Destinations: South America

Following their ice adventures in March, yacht Commitment completed a four week expedition heading north through the famed Patagonian Canals of Chile and Tierra del Fuego, as skipper Tony Mowbray's log details.

Ships log 3 March, 2007
Anchored, Brecknock Peninsula, Patagonia
Team Mowbray Update #48
Position 54 33 S, 71 55 W

Our first day "on the road again" saw us grind out a hard-won 45 miles of progress into the teeth of quite a strong headwind arriving late in the day at our first magnificent anchorage in these famed Patagonian cruising grounds.
Calleta Olla (Cove), 92 nautical miles south of Punta Arenas as the crow flies, has to be seen to be believed. Protected from just about all wind directions it provided us with a windless cove with the water surface as smooth as a billiard table.
Each day since has been a carbon copy of the previous: rise early, hungry with anticipation for what lay ahead for the day, and grind out the miles into strong headwinds to the next majestic stop for the night.
Along the way are amazing waterfalls that cascade incredible distances down sheer rock faces to relentlessly dump their contents into the canals.
Monstrous glaciers imperceptibly forge their way to the waters edge, and every now and then calve-off a portion of their icy body for the calf to then continue the cycle: eventually melt back to water, be evaporated up, fall again as snow on the glacier and start its trip all over.
There is abundant wildlife as well, with colonies of fur seals that all of a sudden appear; diving, leaping and darting their way alongside us. Pods of dolphins, the great albatross and of course the scenery - the snow capped peaks that Charles Darwin saw so many years ago.
A popular addition to the list of provisions in this part of the world is to buy one or two whole lambs and hang them in the rigging! It's so bloody cold here that it is just like being in the refrigerator and they last for weeks. I've been threatening to buy one and I finally did in Ushuaia, so our lamb is the newest (if temporary) member of Team Mowbray.
Another Chilean delicacy is the Centolla King Crab. They are huge compared to the blue swimmer crabs that abound in the area I live in NSW. There are many professional fishermen who fish for nothing but Centollas.
When we were in Puerto Williams crewman Alex suggested we acquired a crab pot to have some fun with, so we spent a very enjoyable few hours knocking on the doors of some fishermen's houses until we found one who would sell us a pot.
We are now expert crab fisherman even though we have only caught two! We cooked them a couple of days ago and found the meat delightful. Tomorrow we will make for the Straits of Magellan.

Ships log 9 March, 2007
Team Mowbray Update #50
At sea.
Position 49 52 S, 74 27 W

The weather forecast that we received this morning for today and tomorrow said:
Tomorrow: North West to North 20-30 knots (40-60 km/h) increasing by the end of the day to 50-60 knots (100-120 km/h) gusting to 80 knots (160 km/h).
In the 1998 Sydney to Hobart yacht we experienced 80 knots and above which is cyclone strength! So, 80 knots is not pretty!
As per the forecast, today was quite reasonable and we made some good progress. We have just arrived at an incredible fjord that runs for about four miles into the heart of Wellington Island which is just 50 miles from Puerto Eden.
We have found a cove we think will be well protected from the imminent strong winds and have just spent over an hour hours "tying" our boat Commitment to the shore with no less then seven really thick ropes in a spider web pattern, plus we have our anchor deployed along with 70 metres of chain. We think we are ready. It will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow.
Today we passed a couple of fisherman and did some horse-trading: for a bottle of wine, a packet of sweet biscuits and two blocks of chocolate we received a couple of small fish plus a big barracuda. At least that's what we think it is! I'm sure my brother Trevor, who is an expert fisherman, will be able to identify it for us?
The guys in the boat told us they live in Puerto Natales, which is about 200 miles by water from where we met them! Alex says (in his Welsh accent): "They are hardy bastards down here!" And he's right!
Well, we survived being "holed up" whilst the barometer was in freefall. The upshot of that storm was that it rained all day and from where we were tied into the trees it felt as if the wind didn't get much above 40-50 knots. In the end all of our preparation in mooring the boat the previous afternoon paid dividends and we enjoyed a nice day of rest.

Ships log 13 March, 2007
Team Mowbray Update #52
Patagonian Channels
Heading north, latitude 50

Negotiating the Patagonian Channels has been chock full of great experiences for all of us on board, and a great learning process about this part of the world. Most people seem to In the first part of this leg of the expedition we encountered some very strong headwinds, short sharp choppy waves with intense cold, snow, sleet, sago ice pellets etc. For one four day period we were without any shade of blue whatsoever in the sky, just grey, grey and more grey, and then more grey for good measure. There was incessant rain and then more incessant rain before finally it turned. It was almost as if we had sailed through a checkpoint.
We have slowly and incrementally eked out the miles in a northerly direction; every mile gets us closer to sustainable warmth. Last Saturday was indeed a milestone for Commitment and I, in that we crossed out of the "Furious Fifties" of latitude into the "Roaring Forties".
It might not sound much but we'd entered the "Furious Fifties" in very early November after leaving New Zealand and of course have spent considerable time in the "Screaming Sixties" as well with the two ice expeditions. So it is a welcome change to see the read out on the GPS chart plotter say "Forty something" degrees.

In 1896 Joshua Slocum in his boat Spray became the first man to sail around the world and he spent considerable time negotiating the tricky and dangerous waters of this area. His log records that he was storm bound at the anchorage of Puerto Angosto for over a month in which time he had to fend off the local Indians intent on doing him harm.
Late on the afternoon of March 5 we probed our way up the very same inlet right to the head where (like Slocum over 100 years ago) we found a magnificent waterfall dumping its load into the waterway. Splintering off the main body of water to one side was an incredible crescent shaped lagoon which bleeds off the side of the waterfall.
Paul, "Admiral Wally", Alan, Alex and I spent a very memorable hour in the dinghy drifting around and exploring this beautiful cove with water so crystal clear that every detail of the bottom could be seen.
By 5.00pm we had Commitment in place and then Alex, Doc (Alan) and I scrambled/climbed up a small mountain to discover an amazing high-level lake feeding the waterfall. The scenery was indeed spectacular.
The next night saw us moored in a beautiful natural harbour, about half a mile square, entered by a very narrow, shallow and rock strewn entrance. Our boat is nearly five metres wide and I reckon in places we had just another five metres either side of us as we nosed our way in. This inner sanctum was calm and serene.
A most memorable evening was had. I cooked some huge pork steaks on the barbie while Alex banged out a packet risotto! Alex, Paul and I jumped in the dinghy to check the crab pot.
I secretly took along a bottle of red wine and the three of us sat there in the dinghy drifting around marvelling at the star packed sky and knocking over the red, taking a swig and passing it on - unbelievably relaxing - then off to bed suitably anaesthetised.

Ships log March 14, 2007
Team Mowbray Update #53
Anchored
Position 45 58 S, 74 59 W

Well here we are, anchored in another magnificent anchorage. We are deeply embedded within another incredible fjord about four miles from the entrance, surrounded by such natural beauty that neither words nor photos would do it justice.
The day after the blow of March 10, we headed for Puerto Eden and what an interesting place it turned out to be. Established in the late 1960's by the Chilean government it has a tiny population and could be best described as an outpost. Fishing is a major occupation for the village.
Bob, Alex and I were walking along the timber boardwalk (not a concrete footpath in sight) and we were greeted by our new friend Juan who is a local fisherman. We were thrilled to be invited to his home for a hot drink and a chat.
There was lots of smiling and pointing, as he couldn?t speak English. I was going fairly well though as my Spanish has improved a lot: I can now count to four! We sampled some of his wife's home-made cheese; it was as good as you will find in any deli!
Yesterday morning we departed Puerto Eden to make our way towards the open ocean waters of Golfo de Penas (I am trying to keep a straight face for the young children's benefit). The Gulf has to be crossed in order to access the northern section of the Patagonian canal system.
Our run from Puerto Eden to where we are now moored has been non-stop, taking 36 hours, so we are happy to put our feet up for tonight before the adventure continues tomorrow.
Currently we have a huge high-pressure system that has settled and provided us with a stunning star filled clear sky last night and a warm sun drenched day today. As I type, I have a tee shirt and shorts on for the second time in the last five and a half months and I'm having a beer - life is pretty good!

Yacht Commitment
Commitment is an Ocean 60, built in England in 1981. She is 60ft long, weighs 32 tonnes and strongly built of fibreglass. Bought in Adelaide in October 2005, she has been extensively refitted with new gear including engine, genset, plumbing, electrics, instruments, sails and rigging.

Join the next expedition
I will return there in November this year to ready Commitment for another five months of expedition work, heading back south through the canals and on to the southern tip of South America, including Cape Horn, Punta Arenas, Ushuaia and the Antarctic Peninsula. One trip will be dedicated to a parent/child theme. Ideally I'd like three pairs of people on board. On each Antarctic adventure there were eight people in total on board. Previous sailing experience is not needed!
:Costs and logistics
Excluding the ice trip, the expedition legs vary in length from 7-22 days and the average price excluding airfares is around $6,000.
Flights: Qantas has connections to Santiago in Chile which is a one-hour flight on to Punto Montt. There are also flights via Buenos Aires in Argentina.
Expedition details including fees are at www.tonymowbray.com.au