We are sailing.....

After our physical excertions in Patagonia we decided it was time to do something a little bit more relaxed - a ferry trip from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt was the order of the day. In fact we had booked it several months before and alongside the trekking it was one of things we were most looking forward to on our trip. The trip starts at 51 deg 44´ South and winds north through the fjords of Chile´s Pacific coast up to 41 deg 28´South. Taking 4 days to complete the trip.

The Navimag Ferry in Puerto Natales - tourists upstairs, cows downstairs!

We had managed to convince Annalisa, who we had met on the Galapagos so many months ago (and again in Peru and Bolivia), to change her plans to join us. She had a tight schedule to catch a complex series of flights home to arrive back in Ireland so was mildly stressed when the boat was already delayed by a day because of bad weather. Rather than boarding on Thursday evening and departing early on Friday we boarded at 3pm on Friday and left as soon as possible aftewards.

The ferry is operated by Navimag and is first and foremost a cargo ship but despite the warnings of the Lonely Planet the accomodation was surprisingly nice. The dorms were split into sections of 4 bunks and each with its own locker. The three of us had one pod of 4 bunks to oursleves so had loads of space. In fact we seemed better off than people who had paid for cabin! There was however a lorry full of cows in the cargo hold and the smell by the end of the trip was really quite distressing. Standing near the stern of the boat became less and less appealing as time went on.

As well as Annalisa we knew some other people on the boat: Emma and Jill, two Aussies currently working in East Timor who we first met in Torres del Paine & Kathleen and Jon, Scottish/Icelandic newly weds on their honeymoon. We quickly assumed seats in the bar or wandered around the deck. Emma and Jill had a travel scrabble board and as the weather was less than perfect this became the centre of attention. There were numerous queries along the lines of "is ´og´ a word?" or similar. James seemed to be the one who frequently made up words but was also the most leniant with other peoples. Perhaps the classic being when he decided to claim that ´Sexo´ was a word in order to get on a triple word score! Emma and Jill now regularly send us updates of strange words they have got away with in subsequent games. In fact today they sent us a photo of their Scrabble board at the end of a game because they were so impressed with it!

An evennig game of Scrabble

The evenings got cold quickly so we generally retired inside to open a few bottles of wine before and after dinner. We had bought a fair bit of wine with us (as had everyone else) so all was needed was to distract the bar man to grab a few glasses and we were away. The evenings were then finished off with a glass or two of Dulce de Leche liqueur - a horrendously sweet and sickly drink that some people like more than others!

The first night was especially good fun as we had discovered that it was Annalisa´s birthday so slipped a bottle of Champagne on board and when she wasn´t looking asked the barman to put it in the fridge for us. I think other passengers were a bit jealous when we popped the cork!

Celebrating Annalisa´s (21st) Birthday

It wasn´t all about drinking and playing scrabble though. The weather wasn´t great but we still saw some great views. At one stage the 30m wide ferry slipped through a narrows of only 80m. Another time we sailed close to a glacier that decended right into the sea. Also cruised past a wreck of a boat that got it slightly wrong and we now used as a marker buoy. We also briefly anchored at the small port of Puerto Eden where a few brave soles dismbarked.

We have to get through there!

On the final evening there was a beautiful sunset and then the night it was clear enough to see some stars so I took my star chart out and gave an impromptu class on star gazing. Everyone gathered round whilst I pointed out Orion, Sirius, the Southern Cross etc and answered questions as honestly as I could from a variety of people. There was quite a large group around me by the end. Luckily it clouded over before anyone could test me with any particularly challenging questions!

Star gazing - "no that one!"

When we arrived in Puerto Montt it was time to say farewell to Annalisa. She had to fly to Santiago, then onto Buenos Aires, then New York, then London and finally Dublin. It was great commitment on her part to re-arrange her flights so she could get on the boat. It was great to see her again and really cemented the friendship. As our time in South America nears its close we could sympathise with her sadness at having to head home.

Despite the weather it was a great trip that we thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend to anyone travelling in that part of Chile.