December Kept Getting Better

Whereas Seno Pia had been a spectacular day of stunning views, our time up Seno Garibaldi, another fjord with a glacier at the head, was different because there was so much more ice floating in the fjord. 

We took very few pictures because steering and navigating through the ice and the gusts of wind, up to 30 knots, required our full attention. You can see in the background that much of the fjord was choked with what are often called bergy bits.

One of the highlights of our time up Garibaldi was seeing the three Andean condors, described in more detail in a blog that Porter wrote.

 Much of the way up this fjord, the ice was very close to Sila- nice to have a tough aluminum hull!

By the time we turned around to head back out of the fjord, the wind and tide had shifted and the ice was much less dense and easier to navigate through.

These fishermen waved us over, enticing us with centolla (southern king crab). In exchange for our last beer and two ½ liter boxes of wine, we were given 6 large centolla.

Big Jack and Porter preparing the centolla for Molly to cook

The first night, we ate more than half of the crab. This is the leftover crab that we ate for lunch the next day!

It just kept getting better and better! This is Estero Coloane. We had entered from the right of the photo and worked our way around into the anchorage you can just see on the left side- a very well-protected place. We had 4 shorelines here to protect us from the very strong williwaws, gusts that come down off the hillsides. While you can see glaciers coming down to the water in two places, there were more just out of the photo on the left.

 We will all remember our hike up above the Coloane anchorage as one of the all-time great hikes as a family

The views back over the inlet and anchorage seemed to improve with every step we took.

 We hiked over the ridge to have views over the southwest arm of the Beagle Channel and the mountains to the north, near Seno Pia and Seno Garibaldi where we had been in the days before this hike.

It was an incredible blue sky day. The four days that followed were socked in, rainy and cold so we got really lucky with this hike.

At the top of our hike, we were on a knife ridge with glaciers below us on both sides and more jagged peaks ahead.

Looking down at the crevasses on one of the glaciers.

Looking northwest on the knife ridge with the southwest arm of the Beagle channel behind us.

 This is looking west and back down into Estero Coloane. Sila is just out of sight in the middle. 

The next day was rainy, cold, and very windy so our primary adventure off the boat was to walk around one of the glaciers that came all the way to the sea in Coloane.

 It was striking to be so close to the ice after having been above and below it in the days before. And what better way to learn about glaciers than to be so close

 

This is the peak we had climbed above Coloane. The photo was taken as we sailed east in the Brazo Sudoeste, headed toward Puerto Williams

Notice the calm water, after some stormy days we had a mellow sail on the Genoa alone out the Southwest arm of the Beagle

As we entered the main part of the Beagle Channel, we were escorted by these Southern Right Whale Dolphins. Notable for hteir lack of dorsal fin, the combination of white and black make them appear elegant under the water. Our guidebook noted that they are uncommon in the channels and prefer to be in the Humboldt Current in the Pacific, so we felt very lucky to see about eight of them around the boat.

 Big Jack in the Beagle with Isla Navarino behind him.

 The Jacks and their bread

Getting ready to sail. This photo was taken from Sila, just 30 meters away. 

Porter (left) and JackRabbit (right) sail in the bay behind the Club Naval de Yates Micalvi- the southernmost yacht club in the world where we were tied up in Puerto Williams, Chile. Mauro, their instructor, zips back and forth between them giving them tips. While sitting on Sila taking this picture, I could not decide whether to look at them in the Optis or to enjoy the view of the mountains to the north. Behind this little peninsula is the Beagle Channel and then the mountains are in Argentina. They remind us a lot of the Sawatch range near Leadville.

The Rabbit and the bread he baked for the first time without assistance.