Curare's Adventures

Puerto Eden Community

After our quick little tour around the water front boardwalks of Puerto Eden it seems apparent to me that the place is a government town with no real industry to support the local people, other than a bit of fishing. The national police force, Carabineros de Chile, have a couple of large buildings, two boats and probably 20 people stationed here. Likewise the Armada de Chile has a very nice looking establishment across the bay with well manicured lawns, several buildings with their distinctive blue roofs and a dock with a patrol boat plus a couple of inflatables. We didn't go to the Armada office so we aren't sure how many people they have located in Puerto Eden but we do know that they have been friendly to us. And then there is the national park service headquarters for Parque Bernardo O'Higgins, an enormous school that the six resident children get to run around in all day and a new post office building. The town also attracts significant funding for major projects such as a new wharf built in 2010 for the use of  transient boats like ourselves and a very fancy ferry terminal just completed in June 2012. Both of these wharfs sport large overhead lights to illuminate the docks at night, all powered by solar panels and wind generators - very progressive.

Another government sponsored project was the run of river hydro electricity generating station from a nearby stream.  There obviously hasn't been much confidence in this project as there is a standby diesel generator that runs for 12 hours each day. Puerto Eden has a brand new communications system consisting of a cell tower that provides coverage all over town that is uplinked to a satellite system. It's funny to watch the local residents walking down the boardwalk when their cell phone rings; they still have that puzzled look as to where the call is coming from.

We have been able to purchase the few groceries needed to replenish various items on Curare by walking between the four or five grocery stores. And of course we were able to get sufficient fuel to get us through to Puerto Natales in a few weeks' time.

Puerto Eden reminds us very much of northern Canadian communities such as Arviat, Baker Lake or Rankin Inlet in Nunavut which receive so much government assistance that the available services are out of proportion to the needs of the community. But who knows, maybe some progressive Chilean politician envisions the number of visiting yachts to increase tenfold from the now five or six visitors a year, or perhaps more tourists will come to stay now that there is a new ferry terminal. But probably the biggest economic surge the community will recieve is by attracting the passing cruise ships to stop for a few hours to disgorge their passengers, wander the boardwalks and buy up some artisanal crafts.

Estero Dock

We departed Puerto Eden at 0800 on Saturday December 1. As requested we contacted the Armada by VHF radio as soon as we had our anchor onboard. Nobody answered our hail so we continued motoring out into the main channel. About 15 minutes later the Armada contacted us, I guess, because it was the weekend, they had been sleeping in. As usual they were very polite and the only question they asked was our ETA (estimated time of arrival) at lighthouse Fairway. Neither of us had any idea where this was, we still don't, but we thought it might have been one of the lighthnouses just outside of the southern entrance to Puerto Eden so Geoff answered "una hora". The Armada official laughed and said that it was 110 miles away. G quickly recalculated and said it would take us three to four days because we anchor every night and our speed is just 5 knots per hour. That satisfied the official and he wished us a good passage.

We motored south for about 2 hours and then the wind started to build so we flew the spinnaker. That only lasted for 10 minutes - the wind increased to 20 knots and it was time to take it down. Then we set the genoa and the staysail and had a lovely downwind ride to the anchorage of Caleta Apala (49 deg 32.085'S: 74 deg 24. 044W).We keep an hourly log, even when we are daysailing, and were recording a barometer drop of 1.5 millibars every hour. This gave us a slight cause for alarm as a dropping barometer usually means strong northerly winds. We wanted to be in a secure place for the night and caleta Apala was a perfcect choice. the guide book says that this anchorage is protected from all winds and we had met a single hander in Valdivia last February (Sam Davis from Ireland) who told us that caleta Apala was "the best". It was a good choice for a stop because it had a great beach for Jessie to take a stroll, we did not have to tie shore lines, and on another beach was a flock of nine ashy-headed geese.

It rained for most of last night and when we woke up on Sunday morning it was still raining. Although the barometer bottomed out at 982 millibars at 0600, down from 1004 yesterday morning, we were very happy that we did not get the big winds that we were anticipating. Clad in our rain gear we went for a long stroll on the beach to have a look at a tent shelter surrounded by a mountain of mussel shells. The structure was in poor shape, just a few poles and weather beaten, holey, tarps, but judging from the huge hill of shells it must be used fairly frequently. While on this stroll LE spied a pair of rufous-chested dotterel in their breeding plumage. I did not have my bird book with me so I took several photos and that made identification easy.

We left the anchorage about 1100 and started to sail south in 10 knots of wind, but soon that died so we were motoring. Going south we passed a sailboat headed north, one of the boats we knew from the morning Patagionia Cruisers Net, so Geoff had a conversation with them on the VHF radio. Then we passed by Seno Penguin and through the rain and cloud haze we could see numerous large bergy bits entering the canal, which made us glad that we were motoring down the west side as hitting one of those in the low visibility would have been nasty. It rained off and on throughout the day so we were wearing rain gear, but it was a very light rain so rain clothing really wasn't necessary until just before we entered the anchorage. Then it started a classic west coast down pour. Out destination was Estero Dock (49 deg 56.703'S: 74 deg 27.956'W) and to enter this anchorage we had to pass by several large rocks blocking the entrance. Both of our Chilean guide books say to stay in the center of the 10m wide channel between the rocks and the shore, the depth got down to 2.86 meters, kind of nerve wracking as we only draw 2.0 meters and we like to keep at least 3 meters under our keel.

This is a well protected anchorage located in an inlet between steep hillsides granite. Numerous waterfalls careen down the slopes, so many of them that the upper layers of the bay are almost fresh water. We may stay here one, or perhaps two days, Jessie needs to have some doggy laundry done and if it stops raining it looks like we may be able to go on a longer hike.

The Spell Checker

Yesterday, upon arriving at Estero Dock, I wrote a blog to be posted when we next connected to the radio (AKA Curare's internet). Rather than write these entries directly into our Sailmail program, which checks spelling as it is typed, both of us have gotten into the habit of typing into text pad and then we save these in a directory, with the original name of "BLOGS". When one of us connects to the radio, to ask for weather or to send an Armada report or to write a short note to friends or family, we go to the BLOGS folder and cut and paste whatever entry seems appropriate for that day. Some days there are two or three entries to choose from but usually, like yesterday, there is only one. Since text pad does not check spelling my entries are full of typos but I fix these and do a final edit after they have been pasted into Sailmail. Last evening while I was making dinner Geoff connected to the radio, did the cut and paste for the blog entry and then pressed SEND. He did not take the time to edit or fix the errors and I apologize for the mess that was the blog post of December 2. Hopefully this will not happen again.

Today we woke up to gray skies and a southerly wind. We had already made the decision to stay here for a day or two to dry out and to do some laundry at one of the many waterfalls we had seen on our arrival so we did not get an early start. Imagine our surprise when we looked out and saw that only one waterfall remained and it was now just a trickle, all of the others had been torrents of rainfall run-off and they had disappeared. Luckily the trickling waterfall had sufficient water flow to wash our clothes. At noon the tide was out exposing a long stretch of sand and mud for a level stroll which Jessie took full advantage of, racing back and forth and leaping into the air. Some days she acts very much like she is 12 1/2 years old, but on days like today we look at her and think she is still very young. To my delight there was a flock of more than 30 ashy-headed geese poking at things in the mud. At some point on this southern passage I am sure I will get very bored with these birds because they have become so common, like a cow in Alberta or a giraffe in Kenya, but right now they are still a novelty.

After a dinghy tour of the bay, and a visit to the shallow entrance which scared us even more today than yesterday, Geoff donned his rain gear and boots to wash Jessie's laundry while J. relaxed in the cockpit. Doing laundry at a waterfall requires a bit of beach, some room to place your bucket and appropriate foot wear. Geoff's boots are very grippy and good for shore work but the waterfall had neither beach or any flattish spots so G was forced to stand on some slippery rocks and wedge the bucket in a crack in the cliff; J did not seem to care.

Meanwhile L was down below making bread. I am rather a lazy cook, and making bread the traditional way requires too much time (and is too messy) so I use a no-knead recipe (see sidebar) that just needs some vigorous stirring. The original recipe card has a note on it saying "Barb Souther 1978" which tells me when, and from whom, I received this. I can still vividly recall the first time I ate this bread and I am shocked that this was 33 years ago. I also wonder what happened to Barb? The recipe, as given in the sidebar, is the original but I change it according to what we have on board. For example - today I left out the herbs, used powdered milk, changed the proportions and type of flours, and instead of mixing in the oil I poured olive oil on top of the yeasty-flour mixture before leaving it to rise. The resulting texture is coarser than a kneaded loaf and, although the original herby flavour is our favourite, today's version also tastes wonderful.

It appears to be clearing up this evening, maybe we'll move on tomorrow.

Very Annoyed

We've been anchored in this pleasant and calm place for a few days now. My uprights take me ashore for enjoyable walks at least twice per day. At low tide there is a large grassy area that extends onto a sandy beach and I go skip and run around on it. In the shallow water I've been having a great time exploring for small fish. We saw quite a lot of them this morning but by the time I chased them around for a few minutes the water became all cloudy and I couldn't find them any more. There is also a large flock of geese that hang out in this estuary. I pretend to chase them just to see them fly away in a panic, but they really are very silly because they settle down a few metres farther along so I do it all over again. I think we've all been enjoying this routine of shore excursions even when it's raining.

Yet this afternoon, just as I was fully relaxing in my midday siesta I happened to look out to see both uprights in the dinghy heading for shore. Without me!! I was mad and annoyed. I howled and yelled until the geese flew over to see what was the matter. I just couldn't understand why I wasn't included on the beach trip. A little while later after I had gotten over my disgruntled feelings I looked up on the hill way above Curare to see that the uprights had gone for a very long walk up the steep hillside. That was way beyond me. Even though I let them know how I was feeling, and I'm sure they were as upset about as I was, I realized that there was no way I could have made it up those slopes.

I just hope they get back in time for kibble. Please excuse any typos, I had Geoff spell check this for me since I'm not very good at those things.

50 Degrees South

Today was a long day. The alarm rang at 0630 and we were underway by 0700; Jessie did not get shore leave but we had a cup of coffee. We wanted to get an early start and leave the anchorage on a high tide - when we entered on a half tide it was a little too shallow. As we left the estero a family of dolphins came to escort us on our way, playing in the bow wave and leaping into the air. We think that this may have been the same pod that had been entertaining us for the past two evenings but we weren't sure as we did not see the baby dolphin that had been learning to hunt in the anchorage's protected waters. For most of the day we had favourable weather with manageable winds, an overcast sky and even a few sunny breaks. During one of these sunny periods we saw a snow clad spear to the northeast towering above all of the other peaks in the area. Looking at our Chilean road map we decided this must be close to Mount Fitzroy and the disputed area with Argentina. The Chilean Armada marine charts do not show many land features so whenever we see a volcano or other topography of interest we use the road map given to us by Eurocar (rental agency) - this shows us most of the prominent geographical features.

For the first few hours winds were light but we had a positive current which helped move us along under motor. As we approached midday, and cleared the protection of Isla Topar, we picked up a little more wind blowing westerly out of Canal Trinidad. Turning east towards Canal Pitt we put the wind on our stern and had a comfortable downwind sail for several miles, blowing by our planned destination for today. To sail from Canal Concepcion into canal Pitt we followed a passage named "Seno Tres Cerros" most of which has not been surveyed in any detail - in other words the charts do not offer a lot of soundings. Fortunately it was a clear day with high clouds so we saw the hazards and there were no unwanted surprises. We eventually stopped in a small cove named Caleta Pico and anchored for the night with two lines ashore, pulling the transom within a couple of meters from the beach (50 deg 33.491'S: 74 deg 19.240'W). This might not be the best anchorage if it was blowing over a sustained 20 knots, but predictions for tonight are less than 15 and so far the gusts have not been too violent.

Somewhere along today's 50 mile trip we realized that we had crossed over the magical line of 50 degrees south latitude. In the historic days of sailing, ships "weathered" the Horn by traveling from 50 south in the Atlantic to 50 south in the Pacific. Most modern sailors do not do this because south of 50 degrees the weather is unpredictable and can be horrific. Instead they use the inside channels, like we are doing, and this way they avoid the worst of the bad weather. So now we are out of the roaring forties and into the screaming fifties, but with good weather predictions, some sound judgment and channel sailing we hope to avoid most of the difficult stuff.

Rain, rain go away

It rained all of last night and was still raining this morning. Unlike yesterday, this morning's departure was more relaxed; Jessie slept in until 0930 and we did not start the engine until 0950. By 1040 the engine was off, the genoa and staysail were set, and we were sedately cruising southeast in Canal Pitt, downwind in the rain.

Proper clothing is an essential part of cruising in Patagonia, but this could be said of any cruising done in high latitudes, north or south. It was much simpler when we were cruising in tropical waters, the rains were warm and brief and if we did get wet the sun would soon dry us out. Now we wear numerous layers of clothing, including long underwear, and we each have several kinds of outer wear to choose from. If it just windy and cold we will don a fleece jacket and a windbreaker of some kind, preferably one with a warm lining. If it is raining we wear the fleece jacket but replace the lined windbreaker with an offshore sailing suit - bibbed pants and comfy jacket. BUT --- if it is raining and we are hauling wet shore lines off or onboard we choose as outer wear a cheap, yellow, non-breathable rain suit because we don't want to get our offshore suits covered in sea water. Today we both started off in the yellow suits, looking like large bathtub toys, but once we had the two shore lines stowed away we changed into our offshore gear. Hats and gloves are also important and both of us have many sets to choose from. Probably the most essential thing about these latter two items is ensuring they are dry. Luckily we have an engine, and as we always motor into an anchorage we are able to use the warm engine block as a drying spot (once the engine has stopped).

Tonight's anchorage (50 deg 49.86'S: 74 deg 00.89'W) finds Curare tucked into a tiny indent in the northwest corner of a wide bay named Caleta Villarrica. G dropped the hook in 13 meters of water and then pulled us almost onto the shore using two stern lines. We still have 4 meters depth under our keel and we are surrounded by gardens of billowing kelp. Kelp could be a problem when we are trying to depart because it easily wraps around the anchor and chain and can form large balls that weigh over 100 kg, but we planned ahead and have a pruning saw strapped onto a broom handle. This device cuts through the kelp as if were soft butter and it may be better than the more oftenly used machete, but we have one of those too - just in case.

It is too bad that Google Earth does not have better images of this part of the world because if you could look at our coordinates you would see that Caleta Villarrica also has an inner basin accessed by a 10 meter wide, steep walled, passage. Our guide books show an anchoring location in this inner basin but we did not want to pass through another narrow passage on a falling tide, this week's narrow passage was entered a few days ago when we anchored at Estero Dock; as far as we are concerned one narrow passage per week is enough. We are expecting strong northerly winds tonight and tomorrow and this location will provide perfect protection - but if it blows from the southeast we would be totally exposed. Fortunately the likelihood of those winds are remote.

Puerto Bueno

For a couple of hours after anchoring in caleta Villarrica the Rain rain... chant worked well and the sun made a brief appearance, but the incantation must have had a time expiry because by 7 PM it was raining again. The wet stuff continued to fall all night and L was woken about 3 AM by a large, cold, drop of water landing on her face. One of our towels was sacrificed as a sponge and all three of us managed to sleep-in until 930 AM. This meant we had missed checking-in with Wolfgang on the Patagonia cruiser's net (frequency 8164 at 1200/1300 zulu (depending on summer/wintertime)). Although some cruising boats do not bother checking-in every day we have made the check-in one of our best-practices, it is good to know that someone, other than the Armada, is keeping track of where we are. So to let Wolfgang know that we were all OK we sent an email, thank goodness for our single sideband radio and the Pactor modem.

It continued to rain heavily most of yesterday but by 3 PM there was a 30 minute clearing and we could see the nearby hilltops; they were dusted with fresh snow. No rain meant an opportunity to go ashore so that G could burn the paper garbage, Jessie could stretch her legs and L could take photos. One day, when we have a proper internet connection, we will try and post a photo album of the Patagonian scenery. So far much of it looks similar to the northern coast of British Columbia but there are differences. The most obvious are the awesome tidewater glaciers that deposit ice cubes/bits into the ocean. We encountered our first glacier at a latitude of 48 degrees 42 minutes South, the equivalent latitude in the northern hemisphere would place us in Bellingham, Washington and there are no tidewater glaciers there.

Before we departed Puerto Montt we put "double glaze" on our windows and added foam insulation to the inside of the hull. This has worked well until now. If the the forward hatch is cracked open a tiny little bit and the companionway hatch is not closed tightly there is enough through ventilation to reduce the boat's humidity to a level where our makeshift insulation copes with the condensation. Yesterday we had to close everything because it was raining so hard and this morning the ceilings were dripping and the windows were fogged over. Tonight we have put the dinghy on deck over the forward hatch so we will be able to leave that open for air circulation.

We departed caleta Villarrica this afternoon at 1 PM because the GRIB files (our weather forecast) showed there was a 6 hour window of decreased winds, and the predicted wind direction was from the northwest, great conditions for sailing south. The first 1 1/2 hours we were headed west in Canal Peel and, of course, the wind was from the west so we had to motor. It was blowing up to 20 knots, but there was no swell, so motoring into it was doable. Then we turned to the south, into canal Sarmiento, and the wind was on our stern quarter so we set the staysail and partly unfurled the genoa. Soon the wind had increased to 28 knots, with numerous gusts over 30, and Curare was rocketing along at 7 knots toward her destination. After a quick 18 mile trip we pulled into the Puerto Bueno anchorage at 4:15 PM (50 deg 59.255'S: 74 deg 13.047'W) with the wind still howling. This anchorage is not as well protected as most of our previous anchorages because the topography is flat so G went to the effort and rigged two shore lines astern which will hold us close to a rock wall and away from most of the heavy wind gusts. It looks like there are numerous places to go walking along the shore (if it ever stops raining) which will give all of Curare's crew a chance to stretch their legs.

A Day at Anchor

We decided not to move today. The rain let up, there was a little bit of blue sky and we spent a few hours exploring the area on foot and by dinghy. We are anchored in a wide bay named Puerto Bueno. Incredible to believe, but it has had this name since 1579 when Sarmiento de Gamboa anchored his fleet here waiting for Sir Francis Drake to pass by. Unluckily for the Spaniards who wanted the British prize, Drake chose to enter the Pacific via the Straits of Magellan.

Walking is wet, the ground is saturated with rain water and the trees are dripping but there are also a lot of granitic rocks poking through the spongy grass/moss so it is not like wading through a swamp. Rubber boots helped. We went for a short hike up a hill overlooking the anchorage and had a great view south along Canal Sarmiento and to the east toward a fresh water lagoon. The clouds were low so there was not much of a mountain view but what we could see was a lot of rounded, unvegetated rock outcrop; with better weather I think we could have gone on a day hike. Jessie still has tender feet after burning them at the hot springs a few weeks ago so after a short stroll we went for a dinghy ride.

Our destination was the lagoon and we headed up the tidal channel about 300 meters, when we turned the corner we were confronted by a steep set of rapids, some would call this a waterfall. It was obvious that no watercraft would make it past this point so we reluctantly turned around, but as a source of fresh water this is a great spot, we could have filled buckets without setting foot on shore. A pair of Ringed Kingfishers (martin pescador) were perched in a tree, chattering at us as we motored by, a perfect photo opportunity but I did not want to get rain spots on my lens.

We motored along the north shore of the bay so that L could look for more birds but there were none to be seen. Instead she spotted a squatty geometrical structure on a point of land which looked man made. As we approached we saw what appeared to be concrete so we beached the dinghy for a closer look. This man made artifact is about 70 cm in height and has a square concrete base supporting a rounded column comprised of small boulders encircled by a rusting iron band. There is very little iron left and at one time this rounded portion may have been entirely encased in metal. We think it could have been a navigation mark, but why it is so far inside the bay is a mystery.

In the late afternoon a fishing boat arrived and anchored next to us. G and Jessie were ashore when they arrived so G helped them to tie off to a tree and had a little chat. They are from the island of Chiloe and are gathering seaweed which they will deliver to Puerto Natales. The captain said they had 10,000 kilos of seaweed on board - more than the total weight of Curare - no wonder they are sitting so low in the water. They hope to reach Natales in three days, we may take another week. As soon as they had finished anchoring two of the crew went rowing around the anchorage looking amongst the seaweed, when they returned they had two large spiny crabs (centolla) which they offered to us. L already had dinner underway, and we had no food to trade, so we declined their very generous offer.

Vancouver Island

Today, in spite of the rain, we had an enjoyable sail. The seaweed fishermen that shared Puerto Bueno with us last evening were up at 5 AM and left early. Another fishing boat came in late last night, around 10 PM, and they left a few minutes before we got underway. We left the anchorage at 9:15 AM and entered Canal Sarmiento headed south. Initially the north wind was light but as midday approached it had increased into the high teens and low 20's, perfect for downwind sailing wing on wing with the genoa and staysail. Occasionally, as the wind dropped off, we were tempted to set the spinnaker in the relatively calm waters but these lower winds were always short lived so the "go fast sail" stayed in its turtle. We were averaging over 6 knots anyways so no real need to hurry along. When we woke this morning the barometer had fallen 8 points overnight and during the day it continued to fall. Late in the afternoon we had recorded a change of 18 points in 10 hours (from 998 to 980 millibars) so we chose an anchorage that looked to provide reasonable protection from any weather that might blow up.

Most of the day was overcast but during one brief moment of partial clearing we had a few wonderful glimpses of some of the glaciers and spires in Torres de Paine national park some 20 miles to the east. The glaciers that we saw in the distance are part of a long continental ice ridge known as Campo de Hielo Sur and the tidewater glacier that we saw about two weeks ago was part of this same massive ice cap. Later in the afternoon we sailed past Isla Vancouver and although not as large as the one in the Pacific northwest it was quite mountainous. Several of the place names around here would be familiar to anyone that has sailed through the Gulf Islands in Canada. One of the anchorages that we bypassed today was Puerto Mayne named after Captain Richard Charles Mayne of HMS Nassau who sailed through this area in 1869. Another anchorage, Caleta Bedwell, was named after one of Mayne's cartographers.

As we approached the entrance to the narrow inlet that led 1.5 miles to our selected anchorage, Caleta Moonlight Shadow, we dropped the staysail in 25 knots of wind and motored the remaining distance. Motoring at the end of the day is a good thing; we have hot water for showers, the engine block gets warmed for drying gloves and hats and the batteries get a little boost. As soon as we turned west and entered the inlet the rain started coming down in sheets reducing visibility to a few tens of meters, but we were still able to make out the hazards at the entrance and along the way. Once the anchor was set (51 deg 33.634S; 074 deg 04.616W) and all of us were soaked the sun came out, briefly, to greet us in this evening's home. With luck we may see a moon tonight and who knows - maybe even it's shadow.

Anchoring with Shore lines

Most of the anchorages in the channels of southern Chile recommend the use of at least 2 stern lines, and a few of them recommend two bow lines as well. When we were cruising in the area north of Vancouver Canada a few of the more crowded anchorages suggested the use of a single stern line to prevent boats from swinging into each other, and if you didn't use a stern line you soon got dirty looks from your neighbours. Here there are rarely any other boats in the anchorages so why are stern lines advisable? Answer: To prevent boats from swinging.

The small bays used for anchoring are little more than indents and most of them have shallow areas close to the shore so you want to make sure that your boat stays stationary, not matter what the wind conditions. Ideally you drop the anchor outside of the indent and then maneuver your boat backward, taking two stern lines to tree trunks or large boulders. Our problem: Curare does not like to back up. If there is any wind blowing, and there usually is, our bow blows off so when we reverse the stern moves in an arc instead of going straight. Obviously this is not a good thing when we are trying to squeeze into a tiny anchorage not much larger than the boat itself and there are rocks on all sides of us.

We have tried several methods to get us into these tight spots, described in the guidebooks as "bullet proof anchorages" but we have not yet perfected a technique. We have tried dropping the hook well out, attaching the shore lines and pulling the stern around into position, and also putting the stern lines out first (G in the dinghy with the lines already attached to shore)and L motoring up and abruptly turning the boat and attaching the stern lines in a well orchestrated maneuver, but neither of these techniques would work in a really tight little spot. We have noticed that local fishing boats drop the anchor astern then motor ahead and attach one bow line ashore and that seems to work well, but is this method appropriate for a sailboat?

Today we woke up at 0530 to howling wind and a thumping noise. The tide had gone out, the wind had started blowing from a different direction, and we had swung over a rock. Both of us got dressed for the outdoors and went on deck to see what we could do. Did I mention it was raining? Last evening we had tried the one line "Fishing boat" technique which appeared to be working well, but as soon as the wind changed, sometime during the night, this line did not keep our stern in the position that it was in before we went to sleep. So we let out some of the original line and Geoff jumped in the dinghy to attach a second line, soon Curare was lying properly and well away from the rock.

After breakfast and coffee it was still early so we went for a short walk up a hill at the head of the bay. From there we could see canal Sarmiento stretching to the north, and caught a glimpse of the Pacific to the west. The winds did not look too bad so we decided to leave and travel a little further to the south. Once again we set the staysail and genoa and had a lovely downwind sail to Caleta Bernard (51 deg 45.09'S: 73 deg 51.99'W). Did I mention it was raining? As soon as as we turned into the caleta the wind dropped from 17 knots to less than 2 knots. A German flagged sailboat that we had spoken with on the radio was already anchored and they invited us to tie alongside them. So tonight we did not even drop our anchor, we just put the dinghy in the water to take Jessie ashore. Even better, they invited us for dinner. It was an enjoyable social evening and we exchanged notes on the various anchorages that each of us had visited; they are headed north and we are going south, perhaps one day we'll see each other again.