Day 5 Caleta Moonlight Shadow to Caleta Damien

Caramor - sailing around the world
Franco Ferrero / Kath Mcnulty
Fri 19 Aug 2016 01:47
51:18.42S 74:08.68W

Caramor in Caleta Moonlight Shadow

Looking towards Estero Nelson from the heights of Isla Piazzi





Lichen arrangement on Isla Piazzi

Caramor was just free of the ice in the sheltered pool this morning. In places, ice shelves jutted out from the shore where the water had frozen at high tide and then receded. As we headed out of the inlet, the wild fowl quacked in surprise and shot off as fast as their wings or legs would allow, or all four in the case of the flightless steamer ducks. They are amazing to watch, jet propelled bundles of feather that skim across the water.

We encountered ice around the next bend but nothing too thick. As we cleared the narrow entrance, the only trace left of our presence was a Caramor shaped track through the ice.

The Canales are amazingly beautiful (especially when the sun shines) and despite Lynda of Windora’s words of warning  “you can overdose on beauty in the channels”, we are so far not suffering from the ailment and are looking forward to several more months in the wilderness. The term is a slight misnomer, although the mountains, rocks and islands are wild and uninhabited, the water provides a living for many traditional fishermen and is an important thoroughfare linking the province of Magellan to the rest of Chile. On most days we pass at least one fishing boat or a Navy patrol. The Navy officers are always very polite and keen to talk to us, unfortunately the conversation topic is usually rather limited. “How many onboard? Where have you come from? Where are you going?  When will you get there?” … “Please confirm, when will you get there? did you really say 14 December?” (We will probably arrive at Puerto Montt earlier, as we will need to renew our visas.)Today we had a visit from an air patrol, the plane flew past so close, I could have handed the pilot a cup of coffee. 

Franco in tropical attire

Around midday, at the southern end of Vancouver Island, we caught up with the dolphins that had escorted us all the way into Caleta Moonlight Shadow a couple of days ago, although we were sailing at less than two knots, they still swam with us for a while, criss-crossing under Caramor and surfacing a little way off.

We sailed 9.3 miles in three hours and twenty minutes, not very fast but it was peaceful, unfortunately the wind then died completely and we motored the last few miles to the gap between Vancouver and Whidbey Island where we are anchored for the night.

Caleta Moonlight Shadow by moonlight (I simply couldn’t resist!)