November Photos

The start of November found us still in Caleta Suarez, north of Golfo de Penas, waiting for the right weather to cross the open ocean stretch into the channels of Patagonia. While our first few days there were cold, rainy and very windy, We enjoyed clear blue skies. The problem with those clear skies is that there was also a strong southerly wind- exactly the opposite direction from what we needed.

On our last day in Suarez, we took the dinghy farther up the fjord and found this whale carcass. We tried to go for a hike, but the vegetation was much too thick.

On our way back from our failed hike, we scooped up our crab trap, complete with enough jiva for several meals.

The Rabbit is unafraid to pull the crabs out of the trap

Christopher at the helm as we start our crossing of Golfo de Penas. We sailed overnight and had easy conditions with light wind and relatively calm seas

Our first anchorage in Patagonia, near Isla Zealous. Sila is tucked in nicely with an anchor and 4 shorelines to protect us from the famous williwaws- big gusts of wind, up to 70 knots, that come down off the mountains.

The day after crossing Gulfo de Penas, we went for a short hike on Isla Zealous. The four of us look happy in part because it was only the second time we had all been able to hike around on shore due to the thick vegetation. It was a real joy to be able to look down on Sila

 The Rabbit and I on Zealous with Seno Baker behind us.

A very happy Big Jack as we motor up Canal Martinez. This was when we really started to see the granite domes of Patagonia

The Rabbit in Canal Martinez

The view on our way out of Caleta Feliz. Happy Cove, indeed! It was narrow, deep, very well protected, and in sight of stunning granite domes that reminded us of Yosemite.

It seems like whenever it was time to anchor or to pull the shorelines, the rain would increase. Here Christopher is pulling in a shore line after Big Jack had released it from the dinghy

As we sailed up  Seno Baker to the town of Tortel, we were passed by this French cruise ship, called Boreal. Sila was built by a French company, also called Boreal. Soon after this photo was taken, Christopher moved into the doghouse and I took the helm for 45 minutes of rain just above freezing and gusts to nearly 50 knots in this channel.

Later that same day, we were anchored off the town of Tortel near the Rio Baker. There are no streets in the town itself, only boardwalks.

You can ride in this water taxi to get from one end of town to the other

After walking all around on the boardwalks, we also went up a trail to the ridge to enjoy the view. Behind me you can see where the main road comes in and stops on the upper edge of town.

The three boys (L-R, Porter, Jack Rabbit, Big Jack) enjoyed a game of tag on the beach at low tide.

The day after leaving Tortel and Rio Baker, we enjoyed an incredible hike up a hill above our anchorage

This is the famous Andean Condo that we saw. Porter wrote about this sighting in a blog in early November. You can see that we are actually above the bird and Sila is just in sight in the lower right hand corner.

Nothing like a sip of tea on the summit of a peak from my favorite thermos!

After our great hike, we had to continue west out of Canal Baker, with the prevailing wind against us. With gusts into the 40s, we sailed on a double or triple reefed main and a staysail as we worked our way to windward. At least the seas were calm in the channels.

Happy at the helm

After several rainy and cold days, we were all happy to have the sun come out as we entered Canal Messier.

Three reefs and a staysail as we head down Canal Messier

On November 13, we were in Puerto Eden where we had the good fortune to meet s/v Obelix, another Boreal 47 owned by a single-handed skipper named Matt.

We enjoyed getting to know Matt and his dog, Oscar, over a couple of meals in the channels.

Roadside shrines seem to be relatively common in southern Chile. This one included a completed zarpe from the Armada (permission to navigate in Chilean waters)

On a hike, JackRabbit dunked his head in this stream and suggested that he was being baptized to nature.

The boys looking at shells on the beach with Sila, tied up to s.v Jonathan, in the background. Jonathan is a Dutch boat that shared several anchorages with us in mid-November.

Porter and JackRabbit on a very old pile of shells

Christopher and one of hundreds of waterfalls we saw as we worked our way south through the channels