We have reached Puerto Eden in the Chilean Partagonia. The guide book says it the most remote and rainiest village in the world. I don't think he's aware of Old Crow in the Yukon or Prince Rupert, B.C.! We do have cell range here though and a wee bit of sketchy wifi even. So internet junkies of our times that we are, we are getting a the fix we have been deprived of for a month! Thank goodness for being able to send and receive emails over the SSB over Christmas.
We spent 4 days in cta Millabu before getting an opportunity to get to cta Cliff, a 67 mile jump. In Millabu we learned a lot about Rachas, and we were hardly able to get off the boat. Never mind, there is no end to the little projects you can get on with when you live on a boat. Dave and I did manage a few visits to Motu and even got a small walk on the shore to search for the "trail" to the lake by the waterfall that is mentioned in the guide book. Nada. It must have grown over - not many hikers here to keep any trail open!
Cta Cliff seemed like a tranquil anchorage when we first arrived, but for the next 10 days we were at the mercy of the wind gods. In 60 seconds the water would change from flat calm to 30 knots and often more. The water was being picked up in spots and dispersed into the air across the bay. It was pretty cool actually but also a little frightening. So I never got the nerve up to take pictures of it! Different parts of the bay were hit by different directional winds, so although Motu and Heart and Soul were anchored close to each other, we were swinging completely differently. Once we had enough of a break to go ashore to pick up water from a stream to fill the tanks and I did a laundry in the stream. Dave took a hilarious video of me practicing counting in Spanish with each push of the toilet plunger- agitator in the bucket. He refers to me as his new MagTag.
By the time we had a small window to push onto the next and last anchorage before the gulf 12miles away I must admit I was showing signs of cabin fever. Caleta Suarez - a peaceful and protected anchorage at last. Beautiful too. Perfect place to spent Christmas. Christmas dinner was on Heart and Soul this time and we had a wonderful time. Apparently the anchorage can be quite packed with fishing vessels, but perhaps because it was Christmas, we were mostly alone except for one other on two nights. It was here we learned about getting serious about shore-tying - taking no chances. After 4 days waiting in Suarez, we finally had the opportunity to make the move across the gulf. Aside from horrendous seas going around cape Raper, we had little wind and although we would have preferred to have wind assistance in the right direction, we were not prepared to wait for the those absolutely prefect conditions, as we had already put in our time.... 23 hours later we arrived at cta Ideal, but did not trust the holding as the bottom was thick kelp and rocks, so we moved on another 4 hours to a little anchorage in the book that was reported as good but had no depth soundings - Claleta Chaski. We entered very apprehensively, but discovered the narrow passage in was deep and the anchorage pristine, with a good holding. By now we are tying ashore without question. One day rest here and we were off down Canal Messier toward the Seno Iceberg ((Iceberg fiord). Dave and I were having such a good sail at the end of the day, that we carried on passed where Motu stopped, and anchored at cta Correlation, just 3 miles away from the Glacier. We were 8 miles away from Motu, but the temperature dropped about 10 degrees F. Next day we saddled up the dinghy and hitched a ride with Motu when they came by us on their way to the glacier. It is a tongue of the eternal icecap named Hielo Continental Sur which is apparently one of the most northerly tidewater glaciers. I can't describe how awesome this was. I have never seen a blue like that before in nature or otherwise. We dinghied through the small icebergs to get as close as we felt comfortable. There was a small calving when we were there.
On our way the next day to Puerto Eden, we passed the steam-ship Captain Leonidas which was wrecked on a shoal in 1968. There is a narrows before getting to Pto Eden called Angostura Inglesa, which we hit around low water slack and had 4 knots of help from the current without drama. The 40 mile day was mostly all sailing sometimes with squalls and heavy overcast and sometimes sunny conditions, finally arriving in Puerto Eden with the wind kicking up to 20 knots.
There are no cars in this little village situated at the bottom of (freshly) snow covered mountains. A wooden walkway leads from one end of town to the other and up to a viewpoint on the hill over the town. Yesterday we got out for a walk and picked up a few groceries. There are a couple of stores in houses. You knock on the door to see if they are home. On our walk, we were lead to a "shop" at the east end of town by the owner who was just returning to his home. He supplied us with freshly picked lettuce, chard, herbs, potatoes and eggs. I guess you can't complain at a cost of $.60per egg in this cold and rainy place where it must be hard to coax the chickens to lay! Mind you one of them was bad. I've learned you must always break each egg into a cup to check it before mixing them.
The temperature here was 4C this morning and is only 5C at noon. Just like being at home in our winter! Well maybe not this year as home is actually colder than normal. We are at the 49th parallel S instead of N.
Happy new year everyone. Life is amazing! Lets not take it for granted.