sy Timoneer

POSITION: 48  41S    074 07W. 

Sorry about the mix up in dates in the last report. We left Puerto Montt on Saturday 15th and the report went out on Sunday 16th not 17th as I wrote.

We left Caleta Perez at first light and carried on down the narrow channels but then got a gale warning over the radio. Within half and hour it was blowing between 30 and 40 knots, we had a reefed main and staysail and a great sail in flat waters. Our forecast continued to say that the weather was OK out at sea so we kept going, the gale died down to 25 knots and we were well on our way out at sea by nightfall.

Coming through the maze of islands it was intriguing to see the names. Just next to each other are Seno Cornish and Boca Wickham (We have Captain Cornish and his girlfriend on board, Jordi Wickham) and not far away is Isla McPherson, the same name as the deckhand. Today we are close to English Narrows and the mate is John Paul English so I guess some of our ancestors must have passed this way. Quite a coincidence.

Once clear of the land we saw lots of bird life and were visited by several Great Wandering Albatross as well as shearwaters and petrels. Just as we were bouncing along all up in the pilot house having dinner a huge blue whale surfaced not even 100 yards from the boat. What a sight! We also had visits from lots of dolphins and a sea lion.

The Gulf lived up to it’s bad reputation and the going was bumpy with lots of rain and confused seas. We had up a reefed main and genoa so were able to sail some of the time but it was coming and going. At 0230 a squall came through with a major wind shift and the mainsail gibed over breaking a batten and ripping the sail. We all got called out, got the sail down and continued on to shelter in Canal Messier using the mizzen and genoa to steady the uncomfortable ride.

We are now anchored in a spectacular anchorage in pouring rain sewing the mainsail on deck. It is a big job so we will probably be delayed a while here but then make up time on the rest of the trip down with another overnight passage or two.

Will keep you updated.

Phil and the crew

Caleta Perez. Latitude S45   15  Longitude 073  15 W

We are now heading down the “inside” passage through the Chilean Channels and expect to be in Puerto Williams in the Beagle Channel on the 25th of this month. The total distance is about 1,300 miles which is quite a lot in the time as it is not recommended to travel at night in some of the channels, navigation is difficult and some of the charts are just plain wrong!

We left Puerto Montt early yesterday morning (Sat 16th) after nearly a month at the small marina so were happy to be on our way again, although all on board seemed to enjoy the town. Saturday was a rainy day so we kept going and finally anchored in Rada Pelata which has a very narrow entrance leading into a spectacular lagoon surround by high snow covered peaks. A beautiful anchorage.

We are now anchored for the night in a very protected cove near the entrance to Seno Aisen after a very long day. We left our last anchorage at 0610 this morning and have traveled all day, finally putting down a tenuous anchor at 6 pm at Punto Tortuga, so that we could visit the hot springs. They were fabulous and we would like to have stayed but the anchorage was definitely not for overnight so we moved down another 12 miles until we found this place arriving here at 21.30 in the last light of the day. A long day!

Tomorrow we will take off fairly early again and thread our way down through the various channels and by late afternoon exit into the open water for crossing the infamous Gulfo de Penas. This is the only section where we leave the protected Channels and have to be out in the open seas but the gulf has a bad reputation due to the storms and confused seas which bounce off the cliffs and make going tough. It is about 150 miles of open water so we will do that overnight and get some sleep the following day in calmer waters.

Everyone is well on board and we are making good progress on schedule.

Phil and the crew.

PS Due to problems with communications down here we will update the website every couple of days instead of daily.

We tied up to the dock at Marina del Sur in Puerto Montt, about 7pm after a day of motoring up past some beautiful scenery. The two volcanoes inland from Puerto Montt popped through the clouds from time to time showing off their snow covered tops.

Now we are all looking forward to a good nights sleep.

JC

Noon Position 42deg 39S 73deg  11W

Course – 22 Degrees   Speed – 10.5   Knots        Day’s Run – 287  Miles

Weather –  Overcast and flat water

Wind – 6 knots from W

Yesterday afternoon the wind surprised us and returned to Southerly winds allowing us to continue at 12-13 knots.During the afternoon we had a few sightings of whales but did not manage to identify them.

Early this morning we rounded the southern tip of Chiloe Island and had lovely flat water which has continued all morning. We have been surrounded by islands and mainland Chile all morning. It is great to see so much land. It has been a long time leaving the US.

Our ETA to Puerto Montt is 7pm tonight.

JC

Noon Position 42deg 35S  78deg 44W

Course – 106  Degrees   Speed –  11.5  Knots        Day’s Run (22 Hrs)–  272 Miles

Weather –  Overcast with a 10′ swell from S

Wind – 10 knots from W

We continue to speed our way towards Chile. Unfortunately at sunrise this morning the wind swung to the West and we could no longer keep the main and genoa full, so furled them away and we are now motor sailing with the staysail and mizzen to try and slow the rolling down.

We have been seeing more and more sea birds including a few more Albatross.

At this stage we are hoping to arrive in Puerto Montt around 8-9pm Wednesday.

JC

Noon Position 41deg 14S 84deg  29W

Course – 107 Degrees   Speed –  13.1  Knots        Day’s Run –   299Miles

Weather –  Foggy with moderate swell from South

Wind – 13 knots from S

Yesterday afternoon the breeze filled in and we gave up trying to slow Timoneer down and instead beared away 10 degrees and we are now heading fast for the Southern end of Chiloe Island and we will then come up the inshore side of it to Puerto Montt. This way we are not restricted by the time of low tide and we should get to Puerto Montt early evening, 15th and in daylight.

Since last night we have been doing 12-13 knots and these conditions are forecasted to last another 24 hours. The sea temperature continues to drop. It is now 53F (12C) and we are getting fog which is making everything damp and cold.

We have just put the clocks forward 2 hours to Chile DST (GMT -3 hrs), so tomorrows mid day report will be 2 hours earlier.

JC

Noon Position 39deg 48S 90deg  47W

Course -101  Degrees   Speed –  12  Knots        Day’s Run – 262  Miles

Weather – Overcast and slight swell from South

Wind – 10 knots from SSW

Finally the conditions have become pleasant. Since sunrise this morning we have had all sails up which has stabilized us well and is giving us a much needed push to get us back on schedule now for passing under the power cable to Chiloe Island at low tide on the 15th Dec.

Yesterday we spotted more Albatross. One we identified as a Black Browed Albatross which has a wingspan up to 94 in. (240cm) long. This is considerably smaller than the massive Wandering Albatross we saw the day before which can have a wingspan up to 138 in. (350cm). Both are very big birds when they come near the boat. Not much to talk about in the fishing department.

JC

Noon Position 38deg 50S 96deg  16W

Course -105  Degrees   Speed –  11  Knots        Day’s Run – 268  Miles

Weather –  Mostly cloudy with confused seas

Wind – 16 knots from E

We did turn the corner and start heading more East than South and we saw our first Albatross. Its size stunning all that saw it. We are all keen to see some more of these massive, graceful birds. The sea and air temperature has continue to drop and now shorts and T-shirts are only for the brave. Fish are still proving to be scarce.

We continue to motor into the wind and hope that the forecasted SW winds will arrive tomorrow to help push us along and stop us rolling.

We are still on schedule to arrive late on the 15th December

JC

Noon Position 37deg 46S 101deg  46W

Course – 127 Degrees   Speed –  11.5  Knots        Day’s Run –  265 Miles

Weather –   Grey with squalls and 15 foot swells from S

Wind – 16 knots from SSE

It has been another 24 hours of motoring with the apparent wind between 5 and 30 degrees off the starboard bow and big seas from the South. This afternoon we will turn 30 degrees and start heading East. The water temperature has dropped from 70F to 63F (21 to 17C) since leaving Easter Island. I’m sure it will drop even more as we head East across the Humboldt current. Still no luck with the fishing and with the water temperatures dropping we might be pushing the limits of game fishing.

We are now further South than Auckland, New Zealand with a lot of ocean between here and there.

Noon Position 35deg 02S 106deg  03W

Course – 124 Degrees   Speed –  11  Knots        Day’s Run –  252 Miles

Weather –  Partly cloudy with 10 foot swell from South

Wind – 16 knots from SSE

Yesterday after lunch the weather changed dramatically and became quite nasty with 35-40 knots of wind and big seas from the SE with squally conditions forcing us to head due South. These unpleasant conditions lasted about 7 hours and really slowed down our progress. This morning at sunrise the wind started to turn more to the South allowing us to start making some progress East. I think we will be motoring for 2 to 3 days yet before we can really start sailing again. Still no luck with fishing.

JC