Day 14: Hiding in the fjord at Caleta Tortel
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An unscheduled visit to Caleta
Tortel to avoid
wind and a high swell in the open ocean.
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After leaving Puerto
Edén last night, we should have sailed out of the
fjords and into the open ocean, crossing the Gulf of Penas
and heading towards Chiloé Island. Unfortunately,
ten metre swells and exceptionally high winds would have
made it an extremely uncomfortable experience. The captain
and the expedition leader made the decision to spend an
extra day within the shelter of the fjords, after which
the open sea conditions were forecast to improve. The two
Chilean pilots on board suggested that we could visit the
settlement at Caleta Tortel while we waited. Their expertise
and knowledge of these waters was much appreciated and the
final decision to follow their suggestion was taken late
yesterday. |
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The little settlement
looked very atmospheric as we approached it early in the
morning. |
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The official log (see
above) stated that "it was a slightly grey and drizzly
morning", which wasn't completely accurate. It rained,
quite hard at times and less hard at other times. There
was nothing really "drizzly" about it. At least
it was mild and yes, atmospheric, but that wasn't enough
to convince Geoff to accompany Bruce on the visit ashore. |
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This structure didn't
appear to have any specific purpose, but I made a mental
note that if the rain got too heavy, I could come and shelter
here! |
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After walking for some
distance along the boardwalk, I thought I would venture
up the stairs (there were many just like this) to see what
else I could see. |
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I am amazed by the extent
of the boardwalks at higher levels. |
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After climbing higher,
I found the lookout point. |
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On the way down, it began
to rain more heavily, so I headed back to the shelter close
to the landing pier. |
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I found this plaque which
intrigued me, so I did a bit more research... |
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...and discovered that
it was in memory of a local man who was a victim of the
terrible regime in 1973. |
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Our expedition leader,
Michael, was also taking shelter until the appointed time
for the zodiacs to return to the ship. A couple of local
dogs appreciated his attention! |
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Like me, members of the
expedition team were quite happy to go back to a dry ship! |
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After lunch, the expedition
team went off the ship again to check out Islas de los Muertos
("Island of the Dead"), which was to be our afternoon
excursion. They returned after about 15 minutes, shaking
their heads. It was very wet and windy and involved a long
zodiac cruise to get to the island. The decision was taken
to abandon the visit. |
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Later, Geoff took these
photos, looking back in the direction that we had approached
the settlement this morning. Not the best weather today,
but it certainly was atmospheric! |
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We remained at anchor
overnight. In theory, we were only one day behind schedule,
but in reality the delay was probably a day and a half,
because we had lost two nights of sailing, compared with
the planned schedule. This delay came at quite a critical
point, where significant distance needed to be covered in
order to arrive at the final destination on the appointed
day. Inevitably it meant that we were going to miss at least
one, but probably two of our planned calling points. |
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