53:18.41S 73:00.10W

The predominant wind, the resulting permanent current and the flood tide all come from the Pacific straight down the Strait of Magellan … and guess which way we are going? We are very lucky though, the weather is settled,  there is practically no wind and the tide is ebbing (helping us along) during the day rather than in the middle of the night. This is why we have been making the most of it and racking up the mileage.

This morning we passed Point Crosstide and through Paso Tortuoso. As the names suggest, a difficult section of the Strait. The Chilean Navy have a manned station and there is a reporting protocol for all ships to announce their intentions a hour before reaching Point Crosstide. In the balmy conditions we are enjoying, the only impediment was a knot of current against us.

Passing a tanker in Paso Tortuoso

Rainbow over Isla Santa Ines

The anchorage in Bahia Playa Parda is another gem, a high mountain cwm sunken into the sea. It was imaginatively named (‘playa parda’ means ‘yellow-brown beach’) by Sarmiento de Gamboa , the man charged with hunting down Drake and and has been used by all the mariners of old who sailed these waters.

Once anchored, I had a lot to do: wash up, mop up the lunchtime soup spillage, clean out the fridge, make a cheesecake (which I then put my foot in), scrape the grit off the cheesecake (don’t tell Franco), and cook tea. Meanwhile the skipper had a little snooze.

Caleta Playa Parda, looking towards the entrance to the Strait

Caleta Playa Parda, looking towards the mountains