Before leaving the dock, one of the last tasks is to make sure we've entered our blog while we have internet. Never know when you might have it again. We went out to dinner in Valdivia with Marja and Stephen the night before, cause although we planned to do the next leg with them, it was likely we would separate our ways after that. They are planning to go down to Puerto Williams and back this season, whereas we were only planning to explore the upper Chilean Patagonia this season. Anyways, leaving the dock was full of mixed emotions - feeling a little sad at the thought of leaving our buddies; anxious to get going; anxious about the two cold fronts on their way; anxious about getting that last minute job of posting the blog and photos; then pissed and really anxious when the internet was suddenly up and down making it difficult to do my last minute job!
We left the dock a day ahead of Motu to explore a little island in the Corral ( mouth of the river where we would be ready to set off to do the passage). We anchored on the east side of Isla Mancera and had a good look around. Lovely peaceful island. We walked around the whole island picking up usual good-natured local dogs who enjoyed the walk. Next day, Motu had joined us and we set off early the following morning for the 120 mile passage. It was a good passage except for about 20 miles of rough seas going around Pta Gatera. We anchored in Caleta Godoy midmorning the next day and celebrated American Thanksgiving on Motu. Marja managed to produce a great feast for the occasion.
Meanwhile, Dave and I had been doing some soul searching on our passage, and we decided that we would change our plans and travel with Motu to Puerto Williams if we could get insurance coverage.
The next morning we set off early again to catch the flooding tide through Paso Chocoi and through Canal Chacao, which we flew through at over 10 knots! We were able to sail for a few hours without the engine in afternoon and settled in our anchorage on Isla Mechuque where we relaxed for a few days. A lady, (Dora) who was collecting oysters came up to the boat and mentioned something about pan and venduras at the nearby village in the morning. By which we took to mean there was a market the next day. Yay! As we found out though, you ask the residents if they have any garden produce to sell! Can't get any fresher than that! Dora herself had prepared freshly made bread for us and took us into her lovely home for a chat. I have to say our chatting abilities are still pretty poor in Spanish, but Marja was carrying the rest of us well!
Another early start saw us to Marina Quinched , close to Castro by evening. It's a really lovely Marina costing $40cdn/ night in low season. Power and water on the dock, showers and laundry facilities available for $10cdn / load for washer and also for the drier. The weather was great so we were able to hang to dry. It cost $60cdn to do a fuel run for both boats ($ for fuel on top).
We had a lovely 5 km walk yesterday to the main road where we were able to catch a cheap bus into Castro. It's really worth a visit. Great walk, great food with great company and we topped up our food supplies again and caught a taxi back. Taxi cost $30cdn.
Dave had to go up the mast today to change the anchor and nav lights. The new-3 year ago LED one from lunasea has corroded out.
We got the go-ahead from our insurers today, so are really excited to keep going to Puerto Williams travelling with Motu as far as we can.
Ready to make another early start in the moring to travel close to the end of the island tomorrow, exact location to be worked out over happy hour in a few minutes...
From there we will be ready for a jump to Bahia Pink with the right weather. From Bahia Pink, we will wait for our window to go around Cabo Ràper and into the golfo de Penas. Bye for now!