Puerto Eden
We are now holed up in Puerto Eden on Thursday the 14th December. It is not nice outside for sure. in Here we have 25kts to 35kts and occasionally more. Happy to be here. Crew got ashore for a little bit..Just to stave of Cabin Fever! We hope to proceed tomorrow evening Saturday. 15th December
Photo by Ethan Toal
Very tight through here. English narrows..We are not allowed through at night and slack water is preferred. With Marcello our Chilean Pilot, of course we hit it right on target.
Photo by Catherine Carr.
It was a nice little interlude there at Tempanos. Richie got the drone up and took this great shot..
We then proceeded South down the channels past English Narrows on the way to Puerto Eden. We needed to hide from the next big Storm…
Photo by Richard Smith
We spent the evening behind a small island ..Bahia Tribune… outside the protection it was 25kts to 30kts and yet we were sitting pretty with gusts to 20kts and a flat water. At 0600 we up anchored and headed on out to Seno Iceberg and a Glacier called Tempanos…We arrived there at 0900 and spent an hour before heading South again through English Narrows to Puerto Eden 1 way traffic through there... Patagonia is known for Storms and especially this SW coast. and we are due for a big one tomorrow with gusts to 60 its if we continued..so prudence says hang tight and wait for a better option. So we are now safely tucked up in Puerto Eden, which is not quite Eden…. But very pretty. There are 150 people live here. engaged in fishing mainly and everyone seems very happy.
Messier Straits.
and back in we come. It was a dark night lots of showers but with the staysail out we charged South. racing the wind change after the Frontal passage. We had 90nm to go before we could bear away off the lee shore and We did not feel like hanging out 4 miles offshore. So 13 knots it was on the dial. Inside, especially forwards it was a bit of a rough ride until we got the to PT Raper where we finally got to head off from the wind and seas.
Dawn comes early here right now..about 4.30 and Sun up at 0530 and right on the nose was the entrance to Canal Messier. We checked in with the Chilean navy on san Pedro Island and we motored South down Messier...
Well that little stretch lived up to its reputation and this was a good weather window,!! We left in pre frontal conditions, serious rain and some gusty winds to 30 its. We motored out through Canal Pullche with the tide just starting to come in. (this to ease the sea state as if it was tide against wind it would have been rougher) We puttered along at 5-6 its in to 30kts and gusts to 40 with lighter winds in the heavy rain squalls. we passed South in Bahia Pink. The Weather front passed and as we got further offshore the seas came down to 15’ or 4m!! And then looking back at the coast A Rainbow.
Photo by Richard Smith
Raya's favorite provisioning spot. you need to see how fresh the fish in this area. On Saturdays there is a big produce market and we got most our fresh produce from there.
1500 we boarded our Harbour pilot. Just at the same time our Wind increased to 20 knots on the side! We can off and headed out the channel. At low tide you can wade across it! but we had a 6m tide and left with no Issues. We proceed South inside the Patagonian north channels although with no Moon there was little to see. we are planing to go out back in to the ocean for 160nm headed rather unfortunately SW where most the weather comes from before heading on down to Puerto Eden
We do have to thank the tireless work of our agent over the last Month well done Tomas Miranda of SAYSS and Gonzalo THE driver
Before Stuffing. what a great meal We had. thank you Raya.
Standing L-R Hugo,Ethan,Markus,Tomas,Williams,Markie.Lenka
Seated L-R Raya,David,Renee,Richard,Catherine..
Photo by Richard Smith
We are still in Pt Montt. alongside at Marina Oxxean. We have the last week been working on our statutory surveys. ABS and Isle of Man. both intermediate Hull and annual surveys. Happy to say we passed. So we were indeed thankful yesterday. It now leaves us time to focus on the trip South. initially to Puerto Natales about 900nm south of here down the Patagonian channels. We will hope to spend Christmas there before leaving for another 900nm trip down to King George Island in Antarctica, crossing Drake Passage, Of course the timing of that will be critical due to weather.
Marina OXXEAN
A mix of everything here at the marina. Even Seals under the dock..a football Stadium for 15,000 people
Alongside in Marina Oxxean
We were Sooo lucky. Friday was a holiday and the pilots and customs and Immigration did not want to be working so at 2100 on arrival we had the Pilot board and bring us in to the dock. As it was dark we did not see much but it was a very tight little channel the pilot brought us through and it was high tide in to the bargain. We need the tide with our 4m draught. We were alongside and cleared through formalities in an hour..How good was that. We will be here now for a few weeks prepping for the trip south
Photo by Mark "Jailbreak" Colville
2 hours out.
Finally we lose the sea on the beam. at 4m it has had us rolling for a while, Well about 2 weeks. Looks to be Smooth seas until we are docked.
CHILE!!
Landfall in Chile after 16 days at sea and 4,500 NM Through the morning Mists we spot Volcan Corcovado, 2200m. Boat and the Crew have done really well. We even have 15% of our fuel left..We hope to be anchored off PT Montt by 0100 GMT when we will be clearing formalities. Then to the dock, tomorrow Friday, hopefully before the large low(at 965mb) we have been trying to keep ahead of passes. We will be happy to be secure alongside. Forecast where We have been looks Awful..
Wind to follow.
looking at that sky, we can not get in to the shelter of the Patagonian channels quick enough. we should round I Chile on the South side by mid morning Thursday. We are too tall to go in the normal entrance. 58m clearance to our 60 height. Therefore we decided not to chance the tide with high tension power lines.. so 160nm more distance.and South entrance We hope to be docked on Friday before a very powerful low of 965mb roars through supposedly carrying gusts in the fifties. If that works out we will indeed have been very fortunate with the weather on this trip
Photo by Brian carver
We actually passed only 4nm off the corner of easter Island and for sure on this day there was no likely chance of landing but as we were running from a low pressure it did not make sense to have a pit stop anyway. We had at one point thought of stopping here for a sip of fuel, Well 10,000l is not a sip but we brought fuel bladders instead..Good call..Sad to see the Famous EI and yet not stop. next time when we have time and can visit properly.
photo by Brian Carver.
Easter Island on the Horizon
We have been out here now for 10 days and only now We are passing Easter Island. Actually We should have been 250nm further south than this on our planned route. However there is a nasty little Low on our old track that we really did not need to get mixed up in. so here we are seeing but not stopping Sadly at Easter Island. We also passed to the South of Pitcairn..Both places however we could not physically have anchored safely and gone ashore due to the weather conditions. But We got close.
Photo by Brian Carver..
Easter Island on the Horizon
We have been out here now for 10 days and only now We are passing Easter Island. Actually We should have been 250nm further south than this on our planned route. However there is a nasty little Low on our old track that we really did not need to get mixed up in. so here we are seeing but not stopping Sadly at Easter Island. We also passed to the South of Pitcairn..Both places however we could not physically have anchored safely and gone ashore due to the weather conditions. But We got close.
Photo by Brian Carver
As we transit across the Oceans, which at this point looks pretty large.. We run a 24 hour watch system in both Deck and Engineering departments. 4 hours on and 4 hours off for the Watch keepers on deck and 6 hours on and 6 hours off for the engineering department. On deck we are monitoring weather, sea state, radars and position as well as any radio traffic. Out here there is little of that..in fact there is almost no vessels out here in this part of the Ocean. The Engineers as we are always in on mode are monitoring all our mechanicals and doing routine servicing as we go along. galley is cooking for us 3 times a day and cookies or cake to boot.. The Interior Dept has it a bit easier as the boat stays pretty clean out here, but there is always laundry..
We are , frankly enjoying the calm weather so far. The trades are light and from 030. So this is giving us a sailable wind angle just ahead of the beam albeit with light winds around 10 knots. With one engine ticking over to keep the average up we are making a bout 250nm a day and keeping the fuel burn low. We can not motor the whole way in any event.. The Weather is cooler each day and we expect it to get much cooler in the days to come. We have a front due to pass in the next 36 hours and while ,moderate (we hope) it will bring in the colder Southerly winds but again we should be able to continue to motor sail efficiently to the Southeast. This is actually very unusual as 90% of the time the winds here should be 18-20 kts from 120t with a 2m wind wave.. or directly on the nose. Even the large period Southerly Swell of 3m has died off tonight leaving us rolling along gently. A good moon to light the way. We must enjoy this time.. The crew are all doing well and settled in to the routine Brian and I monitoring every weather report and watch following watch. As mentioned we now only have 3,500nm to go. And posting will be difficult. Not even sure how this one got out… But this excellent Photo by John “ dikus” Shearsonreflects the look tonight of sailing in the moonlight
Rosehearty, a 56-meter luxury sailing yacht by Perini Navi with interiors by noted French designer Christian Liaigre. Rose hearty charters in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. The super yacht sleep 12 guests in luxurious accommodations.
