Necessity is in Bahia Fortuna
Necessity
Eva and Jan Fr. Mack
Wed 4 Jan 2012 10:41
We spent two days in Caleta Jamie. That was due to the weather rather than a wish to stay. We tried to leave early in the morning on the first day, but very strong winds from the north reduced speed to about one knot. It was simply not on. We returned to the anchorage and settled in. There we replace the generator with a new one. I always carry two onboard, and some maintenance was needed on the one in use (it didn't give quite as much as specified). It was a very useful exercise. Fredrik and I also got some physical exercise and climbed up to the top of the island. It was a beautiful view and also a little though provoking. The only manmade structure in sight was Necessity. This part of Chile simply has no inhabitants. We mused that this felt more desolate than Spitsbergen, the extreme northern archipelago in Norway (80 degrees north). It is probably not true, but that is the feeling you get down here.
When we checked the forecast this morning we got a bit of a shock. The strong northerlies were forecast to last for two more days. We had a closer look at the sea state outside and decided to give it a try even so. A little more westerly in the wind gave us hope that we could go along the western shore of Seno Union. So we did. It was not fast, but it did work. We got around the top of the straight after six hours and turned back south. Then we covered the same distance south in less than two hours. We are now further south than we have ever been before. This is simply a stop, and now we set off for 36 hours to reach close to Punta Arenas. There Fredrik will leave us again on Friday. The rest of us will be headed for Cape Horn.
Jan Fr.