Roving Rear Commodore Report from Patagonia, Chile
by Lars & Susanne Hellman 27 Mar 2023 19:11 UTC
Sea Wind continues her exploration of the remote coastline of Chile, where the people her crew meet are as lovely as the scenery.
Golfo de Penas: we set the alarm clock for 06:00 for the 180NM passage to our next anchorage, across the Golfo de Penas and then along the west coast of Chile. Yesterday's rain passed and the morning sky was light blue. We were dying to get out to sea after two months in the Patagonian channels. On the 60NM-wide gulf we were met by swell from the Pacific Ocean which caused Sea Wind to roll a bit, but the scenery with the 4,000m high snow-capped mountains on the mainland made us think more about the beautiful surroundings than the swell. It had been a while since we did a night sail and when I went on watch at 21:00 I realised how much I'd missed these moments: the sea, the wind, the birds. Alone in the cockpit, the wonderful feeling of peace and freedom. The sun setting below the horizon in the west, the clear pink light, fighting against the encroaching darkness, the white albatrosses gliding on their long wings. In the east, as the darkness creeps across the sky, there is no light to disturb the millions of stars shining above Sea Wind: you really feel your smallness in the universe when alone in the big ocean.
The night watches run at three-hour intervals and when Lars got up for his last watch at 06:00, the fog was thick so we turned on the radar. During the day, the fog lifted and the sun returned as we sailed into Bahia Anna Pink. At Caleta Millabo in Isla Clemente we sailed into a deep bay between high green mountains. At the head of the bay, a long white sandy beach was bathed in sun, and we could see our friends on Madogwy already wearing shorts: we really had entered a new climatic zone!
Puerto Chacabuco, new friends and new visa: it was a couple of days sailing from the Isla Clemente to the anchorage in Ensenada Baja in Puerto Chacabuco and we found nice anchorages on the way. The area is surrounded by high mountains and so-called 'williwaws' (sudden strong gusts of wind that come down from the cold mountains) were frequent. All of a sudden the surface of the water swirls into the air and comes towards us from the stern at high speed. The wind that brings the water is strong, 50-70kt, but disappears as quickly as it appears. Williwaws came and went in the narrow channel as we slowly made our way into the anchorage.
The main reason to come here was to renew our Chilean visas. We had many miles to cover before we were ready to leave Chile yet we only had a month left on our visas. You can apply for an extension on the internet, USD$100 per person, or we had heard you can travel to Balmaceda, on the border with Argentina, and extend for free: so that was our plan.
Ariosto and Juanita: we took the tender ashore to explore the small town of Puerto Chacabuco, where we found a grocery store. It's a small family business run by Ariosto and Juanita. Curious about who we were - and where we came from - they immediately invited us to dinner and offered to help with anything. This was the beginning of a new friendship. Lots of wonderful dinners and with Juanita teaching me how to cook Chilean food.
Ivan and Rosario: from Puerto Chacabuco, we decided to visit the larger town of Aysen, so we hitchhiked into town. On our way back, while looking for a bus stop, the occupants of a white van stopped and asked if we are going to Chacabuco. "Si," we said, and jumped into the van, believing it to be some kind of taxi or bus, and asked how much it cost: "No it's free," said the couple in the front seat. This was no taxi or bus, just a family returning home to Chacabuco. Just like Ariosto and Juanita, this was the start of another great friendship with an exchange of thoughts, ideas, laughter and lots of good, homemade Chilean food. At one of the lovely meals at Ivan and Rosario's house, their sister-in-law declared that they really appreciated hearing how things were in other parts of the world, because here in little Chacabuco, you spend most of your time with your family, "and you are almost like aliens from another planet!"
New Visas: we talked to our friends about our ploy to get to Balmaceda border station and it turned out that Ivan's brother was going to drive his wife to the airport and we were welcome to catch a lift. During the road trip, we got to see a new side of Chile: green fertile lowlands, the so-called pampas, with grazing cattle and large canola fields. I think we could stay in Chile forever because it's such a beautiful and varied landscape and such wonderful people, but I know that after a while we shall just have to go out to sea again. After two hours at the border station, we had stamps in all the right boxes, on the right documents and a new 90-day visa for free. Mission accomplished!
We continued north: the various Grib files and weather forecasts were downloaded and although they were not exactly consistent, after three weeks in Puerto Chacabuco we decided it was time to set sail again. There were many nice and sheltered anchorages on the way, should it get too miserable. It is important to always have plans A, B and C when sailing in Patagonia. However, the weather was in our favour and we made it to Caleta Santiago in glorious sunshine. As we sat in the cockpit, we were so grateful to be just us again: in the sun aboard Sea Wind.
After a few days of sailing from one nice bay to another, we arrived at Caleta Manuel, where there is a really tricky entrance. Everything went well and we anchored without any mishaps, a perfect spot to prepare for our next crossing over the Golfo de Corcovado to the large island of Chiloe.
This article has been provided by the courtesy of Ocean Cruising Club.