At 02:45 ship’s time, we dropped anchor at Port Eden. Some quiet hours of sleep, a late breakfast and a perfect temperature for a coffee out on deck! The water was like a mirror and as the sun just came above the mountains, the whole bay seemed a quiet, hidden-away gem that was sparkling and steaming. Wisps of smoke hung just above the water and the smell of wood fires reached us on deck.
We went ashore for a few hours, stretched our legs walking the wooden boardwalk that goes like a snake through the settlement. Only 150 people live here, and at the moment we went ashore, it looked like most of the houses were empty. Whether for Easter holiday, or for the rest of the winter, we never found out.
Together with Tooske and Thor, I headed left first, because when we were on the deck of the Tecla, I had seen a structure that looked like a container made of glass with a bar-like terrace… very out of place, was the first thing I thought. As we got to the end of the boardwalk, it turned out to have been gifted to the town by a company: a glass container, with a super-hip interior, almost Scandinavian-looking. A water boiler and a microwave, a small hot air heater and on the rooftop, some solar panels to make this a self-sustaining unit. We did not go in. It felt weird.
We ended up walking up a hill to a spectacular view, we could see the small islands in the bay, the different fishing docksides and the old decaying boardwalk and the new one just beside it. We went down the hill again, stopped to stare at all the different colors of mosses that were growing on the rock, and all the while, we were surrounded by small hummingbirds. Grey, purple, green, red, so much to look at and so little time, because they were incredibly fast! They were looking for nectar in the wild fuchsias and were singing to each other in the trees.
As we sat on an old dock, a cat came to keep us company. Very happy to find us eager to give head scratches and chin rubs.
That afternoon we continued and knew we would be underway for a few days. We made it across the Golfo de Penas and were able to start sailing this morning, just before lunch. We have gybed twice since then and are keeping a very comfortable speed of 8 knots most of the time, 9 knots while surfing down the waves! We have a birthday on board and it seems like most of the birthday wishes came true with this sunny day.
Although the channels are beautiful and breathtaking, the views ever-changing and each day more beautiful and each corner more exciting, it is a relief to be sailing again on this open water. And in sunshine! Not yet bare feet on the deck, but certainly a “one-layer” kind of afternoon.
The sunset just now was amazing, the moonrise spectacular, so what more can we wish for?! Maybe one less coffee would have been good for me…
All is well on board,
Jet
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