October, 2016. Wow I left in April. Dave stayed on for a few more weeks after me putting the boat to bed, meeting up with other cruisers and generally getting to know the area. When we rented a car to take me to Santiago to catch my flight, we stopped to visit Stephen and Marja Vance on SV Motu in Conception. They left Ecuador around the time we did and harbour-hopped south, while we, including Dominic, sailed offshore to Easter Island and on to Valdivia. During the trip we were in daily contact with Motu and I had been looking forward to meeting up with them in Valdivia before I had to leave. By the time Dave got back from Santiago, they had arrived and moored at the marina beside - the Awolplast yacht manufactures. Valdivia yacht club has two marinas. One in town, and one west of town toward Niebla, called Marina Estancilla. I've included pictures of all of both and Awolplast in the gallery.
There were the other cruisers at the dock at Estancilla, whom Dave got to know well. They all, along with Motu were able to share lots of good meals and stories .
Meanwhile back at the ranch, my sister, Trish, and I were having a great adventure driving our 20 ft RV motor home on the west coast of the Island, visiting the old growth forest in the Carmanah Valley.
Dave arrived in Vancouver and we were able to visit his family at a family reunion at Christina Lake in the interior of B. C. We spent about a month travelling and visiting on the mainland in our new home – the 20ft RV, then took the ferry back to the Island where we continued to do the same. I was a little nervous about spending the summer in the RV ( mind you, we also had a few weeks here and there at my sister's), but it worked out well and we had a really fun summer. The main event of the summer, was the marriage of my son Dominic (said crew of Heart and Soul from Ecuador to Easter Island to Chile) to Angela Cooke whom we already loved like a daughter. My other son, Robert and his amazing soulmate Jessica, created a band to play for the wedding. We were so proud of all of them.
Dave returned to the boat a couple of weeks ahead of me. He said he needed to get it ready for the princesses, my sister, Trish and myself, who have now arrived. Trish plans to stay for a month. We hope to make a passage to Isla Chiloe before she flies back.
Marja and Stephen have spent most of the winter on Motu at Awolplast. It is sure good to see them again. We hope to travel with them a little on their way to Puerto Williams, although we are not planning to go so far ourselves this season.
Since Dave and I arrived in Chile at different times, we had different renewal dates on our visas. So we decided to remedy this small problem, by taking a trip into Argentina, with Trish. We rented a car and went to Bariloche, Argentin - the largest ski resort town in South America, we hear. In order to drive a rented car across the border, you need to have a notarized form signed from your rental agent. This cost $173US. Another hidden cost awaits at the Argentinian border where we needed to buy a $78cdn 5 year tourist visa each. We were so lucky to have clear sunny weather and stunning views through the mountains and in Bariloche. We hiked part way up the ski hill called Cerro Cathedral. The Bariloche Hostal was clean and comfortable. The owner is English speaking and really helpful – nice guy. Breakfasts were a bit skinny, though. We found the prices generally high but were probably inflated as it is a tourist town.
On our way, back we stayed for a couple nights in futrono on lago Ranco in Chile’s lake district. Such a sweet town. Unpretentious old frontier town set is breathtaking beauty of pasture, lake and close mountains. After the clouds lifted on a rainy day, there was snow about 1000 ft up on the mountains behind the town. A young couple with a baby came up to us on the street and introduced themselves. Felipe is just about finished his training as an English teacher and loved to get the opportunity to speak English. What a lovely family. We have met up with them a few times since and will keep in touch. He is a very talented musician and is playing in Valdivia tonight, so we will go in for that.