We anchored in the bahia Corral at the mouth of Rio Valdivia at in the early hours. We had a good sail through the coastal wind and currents. We were lucky as we were actually anticipating more of a problem here. After the anchor was down we had a cup of tea and muffins and we went to bed feeling pleased with ourselves and content. The next morning in the calm anchorage, Dave exclaims, "Will somebody rock the boat - Its hard to walk!"
Now we have to use our Spanish again to arrange our arrival. You keep thinking, maybe someone will speak English...No. They almost laugh if you ask! Anyways, we were able to get settled into a great spot at the Valdivia Yacht Club on Friday. What a fantastic place. So foreign, but it also reminds me of the funky James Bay area in Victoria. We went out to dinner at the Chocolatieria (a very old established business which has expanded with restaurant). It served excellent food for a very decent price and of course the postres were amazing.
There is one free washing machine here and then you hang to dry. Its still beautiful warm weather here, so we got down to that task of the laundry right away. Over the last few days we have found the super marcado and the daily fish market which also sells vegetables and crafts. Today we discovered the weekly local farmers market which has much better prices. So good to have fresh food again. I can't vouch very strongly for the food we bought on Easter Island (eggs, fruit and vegetables expensive and not that great). The meat was very good though although expensive. Other things on Easter Island were a good deal - like diving, renting car or bikes etc.
We checked out the yacht clubs other marina down river, the Estancilla, and the Awloplast marina which is beside it. We may move the boat to one of those for more protection from the north wind when we leave the boat to go back to Canada for a few months. Being 7 km out of town, they aren't as ideal if you are staying on the boat. Awloplast is cheaper but its main function is a catamaran manufacture, so the yacht club is more cruiser friendly.
Dominic, managed to take as much in of Valdivia as he could (which he is good at) so walked and cycled all over and he and I took the dinghy around Isla Tesla. I've included pictures of the surrounding area in the Gallery. We saw Dominic off yesterday. He was a great travel companion and a great help.
Our friends who set off a few days before us from Ecuador and followed the coast, have almost made it to Conception. We are looking forward to them arriving here late next week. Since we arrived 5 days ago and landed in what seemed like late summer sunny, warm weather, it has changed to colder weather in 40s and 50s F which I what I expected for this part of the world in its early autumn.
Out of interest, for the whole trip from Ecuador to Valdivia, including a stop on Easter Island, we covered 4650 nautical miles, 5350 miles or 8612 km. We used 270 liters of diesel or 60 imperial gals.