Time has come to take the left or right turn, which ever gets you to go west young man.
First tho, Valdivia is pretty awesome. As you know beer is part of my basic food group. Valdivia has a German background/history so lots of artesian beer pubs. Town looks like it belongs in the mountains with big green trees, some big mountains in the background but has a waterfront at sea level. Definitely worth the visit.
This morning there was virtually no wind at dawn, perfect for leaving the tight slip with steel poles on both sides with the river current. But we didn’t get going before the wind picked up and was gusting into the 20s. Ugh. Waited some wasn’t getting any better, the predict wind forecasts for our journey had Saturday as the ‘best’ of the up coming week average winds near 20 with gusts maxing out at 28knots, where a Sunday departure had 35knots along the way. So another forecast and some good help from the marina we got out without incident. A big 70 foot SunReef power cat was blocking most of the wind that was blowing us sideways.
Once out of the slip we idled forward and down the river stowing all the fenders and lines we won’t be needing for a while. Another sailboat also left the marina and they set the jib and was walking away from us. Everyone knows that 2 boats going the same direction, its a race. We followed suit and set the jib and eventually caught them. When we were along side they asked if we were leaving and then when we explained out plan we had instant crew requests, and one of them said they were great cooks.. 🙂
Near the mouth of the river the wind picked up some more, we were doing 7 knots going with the current and wind. Everything was in our favor as we left, the wind hit 35knots. We had just a the jib out, a little reefed and all was good for the first couple of hours. They the forecast lied, the wind started to die down right about dinner time. 3 hours of day light left, do I set the spinnaker or just go slow. Decided to make burgers and think about it. After dinner wind was down in the 10s so spinnaker was coming out. Got it all setup, and checked the wind. Ugh no wind, not enough to hold the jib and not worth it. Put the spinnaker away in time to see the sunset.
One motor on to maintain course and not head toward land. Wind finally returned an hour after dark so back under sail .. at least for a while.
Hoping to find the deeper water soon so that the waves can get organized and make for more comfortable ride. All good, 430 miles till Juan Fernandez (Robinson Crusoe) Island. Just a sliver of the moon and a gazillion stars to light the way tonight.
[realtime]
At 3/10/2019 @ 12:41 AM UTC Our position: 39°28.41’S, 073°49.64’W Traveling 5.6 heading 320T
Google says we are here www.google.com/maps/place/-39.47350,-73.82733

sWell sWell sWell.
Leaving the anchorage is sweet, running out into the chaos is not. Out the channel between the islands, incoming current, waves and wind. The trifecta of uncomfortable, almost turned back but finally broke past the chaotic pounding and got settled into a rhythmic pounding. Well past where we turned around. Still slow going but all is well. Foggy, and dodging 70 meter fishing boats in the dark with 34 knots of wind on the nose and when they do not respond on the radio makes for a long night. Started with 160 miles to go, have traveled 133 miles with still 60 miles to go, very efficient we are NOT when beating.
We found a little groove during the day, the winds came down a bit, and we could see the wave direction in the daylight and picked an angle to “skate” over the waves made for a much more comfortable daylight trip. We hugged the shoreline, trying to keep the main sail full, currents played havoc on our southbound progress. The fog did not lift till dinner time, just in time to see the Mocha island as we went by. There was a cruise ship on the other side of Mocha that was bound for Punta Arenas. One of the very southern most parts of Chile. We would need more clothes to go that far south.
New favorite meal, pulled pork over a baked sweet potato. Pressure cooker style of course.
One more night to go. We will arrive at the mouth of the river bright and early in the morning then its about 2 hours up the river to the “club de yates” where we will make home base for a bit and provision for the run west. And wash the salt spray off everything. And see what Valdivia is all about.
They say “head south till the butter melts then turn right”, we are heading south but we have New Zealand butter in a can, how can you tell when it melts?
They say “gentlemen don’t go to weather” Well this trip south has proved that I’m no gentlemen, and we are ready for some downwind sails. Or course knowing our history, somehow someway there will only be upwind sailing as we head west.
Onward through the fog, all good on board Cheers and Happy Friday.
At 3/1/2019 @ 1:25 AM UTC Our position: 38°54.02’S, 073°36.00’W Traveling 6.0 heading 170T
Google says we are here www.google.com/maps/place/-38.90033,-73.60000

Just crossing the 35 degree south mark on the way to Valdivia. As we leaving Quintero there was enough wind to use the sails and it was a downwind sail along the coast heading south again. Was about to launch the spinnaker when an ominous clouds started to appear ahead of us, thus we stayed with working sails and as soon as we reached the clouds the wind dropped to 3 knots. Bummer, on comes an engine and we motor through the night replenishing the the water tanks with fresh water.
The night air was so thick we could barely see 1/2 a mile, radar more than once proved its worth. The big tankers were sounding their fog horns and of course reporting their positions on AIS so they were easy to spot. The fishing boats on the other hand were a hard to spot. With radar we simply set them as a “target” and keep anything suspect a safe distance of a mile or two away. The radar proximity alarm warned of all ‘suspect spots’ that got within 3 miles of us. A quiet night besides the fog horns, the swell also seemed calm.
Today was a very grey day, the drizzal continued and the sun only poked out for just long enough to dry off the nightly moisture. Then started to drizzal again. Still no wind, slow boating under one motor as we really don’t have a deadline to arrive. After 2 months in the northern desert of Chile this moisture from the sky is a strange phenomenon.
Made a pretty tasty pizza for dinner, also helped heat up the salon for a little while. It is ‘summer’ here until this coming Saturday. For us its down right cold, not cold enough to leave the beers outside to chill but after being used to shorts and t-shirts, temperatures in the mid 60F in the morning merit long sleeves and pants (or foul weather gear) 🙂 We have used the heaters to warm up the boat, but seems that 75F is too warm, we must be spoiled.
Thought about stopping for a quick swim as the water is glassy calm. Checking the water temperature, 17.3C (63F) degrees quickly removed that idea off list.
260 miles to go to mouth of the Valdivia river.
Happy Friday.
At 2/22/2019 @ 12:42 AM Our position: 35°37.35’S, 073°04.78’W Traveling 4.9 heading 205T
Google says we are here www.google.com/maps/place/-35.62250,-73.07967