At dawn, the ferry lowered its ramp onto the slipway and off stepped Franco, back (minus a tooth) from Natales. He’s looking good on his prescription diet of ice-cream and soft food and doesn’t seem to be suffering.

While Franco was living the high life in the city, I spent two days boat bound because of bad weather during which I ticked off quite a few jobs. The rest of the time I was out socialising. Maria-José and Cucho with their three lovely daughters Camila, Amalia and Rosalita welcomed me into their home. Aliro, Cucho’s dad took me under his wing and invited me to join him when he went to check his crab pots. He cooked me several fabulous meals and patiently put up with my halting Chilean and constant questioning as we chatted about subjects as diverse as the causes of the red tide, the French taxation system and why some Chilean women prefer to be blond. I learnt a huge amount about Puerto Eden, the Chilean way of life and many new words of slang.

After school we visited our friends to say farewell. We then weighed anchor and relocated to the other side of the bay, in front of the small navy base. Because we remained in the ‘port’ for more than a couple of days, we needed to renew our zarpe (permission to leave port and navigation plan). Although the bureaucracy in Chile is fairly time consuming, it is always a delight to deal with the charming officials, especially as all transactions end in a kiss on the cheek for me and a manly handshake and hug for Franco.

Crux Australis ferry (Franco is the red dot at the back)

Going fishing in Aliro’s boat ‘Jonathan’

Aliro

Hauling in a king crab pot

a Kaweskar face late 19th century

Puerto Edén from the boardwalk over the peninsula (the building with the large red roof is the school)

Puerto Edén on a sunny day

Kath and Franco along the Edén boardwalk