Monthly Archives: April 2019

Starfish along for the ride

A Starfish along for the ride

It was hard to leave Isla Damas as it was so peaceful and beautiful.  It reminded me of Salt Whistle Bay with its crescent moon shape bay, emerald green water, and white sandy beach.  Plus you have the ability to look over the shore onto the sea.  Of course, it was lacking the greenery and palm trees, but it had its own beauty.  Including the surprising little startfish that came up with the chain.

We slept in to 0800 and took our time heading out.  As I was bringing up the anchor, I was surprised to see that we had another hitch hiker.  I was heartbroken to discover that it was a beautiful starfish.  It was so very pretty all wrapped around the links.  As she started to unwrap her arms, we realized she was holding a clam.  Poor thing not only lost her breakfast but got plopped back into the water.  She was still moving as she descended back on to the sea bed.

Starfish Hitchhiker

Starfish Hitchhiker

ISLA DAMAS TO COQUIMBO

We had a fairly short sail, or should I say motor as we were lacking wind again.  Matt took out the jib once, but it was really only for show with 6 kts of wind at 20-30 degrees.

We were so surprised to see the huge metropolitan city as we neared Coquimbo.  There are actually two bays.  Coquimbo is the largest one with cruise ships and cargo ships.  Playa Herradura is the other bay which is more tranquil.  We decided to anchor in the smaller, peaceful one with the hopes of being able to walk to the other.

Coquimbo Bay

Coquimbo Bay

PLAYA HERRADURA

We dropped the hook and did a quick search for wifi before heading into shore.  Nada.  Once ashore, we needed to clear in with the port captain and check in with Club de Yates de Herradura.  They have a well-maintained dock big enough for all the boat toys, kayaks, dinghies, and sail fish.  As we were walking up the dock, a worker asked if we needed immigration.  Why yes, we do!  It was a short walk, within the Club grounds, to a lovely lady who cleared us in.

She did not ask for any clearance payment, nor did she ask us to pay the $169 from Puerto Huasco.  Hmmmm, maybe she will just issue us our zarpe when we want to leave without having to pay those crazy fees for 11 hours in the Huasco Bay?

We made a quick stop to a local tienda as Matt was out of beer.  We then back to the boat for some internetting using our local sim card.  Lots of paperwork to do including finding boat insurance, leasing our house, closing our last insurance claim, and trying to get a long stay French Polynesian visas.

Sugar Shack in Playa Herradura, Chile

Sugar Shack in Playa Herradura, Chile

Miles traveled from Isla Damas to Coquimbo 48.6 which took us about 8.03 hours at an average speed of 5.6kts. and max speed at 8.6kts

THE IRKSOME TALE CONTINUES

The next day, the yard manager, Rolando called me on WhatsApp.  He said that we needed to go to the Capitaneria in Coquimbo to pay the fees from Huasco.  Drat!  We said we would come ashore after we gather our documents.

We met in their office and I tried my best to explain why I did not think we had to pay this fee.  The fee was based on vessels over 50 tons and we are only 15 tons.  We showed them our documentation and the fee schedule and they agreed.  They called the Capitaneria, explained everything, and emailed our documentation.  However, they still wanted us to come in.  Luckily, Rolando offered to drive us and help us through this process.

Rolando walked us straight to a woman who didn’t seem too pleased to help us.  They spoke in rapid Spanish for 15 minutes before she made a call, then a second call.  Evidently, Huasco did make a mistake by entering our vessel into the system as a 50 ton boat.  She said that we did not have to pay the two fees adding up to $169.  However, we did have to pay $18 and come back tomorrow for a new document.  Yeah.  We can do that.  Even though we don’t know what the $18 fee is for, it is better than $169.

Caldera

Chile Ports: Caldera, Calderilla, Salado

We received a proper send off from the lobos, dolphins and birds as we left the Chile Port of Antofagasta.  We are headed to Caldera which is about 200nm away.  The journey should take us 1.5 days with some wind even though the current and waves are going against us.

Arturo, from Club de Yates, led us out of our first Chile Port and through the foamy mess (see below top left photo.  We had lots of lobos sightings along the way.  It was super cute because they pop their head out of the water, look around, dip under, and pop up again.  They do this in a circle of about 5-6 other lobos.

The landscape is beautiful despite not having any greenery.  Rolling hills in various shades of tans and browns.

We managed to catch three of the same type of fish. We released them all as we could not identify them, let us know if you know what type of fish these are – maybe part of the tuna family?

Unknown Fish

Unknown Fish

You’ll notice the landscape is really barren and dry.  We are definitely in the dry zone.  They may get 1” of rain per year, but not every year.  It is strange to me to see beaches near the desert but that is exactly what you see when you come to Northern Chile.

We had zero wind for this trip and glassy water conditions during the day.  At night we had swirly 1m waves, but it was a full on motor the entire way.  Matt did a wonderful live blog on 27 January, so I won’t repeat his beautiful words.  Check it out here.  We cut off one engine and slowed down the other engine so we could arrive during daylight.  After 218 nm, 45 hours and 20 minutes we arrived in Caldera.

The Chile Port of Caldera bay is nice and large.  We anchored near the Club de Yachts.  As we watched our anchor, many yacht club members came by (kayak, boats) to say “hello” and welcome us to town.  We of course found more lobos.  The interesting thing is the area by the beach was set against huge, beautiful rock formations which gave the entire area a unique and stunning look.

Club de Yates Caldera

Club de Yates Caldera

We enjoyed this small town even though we only stayed for one day.  We checked in with the Armada, had a not so tasty lunch at La Chispa de Dona Luisa, and walked around.  The yacht club and the beaches were pretty busy, but that is not surprising as it is Sunday, family day.

Most shops were closed, but we stumbled across the Caldera Railway Station which was commissioned in 1850.  This train terminal had the first train depart in South America on 25 December 1851.

We also came across a statue of San Pedro Caldera, lots of funny looking manikins, a hungry shark, an old ship perched on to of a tourist building roof, and a crooked Caledera sign,

Sightseeing in Caldera

Sightseeing in Caldera

We found the local markets, hardware stores, and “tourist” traps.  Mostly this tiny town offered beach toys and stuff at the local tiendas.  We celebrated our new town with a beer.

Matt enjoying a Kuntsman Beer

Matt enjoying a Kuntsman Beer

We motored over to the next bay, Puerto Caladerilla for our second night.  The town was really, really small and we did not see any places to dock the dinghy.  So, we enjoyed a nice evening onboard.

Main photo of me next to Caldera colorful sign

CALDERILLA

We left late in the afternoon and were headed to the Chile Port of Calderilla which is a small bay less than 10nm from Caldera.  We made a light dinner and called it an early night.  The bay was relatively calm, very quiet and peaceful.  We got up early the next morning to continue heading south.  As we left the bay, we grabbed a few shots of the rocky coast.

Rocky Chilean Coastline

Rocky Chilean Coastline

BAHIA SALADO

It was another windless day but at least it was not on our nose.  We were able to let the jib out for a few short stints which gave us an extra knot or two.  Super calm seas, blue skies, and lots of lobos playing in the water.

The Chile Port of Bahia Salado is a very isolated bay.  There are 5 structures that appear to be housing compounds for the mine that operates just over the hill.  They could also be summer homes, but there is literally nothing around except these compounds and the mine.  How far do they have to go to get bread or milk or beer?

Bahia Salado - Housing Compounds

Bahia Salado – Housing Compounds

After we finished dinner, around 8pm, we watched two guys in kayaks make their way from shore to our boat.  Somewhere half way between, one fell overboard.  At this point they were about ¼ mile from shore.  As I finished up the dishes, Matt said they were getting closer.  Interesting.  I peeked and it appeared that one guy was pulling the other guy who was still in the water.  The guy in the water was pulling his kayak while holding on to his friend’s kayak.  Poor thing it was freezing outside and in the water!

They asked for help to bring them back to shore. I wish I would have grabbed my camera as it was the funniest image.  We tied one kayak with the guy still in it to Sweetie.  The other guy jumped in the dinghy as we then tied his kayak to the back of Sweetie.  He was in a t-shirt and shorts when he should have been in a full wetsuit.  He was shivering in the dink while his friend was having the time of his life riding the kayak as Sweetie towed him to shore.  It was hysterical.

Sunset in Bahia Salado

Sunset in Bahia Salado

Miles traveled from Calderilla to Bahia Salado 38.6 which took us about 6.5 hours at an average speed of 5.6kts.

Couldn't find the typical Antofagasta Sign, so this will have to do.

Preparations to Head to South Chile

Before any journey there is a laundry list of things to do.  We are preparing for our biggest passage to date from Chile to French Polynesia.  What does that entail?  Buying staples for 3-4 months, purchasing boat parts, oil, propane, and fuel.  And of course preparations include a few boat projects.

We will be heading to southern Chile before beginning our passage. First we will go to Caldera, then Coquimbo, then Valapariso, then Valdivia.  So what type of preparations and boat projects have we been doing?

BOAT PROJECTS:

  • PHOTOS: We needed another set of passport photos for our carte de sejours which are part of our French Polynesia long stay visa application process.
  • WEE FEE: topped up our sim card plan so we could activate another month as we journey to Southern Chile.
  • FUEL PUMP: We were on the hunt for oil and a fuel pump. Off to find an auto part store. They have entire one street dedicated to auto parts where you can find just about everything. Of course, it was an 8 mile walking day for us. Score, one 5 gl of oil and a pump for fuel filter.
  • FUEL PUMP TESTING: We used a baja fuel filter while we were in Galapagos which was not efficient. We had a fuel pump on board but it died and needed to be resurrected. We got the pump, found the connectors, and bought the hose. Matt tested it by moving fuel from one jerry can to another and voila it worked perfectly!
  • FUEL: Getting fuel was no easy feat. We had two 5-gallon jerry cans and bought two more. We walked the .5 mile to the gas station with a cart and our cans in tow. Filled them up and loaded 3 on the cart which I dragged. Matt hand carried one and we walked the .5 mile back. Gesh, this will take forever! At 20 gallons per trip we would have to make 8-9 trips! After 2 trips, a local cruiser saw us struggling. He loaned us 4 of jerry cans and drove us to and from the gas station 3 times! Lucky for us, the extra help allowed us to fill both tanks 85% full. That’s good enough for us as we will have to fill up further south anyway.
Adventures of refueling

Adventures of refueling

Provisioning:

We had emptied out the boat finally. We stocked up so well in Panama and Costa Rica that we did not have to buy staples or frozen meats for the past 9+ months. Of course 6 of those months we lived in an apartment while the boat was being repaired, but the food stayed frozen and tasty.

We hit up Jumbo and Unimarc Supermercardos, to of our favorite stores with the largest variety of foods. Of course, peanut butter, popcorn, ginger cookies and butter crackers are still eluding us, but we may find them in Santiago.

What does provisioning look like for 2 people for 3-4 months?  Don’t you love the box of veggies and fruits?  So easy to store!

Provisioning The Basics

Provisioning The Basics

We purchased mostly staple items on this run. As the stores here have great variety and are well stocked. Prices are a little higher than we anticipated, but what can you do?

The next day we hit the fresh fruit and veggie mart to stock up on 2 weeks of yumminess. This was a fantastic fresh market, with so much ripe and semi-ripe foods. They had these huge barrels of olives, peppers, juiced items and nuts.

Provisioning Fresh Goods

Provisioning Fresh Goods

Of course, we will have to do another fresh fruit and veggie run before we leave Valdivia.  We will also need bread and eggs to go with the fresh goods.  Always fun to explore grocery stores in new cities though!

Other Interesting Photos:

Couldn't find the typical Antofagasta Sign, so this will have to do.

Couldn’t find the typical Antofagasta Sign, so this will have to do.

Memorial to those who have passed away, just outside the cemetery.

Memorial to those who have passed away, just outside the cemetery.