January 26, 2017 – Straits of Magellan on board “Infinity”
Awoke to find the ship sailing through the Nelson Channel and some of the fjords of Southern Chile. Waterfalls from the mountainsides and snow capped peaks in the background. Every hour a gentleman named Mickey Live who is an expert on this part of the world would get on the PA system and give a 5 minute talk about what we are seeing, the names of the visible islands, the names of the birds flying above the ship and the year the particular piece of water we were in were first explored by European sailors. It is amazing that they ever found the passageway through the Straits. Many end in a boxed in fjord that they must have had to exit only to try again. The strait is the most important natural passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans but it is considered a difficult route to navigate because of the unpredictable winds and currents and the narrowness of the passage.
This route is mostly used by vessels desiring to avoid the heavy seas and bad weather so often experienced on passing into the Pacific Ocean from the western end of the Strait of Magellan. The large full-powered mail steamers generally at once gain the open sea at Cape Pillar (at the west entrance of the Strait of Magellan), as experience has shown that time is thus saved to them; but vessels of less engine power, to which punctuality and dispatch is not so much an object as avoiding possible danger, will find the Patagonian Channels the best route.
The general features of these channels are high, abrupt shores, with innumerable peaks and headlands remarkably alike in character, their bold, rugged heads giving an appearance of gloomy grandeur rarely seen elsewhere. The shores are generally steep-to and the channels, for the most part, open and free, while the few dangers that exist are usually marked by kelp. The tides are regular and not strong, except in the English Narrows.
In the case of the two above mentioned and some other fjords, these waterways proved of value as transport lanes when western Patagonia was settled and incorporated into Chile. On the other hand, the fjords have served as a natural barrier preventing north-south land travel in Chilean Patagonia.
About Noon the ship made a turn to return to the Pacific for a 90 mile run to pick up the route into the Magellan Straits. As we approached the Pacific, the winds picked up and additional ten knots and waves went to 12’-18’. A lot of rocking as we sailed along. The wind was blowing a steady 42 knots according to the ship information. Went to a talk by a Naturalist on Birds of the Southern Ocean. Learned a lot about the albatross and many other birds of the area. They have a wing span of 8’-10’ and are a friend to all sailors. Amazingly, the albatross spends its entire life at sea returning to land only to breed. One tagged bird traveled 31,000 miles in 200 days. Presently headed for the actual Strait of Magellan. Will be good to get out of this Pacific Ocean roll which almost tossed us out of the shower as we prepared for dinner with a small group of friends in the Tuscan Grill, one of the specialty dining rooms on board.
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