helps to keep the rainfall out allows the wind to accelerate as it howls down the east side of the Andean Cordillera. As always, you have to take the good with the bad.

There are only two ways to cross this Cordillera to reach Puerto Natales, Angostura White and Angostura Kirke. These two narrow canals connect the huge basin of Última Esperanza where Puerto Natales lies to the Pacific Ocean making them the only outlet to the sea for a large amount of water, both tidal and from rivers and streams fed by snow melt and rain. The currents here are among the strongest in all of Chile, you know how excited I was when I read that... Needless to say I worried about nothing and my Captain got us safely through with the current running on our stern at about 4 knots.

On November 18th we sailed into Golfo Almirante Montt and saw Puerto Natales in the distance for the very first time.



Our first reaction was "where are all the trees?"; our second was astonishment at the wide open rolling land completely surrounded in the distance by towering snowcapped mountains.









Well, we are still here and have absolutely fallen in love with what we think is one of the prettiest places on the planet.

We have had some ups and downs since arriving here. I dealt with some health issues that had me back in the states for 5 weeks. I am grateful to say all is well and the experience just reinforced life is short and is meant to be lived while we are healthy.

While here we have also gotten to share this amazing place with 3 of our best friends whose stories will be shared shortly, I promise...I have a long winter with short days...perfect for blogging.