November 12 - Channels, Fjords & the Pacific

By Dr. John

This is the 13th entry of our recent trip to Chile. A list of all the previous trip posts is below.

Breakfast the next day was a greater challenge: yogurt, porridge, and coffee or juice. I regret eating the porridge - the first time I have eaten rice in over a year - and sense some sluggishness minutes later. (Be prepared, you can't bring everything you eat, but it's good to have some back-up.) Fortunately, two pears finish the breakfast just fine.

The Navimag boat takes us along a channel heading south from Puerto Montt as it makes its way to Puerto Natales. After traveling along multiple islands and fjords, at 4 pm we enter Bahia Anna Pink, a bay opening into the Pacific, and sail a 12-hour segment along the Pacific coast and through the Golfo de Penas (Gulf of Punishment).

During one of his charlas (briefings) the ship's guide shares his thoughts about the ocean pass: "If the weather is good, the boat will move. If the weather is bad, the boat will move." The implication is clear. We enter the Pacific in mild to moderate weather: overcast misty sky and a grey rolling swells covered with wind blown chop. There are fewer people in the dinning room that evening.

Previous trip entries in chronological order:

• Travel - Chile / Patagonia, November 2011
• November 10: Arrival in Santiago, Chile
• Book fair in converted rail station, Santiago
• Terminal del Sur, Santiago
• John Michael at Terminal del Sur, Santiago
• Churrasco al Plato con Huevos
• Internet caffe, bus terminal Puerto Montt
• Boarding a Navimag Ferry
• November 11: On Navimag
• View along the port
• View of Puerto Montt & 32 person lifeboat
• John Michael: Voyage by Sea