'NaviMaging' the Chilean Fjords

On Tuesday afternoon I wandered down to the port to check the Navimag ferry, Evangelistas, had arrived before returning to the Xalpen hostel to pick up my gear and moto to drop off at the vehicle staging area in the port. Here she is, full board and home for 4 nights. First passing the port to make a turn to orientate properly, then to reverse into the dock, ramp being lowered.

Back in February I bumped into another motorcyclist, Chad, while crossing the Cordillera Blanco. When we chatted, he mentioned he had a brewpub in Puerto Natales, but never mentioned the name (or I forgot it). Anyway, a bit of sleuthing and I tracked it down, Baguales, situated on the main square. I had planned to go for lunch, but it doesn't open until 5pm.

After dropping the bike off I walked back into town to have a beer and a bite at Baguales before boarding. As I get near the building I thought I recognized the guy up on steps putting plyboard over the windows. He sees me in the motorcycle jacket and starts to get down, "Are you Chad?" I asked, 'Yes, you're the guy on the CB500, right? John wasn't it?' ..the connection was made!

Chad explained that the plyboard was cheap insurance after the disturbances in the center of town the night before (part of the ongoing protests in Chile). After dark a few youths had set fire to tires and thrown Molotov cocktails at the police station across the main square. The police in riot gear responded with tear gas, a canister of which landed near his restaurant front door, he showed me the scar on the sidewalk where it landed. People had entered his restaurant to get away from the gas which resulted in his place being filled with noxious fumes and a few noxious people; he evacuated his customers into the brewhouse at the rear and the back yard. As the neighboring businesses had already put up boards for the coming night Chad followed suit, he didn't want to be the only guy on the block left unprotected.

Anyway I had great food, beers, a tour of the building and the brewhouse, met his wife Rose and enjoyed a 90 minute chat with Chad. It was a super way to end my stay in the far south.

One can drive your own bike on the ferry if you wish, I didn't as I wanted to board with the other passengers at 9pm. Passengers board first and there was no telling where the bike would be in the loading rotation, it could have been midnight. There was no point waiting around, though it turned out the freight and passenger load was light. I scored a four berth cabin to myself, nice, as they are quite small. Four guys in one small cabin with a squeezed in bathroom for four nights; enough said. And a shot of the town after boarding.

       

The ship weighed anchor at 5.30am the following morning and by the time I woke up and scurried to the deck we were already passing through the narrowest point of the voyage through the fjords, a mere 80 meters wide.

The scenery was good and visible on the first two days, not on the third when whales and volcanoes where potentially on offer. There was a nice sunset on the second day.

 

Early on the second day the ferry stopped at Eden, a town of 65 people on an island isolated from the rest of the world. Goods and passengers are dropped off and picked up.

We took on two young lads who grew up in Eden, returning to Santiago after visiting their parents ...something of a wide contrast in living environment for those two fellas. The ramp at the stern is lowered to exchange goods and people.

Also on the second day you pass the wreck of the Cotopaxi, a Uruguayan registered boat carrying a load of sugar at the time. The story goes that the wreck was intentional as they were outside the normal channel and heading for a 'safe' wreck by running into the rocks on shore, no lives lost and claim on insurance....but what they didn't know was a boat had previously sunk, they hit it and got hung up on it. A crew member said the holes in the wreck are from the Chilean navy who use it for target practice, they hit it a lot but of course it won't sink, sitting on top of the prior wreck.

We also had an interesting tour of the bridge.

During the voyage I spent a lot of time chatting to Aron and Cindy Springer who live in Whitehorse, Yukon, a town I visited back in 2014 on my Alaska trip. Aron was interested in the motorcycle, so we arranged for an escort to take us to the cargo decks. El Burro was well snugged down on a largely vacant deck. 

They extended an open invitation to stay with them should I ever return to the Canadian northwest. A very interesting and amiable couple.

The Evangelistas will only be in service a few more months, built in 1977 in Japan it will be replaced in the first quarter next year by a new ferry built in ….you guessed it....China.

We arrived at Puerto Montt about 7.30am Saturday, to a very dank and wet day, though it brightened later during the ride to Chiloe.....more on that in a future post.

Cheers T2