Puerto Montt - Home at Casa Perla´s

A four hour bus ride south from Valdivia brought us to the city of Puerto Montt and Casa Perla, our home for the next week or so while we arrange permits and supplies.  Puerto Montt is euphemistically referred to as southern Chile´s "transportation hub" in all the guidebooks and it is true that the city has the edgy feel of a bus station and shipping port.  In short it is a working city with an authenticity that is lacking in more touristy towns.  Throughout Chile so far we have found the people to be patient with our Spanish, friendly and open, and the streets safe, Puerto Montt is no exception.

Our to-do list here is HUGE!  Back home if we want to go kayaking we buy some food, dump the boats in the water and head out.  Not so here in Chile.  For one we have to wait for our boats to be trucked from Valdivia.  Next we have to arrange for a permit from the Chilean Navy to transit their waters and submit to a safety inspection of our equipment.  Only then can we wander the markets and buy our food and fuel for the first month of paddling.  These complex logistics are all part of the adventure.  We must be sick.

The Navy was expecting us.  One mention of "kayak" and we were whisked out of the waiting line filled with Chilean fishermen and down to the Port Captain´s office where we waited.  Much shuffling of paper ensued.  Finally we were led to a room where an array of fully uniformed and decorated Navy officers sat bolt-upright around a polished conference table.  The Navy ensign and Chilean flag stood at the far end of the room.  It all felt very official and formal.  

Official and formal it was, however, also friendly, professional, and courteous.  We had laid the groundwork via e-mail over the last several months, so most of the discussion had already taken place.  The officers had some suggestions about our route and information about sea conditions we might expect to encounter along the way.  They did not question our plans or capabilities, or ask us to deviate in any way.  Only recommendations were given.  This was a pleasant surprise.  Handshakes all around.  The final hurdle to starting the trip will be on Tuesday when three officers will inspect our safety equipment to ensure that it meets the Navy´s requirements.  Whew!

For now we are tucked away at Casa Perla, also home of Kayak Austral Outfitters who´s principal, Thomas has paddled much of our route and has offered a bunch of useful tips and imformation.  We´re soaking up some spanish, customizing the boats and making new friends, big and small.

Valdivia - We have boats!

Brand spankin´new, we feel spoiled!

The next stage in the adventure was a critical one.  For months we scratched our heads about our boats.  Should we ship our own, use folding Feathercraft kayaks that we could fly with, or buy boats in Chile?  Thankfully, we learned of an outfitter in Valdivia who stocks P&H Kayaks from Great Britain and sells them at reasonable rates.  Becky and I prefer to paddle British style skeg kayaks and the P&H Skorpio will fit the bill nicely.

Hooray, the spray skirt fits!

Chile is a very modern country and we´d been using our cards for payment everywhere from cafes to hostels, but we did have a minor hiccup when we discovered that we were going to have to pay cold, hard, cash for the boats.  An important detail that I neglected to iron out ahead of time.   After two days gaining valuable financial spanish language skills in Valdivia´s banks we raced across town with pockets brimming with pesos.  Cheers to Jorge and Roberto at www.pueblitoexpediciones.cl  for hooking us up with kayaks and arranging the shipping to Puerto Montt!

Well fed and watered despite our poor spanish skills.

 I couldn´t resist sharing this cover shot of Pope Benedict, we saw it on every news stand we passed.

The Pope´s announcement caused a splash in this predominately Catholic nation.

Santiago

Santiago, a city of four million.

Just a quick note to let you all know that we arrived in Santiago safely on Friday.  Yup, Friday!  We enjoyed a free night in Seattle and a free night in Dallas courtesy of American Airlines due to two mechanical delays in a row!  I think we sampled most of the major eateries in SeaTac during our stint in traveller's purgatory.

Si, tenemos muchas mapas!

The airline delays have had the additional benefit of allowing us the weekend in the giant city of Santiago since we had to wait until after the weekend to accomplish our errands.  Today was a busy day of running around town for odds and ends and, importantly, topo maps.  We now are the proud owners of about $300 worth of Chilean topos covering the 1200 miles from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales.  Unlike the US, where you can find topos just about anywhere, Chile only distributes the maps through the Military and specifically, only from one office in Santiago. 

We are now in the land of NesCafe.

Tonight we'll be bussing south for 12 hours to Valdivia where we'll be picking up our boats and thence to Puerto Montt tomorrow night.  Wish us luck.  More soon.

Speed rollerblading, serious business, who knew?

Sea Kayak Expedition II

It's 36 F in Bellingham today and that means.......it's time to head south.  In a few days Nick and I will be flying to Santiago, Chile to begin another long distance sea kayak expedition. From Santiago, we will head straight to Puerto Montt, where we plan to spend about ten days applying for permits, picking up our boats, buying food and finalizing any last details. 

Our plan is to paddle approximately 1200 miles from Puerto Montt south to Puerto Natales. We are estimating that the trip will take between 3-4 months. We realize that this is a fairly generous margin and are planning conservatively with the expectation that we will be spending a lot of days on shore. 

A number of family and friends have asked us how this trip compares to our last long distance kayak trip through the Inside Passage. I'm sure that we will have a lot more to say in response to this question in four and a half months, but at this point we can identify a few key differences. However, first let me start with the similarities- both trip are of equal length, spanning similar degrees of latitude (although in different hemispheres) and follow a route through mostly protected waters. The differences between the two trips originate primarily in geography. First of all, Chile is in South America, where people speak spanish. Hablamos solo un poco espanol. Secondly, the larger scale weather systems that track through the higher latitudes of the southern hemisphere are generally stronger and more frequent, so despite the fact that it will be summer in Chile, we are preparing for cooler temperatures, wind, rain and more wind.......... The third and final obvious difference is that there is significantly less information available about this section of Chilean coastline. While planning the Inside Passage we had our choice of the numerous kayaking guidebooks, cruising guides, current tables, tide tables, etc. In researching Chile, we have been fortunate to come across a a small number of very helpful resources (Thanks Reg!), but there are a lot of details that remain unknown.

Therefore, Nick and I are approaching this trip with a humble attitude, conservative judgement and hopefully a bit of good karma in tow. Wish us luck.

Meanwhile, we have been busy planning and packing and asking ourselves, "What are we forgetting?"

 Nick pouring over nautical charts, struggling with the inconsistencies in size and scale and trying to make sure we have coverage for the entire route.

At the Mountain Equipment Co-Op in Vancouver, B.C. We will be purchasing these same boats from an outfitter in Valdivia, Chile. We couldn't pass up the chance to see the boats in person before hand and try out some preliminary packing configurations.

Briefing friends on the trip, over one-two-three-four empty glasses.......

   And asking myself, "Does this drysuit make my butt look big?"

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