Lost down south! Life in Southern Chile - October 2003

Ahhh... life in Chile... After our arrival in May we had many repairs to do and a lot of exploring. However, we had one rather large barrier to overcome first... our lack of spanish. After considerable research, Barry managed to find a range of resources for us that we could incorporate into our education of Chile. We started in Pucon, a holiday town in the Lake District. Located at the base of Volcán Villarica, Pucon is a stunning little town built on tourism. Black sand beaches, pristine lakes, snow-capped mountains, and hotsprings pepper the area. Ox and cart are still used in southern Chile as an important form of transportation, and we saw many in the lake district.

We arrived with folding bicycles in hand by Tur-Bus, one of the many long-distance bus companies running in southern Chile. The trip was extraordinarily comfortable and offered us the opportunity to see the country without the hassles of driving. Our Birdy bikes gave us the freedom to explore Pucon. We stayed for one week and studied spanish at La Casita, then off to more formal study in Santiago.

Two weeks later we had managed to get completely confused with pronouns, although we were mastering the present verb tense. Having the bicycles in Santiago allowed us to get all over the place, although the Metro system proved to be a real mobility opener. The central market was located close by the apartment we were living in, but via Metro we discovered theatres, shopping centers, and the office of our friend, Martin.

Upon returning to Darwin's Passage, we resumed spanish lessons with Raul. These proved to be valuable lessons not only in spanish, but in Chilean culture and life!

We settled into life in Puerto Montt and after repairs on Darwin's Passage, managed to make time for improvements. Our Hurricane heater had sufferred from a lack of use in the Carribean and after a new fuel pump and water pump, spewed out hot air and water in a most delightful way. We had survived the winter using a 220V electric heater. It hadn't been too uncomfortable, although having a heater to burn off the chill in the morning is always welome!

Puerto Montt is an industrious and fast growing city located at the northern point of the Golfo de Ancud. It is well protected from southerlies by Isla Tenglo, although the wind frequently funnels down the channel between island and mainland, creating haunting, low frequency tones that left me feeling like we were to be swept away from our quiet marina. The location on the ocean and with good land access to the north, Puerto Montt is a central hub to seafood exportation to the rest of the country. It doesn't get much fresher. Barry and I would haunt the Fish Market in Angelmo on a regular basis, sampling the large variety of mussels, known as individual types such as cholgas and choritos. The barnacles are huge, 8-12 inches long. Sampling these Picorocos is a must for anyone passing through. Peronally, I think their flavour is better than ostiones, scallops!

Spring began to peak through and Pauline came to visit us aboard Darwin's Passage. Martin was preparing to sail to Isla Llancahue, about 45 nautical miles to the south east, and home of hotsprings, called Termas in Chile. On a sunny November day, we followed Pilgrim down Golfo de Ancud. Our friend, Fernando Cepeda, joined us for the trip. Fernando works as a travel agent in Puerto Montt, and this provided an opportunity to see a different side of southern Chile.
As we approached the west coast of the mainland, an unbelievable fog rolled in. We came to realize this to be a normal climatic event as the cool air from the Andés condensed the moisture-laden air, forming large, billowing clouds and low-hung fog.

We had the disappointment to discover that the hotsprings were not hot, and the following day we motored down to Porcelana, at the southern end of Estero Comau. These were hotsprings! In a natural setting with a light mist, we lounged in beautiful pools of hot, hot water. We could choose our temperature by moving up and down the river.

We parted ways with Pilgrim and continued on to Isla Chiloé. While at anchor in Castro, we were surprised to find another Canadian sailboat anchored nearby. In fact, we've been quite amazed at the number of Canadian sailboats we've found in these regions. Mark and Fraser had been living aboard for two years in South Georgia, a destination that Barry and I have always dreamed of visiting.

Fernando parted with us in Castro, and his presence was missed. We departed Castro to Isla Quehui, just to the east. This became a favorite stop for us before making the 8-11 hour hop to Bahia TicToc. It is hear that we met Ignacío, a retarded fellow with a heart of gold. His mother runs the local grocery store.

Isla Quehui is home to a fleet of fishing boats, some of which also serve as tour vessels in the summer. It's a beautiful place, well protected, although holding is poor in anything less than 50 feet. On one trip, we awoke with a fishing boat trying to crawl up on our transom after anchoring in 30 feet. The tides are noticeable in this well-protected bay, and the moorings used by the fishing boats can become quite long. Furthermore, in the morning you might find that you're no longer floating.
Sure enough, we made the hop to Bahia TicToc and were greeted by the overcast glum that we were familiar with. Weather seems to change quite rapidly in this place, but when the sun comes out, it's stunning.

We've found the best anchoring tactic to be to drop anchor in 40 feet, back down and tie a shore line. We often have used the little island, but if the tide is low, it's a formidable climb. Believe it or not, at the time of this photo, we were not yet at lowest tide!
We eventually had to part with Pauline at Puerto Puyuhuapi, but not before taking the six hour trip to Balmaceda with her (one way!). The Camino Austral exists as a dirt road to just outside of Coyhaique, a town of over 30,000 just north of the airport in Balmaceda. We passed dense forests, rolling waterfalls, and gauchos herding cattle down the road. Senior Torres, our driver, was delightful and chatted with Barry in spanish most of the way.

Barry and I paid a visit to the Termas de Puyuhuapi, a beautiful resort in a most natural setting. We had decided to use a mooring, which proved to be a bad choice. The day had been beautiful, but at 0600 the following morning we were awoken by a "thud". Darwin's Passage was aground on a dropping tide. Fortunately, she was in mud and pebbles.

During the night, the mooring had broken and we had floated to the edge of one of the islands at the opening of Bahia Dorado. Along with the mooring buoy and line, we had dragged a length of chain, all of which was nicely lodged under the keel. The polypropylene line had wrapped around our rudder. I was unable to move DP with the dinghy; she simply pivoted around her keel, so I ran to the resort to ask for help. They had two shallow drafted power boats that could possibly help to pull us off before the tide dropped any more. But I arrived to found doors locked and no way to get help. I was on the verge of breaking a window - the tide was beginning to drop - when I saw DP moving slowly backwards from the island. Barry had managed to secure the line around the rudder, thus moving it out of the way of the propeller, and risked getting her off while we could.
After scooting back as quickly as possible, we eased DP, backwards, into the small dock and tied off to assess the damage. Sure enough, we had a real mess on our hands. When I dove on the hull - a chilly task in a 3.2 mm wetsuit in water no more than 5 degrees Celsius - the propeller was quite covered in yellow polypropylene line. We later discovered that the engine had been knocked out of alignment by this experience and had to learn how to conduct the "in situ engine alignment". Fortunately, our Prop Protector blade had done it's job, and thanks to it, we had been able to get DP off the mud and into the dock.

We made it down to Puerto Aguirre, where we received the generous help of the Port Captain, Jaime. His assistant, Alex, arrived with Raul and checked our engine realignment. Barry and I had managed this using a 2x4 we happened to have aboard, and a mallet. It was enough to get us to Puerto Montt and to impress our mechanic!