Voyage to Patagonia - Log Book

Log Book – Maiden voyage of Alex and Victoria, through the ocean, to lands unknown...

Monday 3rd November:

14.30. hrs

Arrived for embarkation aboard our ship Evangelista. We were given a short presentation from two girls who are to be our the guides. Anticipation growing by the minute. Our room number (131) is called out: “could those from rooms 131 – 138 please come forward.” “Yes that's us!” Al says, leaping up. We felt that our street cred was ruined slightly by having to walk up in front of everyone but we were so excited about boarding that it didn't matter. We walk onto the boat with a group of people who aren't backpackers. All the other backpackers are probably heading for the 24-bed dorms with no window which would have been the sensible money-saving option. But hey, we didn´t slave away in London for all those years for nothing ;-)

15.00 hrs
Heading: S
Sea condition: Calm
Weather: Overcast

We settle into our little cabin. Very cosy! We have two bunks, a desk topped with refreshments, small sofa bench, a bathroom with shower, wardrobe, and best of all a large window with unobstructed view, looking out over the ocean, It is, in fact, a lot nicer than most of the guest houses we've stayed in on land. What's more we are informed that we are to eat in the small dining room with the captain and senior crew. Yes, we are important people. I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised as we'd been gearing up for a cramped cabin with tiny bathroom and tiny peep-hole window. We do feel it's a bit above our station for a pair of humble backpackers, however when you wanna have a window you gotta pay for a window.

16.00 hrs
Heading: S
Sea condition: Calm
Weather: Overcast

The ship revved up its engines and set sail. We stood out on deck to wave farewell to the workers on the docks. It was fairly cloudy so unfortunately we missed some of the view but nothing could curb our excitement. A few minutes later we already began to spot seals heads bobbing above the water, taking a look at the boat, and a group of penguins swimming past searching for fish. We waved goodbye to Puerto Montt and awaited the voyage ahead of us.

16.30 hrs
Heading: S
Sea condition: Calm
Weather: Overcast

We saw a dolphin! Al spotted it. It was black and white (like a killer whale) and jumped fully out of the water three times beside the ship. Most exciting.

17.00 hrs
Heading: S
Sea condition: Calm
Weather: Overcast

We attended the introductory presentation which talked us through safety procedures and gave us an overview of where we would be going and what we would be seeing throughout the trip.
We are to sail down through ffyords and past glaciers, with the potential to spot grey and black/white dolphins, penguins, seals and even possibly... a blue whale! If we are lucky enough to see the world's largest mammal I would probably fall overboard with excitement. Fingers crossed.

18.00 hrs
Heading: S
Sea condition: Calm
Weather: Overcast

Went up to the bridge to see what the captain was doing – for those not in with shipping lingo the 'bridge' is basically the cockpit. We looked at the radar screen and other instruments such as the wind speed and direction monitor, gps and depth gauge. The captain has it pretty easy if you ask me, they were playing music in there, drinking coffee, not a bad job.

19.00 hrs
Heading: S
Sea condition: Calm
Weather: Overcast

Dinner is served. We ate at a table with our fellow v.i.p. passengers in the captain's dining room. Our waiting lady Cecilia is very friendly and we like her. As you know we had stocked up on plenty of supples to help us through what we were sure would be a poor dining experience. However we were pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong. The food was good, varied, well-presented and wine and tea/coffee were served. We left the table stuffed to the gills and unsure at what point we would be able to face eating the mountain of snacks piled up in our room.

20.00 hrs
Heading: S
Sea condition: Calm
Weather: Cloudy/windy


We went out on deck again for a quick look around as the sun went down. Al has turned out to be an avid seal spotter, he always manages to see them from a mile away, even if they have just an ear poking out of the water. I'm quite good at spotting penguins, although most of the time it turns out to be a seagull. We had just passed the island of Chiloe, which we had visited a couple of days before. The sky was beginning to clear a bit and the mountains were silhouetted around us. The wind had begun to pick up and it was very cold so we retreated back inside to watch our film of the evening 'The Motorcycle Diaries'.

23.00 hrs
Heading: S
Sea condition: Slight swell
Weather: Cloudy/windy

'The Motorcycle Diaries' was the film that inspired Alex to come to South America. It follows Che Guevara as a young man, travelling around South America to many of the places we have now traveled ourselves – Lima, Peruvian rainforest, Macchu Pichu, Cusco, Atacama desert, and throughout Chile . As he travels he learns about the great injustices that the indigenous people faced at that time. It is a truly inspiring film and we would definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in Latin America. On exiting the dining room where the film was shown we were suddenly aware that we couldn't stand straight – the walls and floor were moving... were we drunk? Then we remembered that of course we were in a ship and ships rock around a bit. We made our way back to our cabin, opened the window for a while watching the waves and then climbed into our bunks and were gently rocked to sleep by the swaying of the boat.

Tuesday 4th November:

07.30 hrs
Heading: S
Sea condition: Slight swell
Weather: Cloudy

It's more cloudy than it was yesterday... hmmm... not good.


09.00 hrs
Heading: S
Sea condition: Slight swell
Weather: Drizzle/cloudy

After a hearty breakfast we headed outside to see what was happening with the weather. The sea was rougher than yesterday and it was beginning to rain. Our spirits were a little dampend by this, but I reminded myself that Patagonia is not meant to be a sunshine destination and, like Scotland, you should probably expect cloud and rain.

10.00 hrs
Heading: SW
Sea condition: Moderate
Weather: Rain/wind

We have just had another lecture from the guides to tell us the itinerary for the day. We will be passing through: Canal Chacabuco, Bahia Anna Pink, Golfo de Penas. We have been warned that we might get seasick later in the day as we pass from the channels to the open sea. Alex thinks he might get sick, I'm hoping I will be ok so will try and go without a tablet as they make me drowsy. We were shown a DVD on the glaciers of Patagonia. It showed pictures of advancing and retreating glaciers which looked amazing, Apparently the sea is 5000 metres deep in some places in this area, there are underwater mountains caused from the earthquake which created the Andes.

12.00 hrs
Heading: W
Sea condition: Moderate
Weather: Drizzle/wind

We have changed heading now and are going west through the channels. We've seen quite a few penguins and seals which is always exciting. Stayed outside until it was too cold and then went for lunch.

14.00 hrs
Heading: W
Sea condition: Moderate
Weather: Rain/wind

We received an announcement 'you are invited onto the deck to observe the channel of Pulluche' Out we went with our boots, raincoats and hats at the ready. I was almost blown away by the strong wind when I opened the door onto the deck. Everyone was standing huddled in a group on the deck, all wrapped up, trying to stay warm and dry. The islands of the channel were hidden by cloud, we could just make out small waterfalls running down the sides, we watched the odd lighthouse or fish farm standing alone on the edge of an island or outcrop – so isolated. We spotted a group of penguins, an occasional seal and... not much else because it was raining so hard that my binoculars steamed up, my hat began to leak and my hands and face became numb. We beat a hasty retreat indoors leaving the few brave souls who remained to face the elements.

15.00 hrs
Heading: W
Sea condition: Strong swell
Weather: Rain/strong wind

The sea feels a lot more rough now. I'm sitting at the window of our cabin, I've engineered the chair to sit on the bench so that I can rest my laptop on the window ledge and look out so that I don't miss anything and I have my binoculars and camera at the ready. The wind is much stronger and it is whistling loudly through the window. Al has a really bad cold and has retired to his bunk. I will have to get him a sea sickness tablet soon too just in case. The weather doesn't look like it's going to improve any time soon. Every now and then the bow crashes into the sea causing a loud bang like a big bass drum that reverberates through to our cabin.

16.00 hrs
Heading: W
Sea condition: Strong swell
Weather: Rain/strong wind

Up and down, up and down... the swell is much stronger as we are nearing the mouth of the channel where it meets the open ocean. We can see waves crashing off nearby rocks. The sea isn't actually rough, it's just the swell which is strong.

17.00 hrs
Heading: S
Sea condition: Strong swell
Weather: Rain/strong wind

Just went up to the deck which is deserted. Everyone is sitting in the lounge area or their cabins, and a few people are standing on the side decks to ease their seasickness, watching the sea which is crashing against the sides of the boat. I'm feeling a little queezy so am going to lie down for a bit. Poor Al is still in bed feeling ill with a cold. I'm nursing him through it, I think he'll pull through.

18.00 hrs
Heading: S
Sea condition: Strong swell
Weather: Rain/strong wind

Swell is incredibly strong, feel pretty ill so am going to take seasickness pill and stand outside for an hour or so to try and pull myself together.

23.00 hrs
Heading: S
Sea condition: Strong swell – 4 metres
Weather: Strong wind - 30knots

Uuuuuuuughhhhh... took pill but it was too late... went for supper at 7pm and attempted the spaghetti bolognese which looked delicious but could only eat a couple of mouthfulls before dashing to the bathroom to be sick. Al was very good and fetched me another pill from the nurse. Have slept since then and feel much better though only when I lie down. Apparently it's going to continue like this until 4am when we reach the channel that leads us to Puerto Eden.

Wednesday 5th November

07.30 hrs
Heading: SE
Sea condition: Calm
Weather: Freezing!

Awoke feeling much better. We noticed the sunshine streaming through the window and both dashed onto deck to see the beautiful mountains in the sunshine. The sea is completely calm now. Spirits much lifted after sleeping off the sickness. Hungry now... breakfast... yum yum!

08.00 hrs

We just found out the Obama won the US elections over the loudspeaker – yeah! Everyone seems to be really pleased with the outcome. Al and I have been following it all on CNN since we arrived in South America and were planning on celebrating with a toast when we found out the news, but since we have just been seasick our stomachs aren't really up to any morning drinking. Instead we've hung a couple of beer cans outside our cabin window to cool for this evening.

10.00 hrs
Heading: SE
Sea condition: Calm
Weather: Freezing!

Sailed past a stranded shipwreck in the middle of the channel. Many ships have hit the rocks here and this channel is known to be unlucky. The captain of this particular ship was delivering sugar from Brazil to Valparaiso (Chile) decided that he would make a bit of extra money by selling the sugar before he reached his destination, steering his ship onto a rock in the channel and claiming that all the sugar melted after it sank, thus winning the insurance money. He sold his sugar, came up the channel and hit the rock, but his boat did not sink, it got stuck. So the insurance companies arrived on board to inspect the boat and asked him what happened. He told his story – that the boat hit a rock and all the sugar melted. “But if the sugar melted, where are the bags that it was stored in?” The captain had forgotten to replace the bags and ended up in prison. Unlucky or just a bit stupid?

14.00 hrs
Heading: SE
Sea condition: Calm
Weather: Freezing!

After passing through the channels for a few more hours the boat anchored at Puerto Eden, a small fishing village cut off from the rest of the world, completely inaccessible by land.
We queued with around 200 other passengers to receive our life jackets and be placed into a small fisherman's boat. After a short crossing we scrambled onto land and made our way around the tiny village. We passed what seemed to be the only shop, a number of ramshackle houses with dogs and cats sunbathing in the gardens and chickens roaming freely. Some of the villagers made crafts out of what they could, namely grass baskets and painted mussel shells. Others made a living from fishing and we saw seaweed drying on wracks, presumably for selling (to the Japanese?). The locals were all very friendly to the hoards of holiday-goers in bright orange life jackets who temporarily colonised their village. We both thought it was a very picturesque place but agreed that it wouldn't be the life for us. We were only there for an hour, which was plenty of time, before heading back to the mothership.

18.00 hrs
Heading: S
Sea condition: Calm
Weather: Freezing!

The boat coursed through the Patagonian channels, the water was smooth and we spotted the odd dolphin chasing the boat. Snow-covered mountains surrounded the boat, towering above us. We began to see small icebergs – our first icebergs! We were very excited. At this point we were heading towards the Pio XI glacier, one of the world's largest glaciers, 150 square kms and advancing around 2m per day. We could see it for about an hour and a half before we arrived, growing ever closer. All passengers were on the deck at this point and everyone was very excited, jostling for the best view. The captain took the boat closer and closer to the immense glacier until we were wondering if he was actually going to turn around at any point before crashing. The ice from the glacier was bright blue and the wall was split with huge crevasses. The sea beneath it was full of small icebergs, submerged in the freezing water. It was truly awe-inspiring to behold and we felt very privileged to be there. We stayed outside until our hands and faces were numb from the freezing wind and our camera had run out of memory space. As the captain turned the ship round we dashed downstairs to our cabin to get the view from our window, in the warmth where Pepe had a window-side view:

21.00 hrs
Heading: S
Sea condition: Calm
Weather: Sunny

The sky was clear and the sunset over the mountains was beautiful. We took a glass of wine onto the deck and sat watching the mountains passing the boat. The evening entertainment was beginning at the bar with the onboard crooner singing 'I did it my way' and bingo about to begin. We decided to pass in order to plan the next part of our journey instead.

Thursday 6th November

11.30 hrs
Heading: SE/E
Sea condition: Near calm/moderate
Weather: Gales – around 80MPH

If you ever have problems waking up fully in the morning, I'd recommend stepping out into a freezing gale force wind. Certainly works for me! The wind was so strong that we struggled to open the door to get out on the deck. Once out there we clung to the rails as we inched round to the bow. The sea was dark grey with white tips on the waves but there was no swell and the boat glided smoothly through them. With our faces frozen we stood and watched the huge mountains passing us, until we were numb and our fingers aching from the cold.

Near the end of our journey we passed the narrowest channel of our voyage, at 80 metres wide it seemed like our 25 metre-wide boat just fit through.

14.00 hrs
Location: Hostel de Chila, Puerto Natales

As we arrived at Puerto Natales and disembarked from the boat it began to pour with torrential rain. We ran drenched through the town, guide book in hand, to find the first hostel we could. Eventually we came found a place which was cheap and had a huge fire oven for us to dry our clothes on, perfect. There are even some little kittens here sleeping under the stove.

Al just wrote this in a message to a friend: Well I better go and have dinner now before the temperature drops to below a million degrees! Hey before I go, it was sunny all day when we were on the boat. Just as we wanted to get off it started to rain slightly. Then when we finally had to step off there was like a tropical thunder storm in this freezing weather. So 300 people stampeded off the boat and we all ran down the road to the nearest hostels. I was carrying probably 30 kilos and running like a juicy pig through ethopia. I got sooo soaked. My clothes inside my rucksack got soaked and our book had to be put in the oven to dry. But get this....just as we arrived at our hostel it stopped raining and the sun has been shining since. Sods law! Take care.

Our maritime adventures were fantastic, but it is also good to have our feet back on dry land, albeit a bit wet at times here too.