Day 10: Kirke Passage
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Sailing through one of the narrowest
channels
in the Chilean Fjords to reach Puerto Natales.
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There would be no opportunities
for zodiac cruising today, because we had quite a distance
to sail. There was some hope that we might have been able
to disembark at Puerto Natales later in the afternoon, but
unfortunately this didn't happen. We did, however, have
a pleasant day on board with plenty of sightseeing opportunities
throughout the day. |
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This is the actual route
we sailed from Hyatt Flord to Puerto Natales, with the major
highlight being the passage through the Kirke Channel. |
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We were given plenty
of notice to look out for the narrow channel, which we could
now see in the distance. |
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The ship's engines were
turned off as we approached the channel. Passage through
it has to be timed precisely to coincide with "slack
water", a short-lived period when the tide is about
to turn and go the other way and the ship can go through
the channel safely. We had arrived about 30 minutes early
for the event, but as we didn't want to miss it, we stayed
on deck and enjoyed the scenery. |
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While we waited, two
zodiacs went on ahead to the narrow channel. Their task
was to drift backwards and forwards through it until the
moment when the water turned completely calm. |
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The zodiac drivers took
photos (and a video) from their perpective, which they kindly
gave us. |
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Slightly later than
anticipated, the flow of water in the channel became still
and the zodiac drivers radioed the captain that it was time
to sail through as quickly as possible. |
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Our two zodiacs rejoining
the ship afterwards. |
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Before too long, the
little town of Puerto Natales came into view. It was quite
a welcome sight as we had seen no other settlements since
leaving Ushuaia four days ago. |
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So near, yet so far.
We had hoped to go ashore and walk around the town for a
couple of hours before dinner, but we were told that the
wind was too strong to launch the zodiacs. We suspected
that the real reason was that it was Sunday afternoon and
nobody was available on shore to receive us... cynical or
what? |
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We were due to remain
here tonight and tomorrow night. Tomorrow promised to be
a very different sort of day with the planned all-day coach
excursion to the Torres del Paine National Park. Bruce had
opted to go on the excursion, whereas Geoff decided that
he would explore Puerto Natales independently instead. |
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