October Photos- Chile

It has been about three months since we were last able to post photos to the blog so we thought we would start with October.

This photo was taken while on a hike on a small island up near Chiloe. Just over Christopher's head you can see a mountain (it looks like a pointy cloud), which we think is Mt. Melimoyu (2400 meters or 7874 feet). At the time, we were very excited about seeing such a big peak because we assumed, correctly, that it was foreshadowing of what was to come.

Big Jack and Porter at lunch time in Canal Perez Norte. This was the first sunny day in about a week so we all ate together in the cockpit. 

Sila anchored in the lovely and sheltered Puerto Aguirre.

JackRabbit and Porter carry the crab trap back to Sila. We asked a man in Puerto Aguirre if he had some spare parts to help us repair the crab trap we had been given in Puerto Montt. Instead, Carlo gave us this trap, old but only in need of some repair to the netting.

This is Carlo's mom in her kitchen. When getting the trap from his house, Carlo introduced us to his mother who in turn invited us to return later that afternoon to eat. When we arrived with wine and some homemade chocolate chip cookies, we expected to share a meal with their family. Instead, we were seated in the living room and watched while Carlo's mom made fresh empanadas de carne for us in her kitchen. It was a fantastic afternoon, made all the better by watching Porter and Jack join a game of pick-up soccer in the street.

Leaving Puerto Aguirre, the tide was low so all of the fishing lanchas were beached.

This was Big Jack's first trip to the spreaders with the Rabbit.

Leaving Puerto Aguirre, the Rabbit at the helm

Porter and Big Jack repairing the new crab trap

Big Jack and Roberto. Roberto lives on an island by himself with about six dogs. He saw Big Jack and Porter trying to catch crabs from Sila with a net and rowed over. He then took Big Jack across the small bay and hauled up one of his traps and proceeded to give us about 10 jaiva, a type of crab that seems a lot like rock crab.

  

Part of the two-person team, Porter makes crab cakes with Roberto's crab

 

Big Jack cooking the crab cakes. They were delicious!

Porter and JackRabbit go for a swim in water that was 10.7 degrees Celsius (Just over 50F)

And they got out quickly! 

This photo was taken on October 23- the first and last time the boys swam in Chile.

In late October, we had a few blue bird days like this one where we were able to sail with the genoa alone through the channels north of Golfo de Penas

A very happy Christopher

Porter, JackRabbit and Molly bushwhacking up the hill in Caleta Canaveral (45°53.12' S 74°50.08'W). Jack Rabbit wrote a blog about this, his first of many bushwhacking experiences in southern Chile.

The Rabbit with Sila anchored in Caleta Canaveral. This photo was taken on October 26- the very first time we were able to hike since leaving Puerto Montt in September. Up until this point, all of our walks on shore were restricted to roads when we were in towns near Chiloé and the rocky beaches simply because the vegetation was too dense.

Big Jack, Porter and Jack Rabbit- looking north to the entrance of Caleta Canaveral

Toward the end of October, we were tied up to a couple of fishing boats for a few days in Caleta Suarez, just north of Golfo de Penas, as we waited for reasonable weather to sail offshore overnight to get around the gulf.

There is lots of equipment involved in long line fishing

Another selfie of The Rabbit, this time taken in the wheelhouse of one of the fishing boats. He wrote a blog about spending an afternoon tying weight backs to the lines and touring the fishing boat.

These are the sleeping quarters- just enough space for one person to climb in. As the Rabbit noted in his blog, their berths make the cabins on Sila look huge.

A couple of the fishermen tying weight bags in the multi-purpose salon

Christopher, JackRabbit and Porter show off the whale bones they found on the beach

Porter and his walking stick. When he is not using it, it lives on deck- lashed next to the boat hook.

Hail in the cockpit on October 30. 

The temperature that morning was 4 degrees below 0 (Celsius at least).

What better activity than swimming when there is ice on the deck? Big Jack donned his wet suit and swam for 30-60 minutes multiple times in October and even into early November. As we got farther south, the water got too cold even for the wetsuit.

Porter and Jack with the first crab we caught ourselves in the repaired and improved trap. These are jaiva and these six were plenty for a fantastic meal.

The crab picking crew

Porter with a perfect waffle for breakfast

The Jacks on Halloween. Mars and a ninja on the poopdeck.