Cruising the Chilean Fjords

We have been at sea for the last three days.  The weather has not been great but we have been able to enjoy the scenery as we sail the coast of Patagonia.  We have sailed through the Chilean Fjords and the Canal Sarmiento.  It is much like sailing the coast of B.C. except that instead of conifers, deciduous trees cover the lands.  As we continued south the landscape changed to more exposed rock covering, reminding us of Newfoundland back in Canada.  The general features of these channels are high, abrupt shores, with a gloomy, somewhat haunting appearance. We departed on the cruise at about 32 degrees south latitude and we are now at 50 degrees south.  The days are much longer with the sun setting after 9:30 pm.

We have traveled through many fjords and have been no further than 200 meters from the shore for much of the cruise.  The waters have been gentle in the fjords but when we necessarily venture outside the seas have been between 4 and 5-meter swells.  The ship rocks and rolls in those waters and we are continuously warned to hold on to the rails when negotiating the stairs.

Yesterday we sailed through the Canal Sarmiento and arrived at the Tortel  (we think that is the name) Glacier at around 3:30 pm.  The captain brought the ship within 200 meters of the glacier wall and we sat there to enable everyone to go on deck to take pictures.  We were scheduled to leave at around 5:30 but when the ship started to back away to exit the dead end fjord there was a call for the crew to attend emergency stations.  Long story short, there was a short in the wiring controlling the stern thrusters when we were backing up.  We anchored in front of the glacier and enjoyed a view of the glacier throughout dinner that evening.  We finally pulled away at 11 pm after an extended stop. We will have to do without one of the two stern thrusters for the rest of the trip and will need tug docking assistance at some of the stops.  

I was somewhat concerned whether we would make our next destination on time but was assured that since we usually travel between 17 and 18 knots, the captain could easily make up the lost time but taking it up to between 25 and 30 knots.

Everyone Outside For Pics

We have even settled deeper into shipboard life.  We take our breakfast (usually alone) in the dining room, lunch in the Lido Market buffet cafeteria style, and reservations in the dining room in the evening.  We usually share a table in the evening and have had the pleasure of meeting folks from New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, U.S., and Holland.  The conversations have all been interesting but we find the most in common with people from Australia and New Zealand.  We had a very spirited discussion with some New Zealanders about proportional representative government, something we in British Columbia are currently voting on.  They gave the system their enthusiastic support providing citizens know the parties non-elected representatives beforehand that can be named post-election as members of parliament.

We Bought The Wine Package

The Ledo - Cafeteria Style

Dining Room - American Thanksgiving 

We have enjoyed viewing from our cabin deck.  Our room has both blankets and binoculars for extending viewing from our lounge chairs.

Our Room Attendants - Rio and Heri - Keep Our Cabin First Class

We have also enjoyed exploring the ship and have found different nooks for reading or listening to music in the evenings.  I am currently enjoying a book I found in the ship's library.  As well, I have found the perfect spot for my workouts when not ashore.  I can ride the channels along with the captain.

We have spent some money (and time) in the ship’s casino but no; we haven’t paid for the cruise out of our winnings yet.  Deborah has taken a cooking class and we both attended a lecture on continental plate movement.  As I write this tome, Deborah is considering going down to play bingo.  We have also attended two evening shows on the ship’s main stage.

We are going to enter the Strait of Magellan in a few hours time and arrive in Puente Arenas, the most southerly settlement in Chile tomorrow morning.  We have a penguin tour slated for 6:30 am.