Sailing with the French Trekkers

Please view the first entry in this blog if you are a potential buyer of our boat.  Photos and specifications, along with contact info is in the entry titled: Sale Sail Sale Sail Sale Sail.

Current situation:

The spreaders are painted. Richard hung them from the eaves of our casita in Pelluco so he could work on them at home.  The mast on its risers at the marina is painted.  He's reattached the hardware.

He sanded and varnished both mast and spreaders till he'd used two liters of "Seven Lives" ... some fifteen coats on the mast.  Then he painted, because paint is the UV protection that keeps the varnish coats sound.

Now for the re-rigging challenge.  We're waiting for a part or two.

In these past weeks, we've seen some real interest from prospective buyers.  One person asked when the boat had last been sailing.  I have to admit, the answer surprised me.  I haven't sailed aboard Abrazo since she was in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico, in January of 2009, the simple reason being that I'm aging, and have lost the will and the flexibility to enjoy boat life.  Richard, in the meantime, aging as well, but still willing, sailed the boat to the Marquesas Islands, to Tahiti, to Talcahuano, to Puerto Montt and south thru the many islands and fjords of the Southern Cone's Pacific shores to the Beagle Channel ... and back to Puerto Montt.  For many of those nautical miles he had one man or another aboard as crew; for many a mile he sailed single-handed.  In November of 2012, when his brother came to Chile for a visit, and a promised sail, the weather was unfortunately discouraging.  Since Brother Bob went home to Denver, Richard has motored the boat from one side of the marina to the other, but has not moved under sail these last two seasons.

Once the mast is re-installed and rigged, Abrazo will be ready to sail again.  If you are a serious candidate to become her next skipper, you will soon be welcomed to experience her performance under sail here in the breezy waters of Cena Reloncavi.

For now, a story from Abrazo's history:  2012

Abrazo's last logged sail was in November of 2012, when Richard took a couple of trekkers from France on board to cruise the waters between Chile’s Chiloe Island and the mainland volcanoes.  

The story begins in January of that year, a few weeks before Richard met the French Trekkers, Raphael & Johanna.

New Year's Day, 2012, Abrazo and Captain Baila rested at the dock in the Argentine port of Ushuaia, waiting for repair of a water pump.  Richard had single-handed across the Beagle Channel from Puerto Williams, Chile's southernmost town, not far from Cape Horn.

By January 6th, with functioning water pump, he sailed back to the Chilean side of  the Beagle Channel.  That return to Chile from Argentina gave him a new, two-year visa for his U.S. boat.  He reconnected with his Chilean crew, Victor, and the guys thought they were ready to head north again, back to Puerto Montt.  But there were alternator problems.  Richard decided to make the twelve hour slog back to Ushuaia where he had some hope of finding competent mechanics.  Victor had to stay in Chile, so Richard single-handed again and took his failed alternators to the shop in Ushuaia.  Two weeks of fine tuning later ...

.. January 20,. a Friday afternoon, as he was preparing the boat to sail back to Pto Williams the next day, a young French couple on the dock asked if they could cross the Beagle Channel with him.  Did they have sailing experience? YES.  What gear did they carry?  Only the packs on their backs.  He told them to come back at 2 pm tomorrow.    

On Saturday, Johanna and Raphael appeared early for the appointed meeting, and accompanied Richard to the Capitan de la Puerto office for the zarpe.  Johanna's perfect Spanish made this easy.  

Shortly after 2 pm they cleared the dock, set a double-reefed main and jib, and sailed at 6.5 knots in 20-25 knots of wind.  At 4:30, they shook out the second reef to sail wing on wing and broad reach the rest of the way across the Beagle Channel.  On the way, Raphael manned the helm, and Johanna fixed a delicious late lunch of salami sandwiches.  When they reached Puerto Williams at 9:30 pm, it was too late to clear customs, so they anchored out for the night.  Richard normally slept on the port settee berth, so it was easy enough to send the French couple to the double berth in the fo'c'sle.

Richard learned that Raphael and Johanna, both in their thirties, were doctors who'd worked for some time in a small Chilean village, and now wanted to hike the 50 km mountain trail around Los Dientes on Isla Navarino.  "Five days and nights of hiking and camping," Richard wrote me.  "Oh, to be young again!"


Dientes de Navarino.   

That Sunday, after weighing anchor in the morning, moving the boat to the Yacht Club, and clearing into Chile with the Capitan de la Puerto, the French couple left with their gear.  But they came back to the boat in the evening to exchange emails and to cook their version of chicken cacciatore in appreciation for the ride across and a generally good time.

Over the next two months, Richard and Victor had plenty of adventures sailing Abrazo north back to Puerto Montt, and that's another story.  Meanwhile, Raphael and Johanna made their way overland, arriving in Puerto Montt in late March, shortly after Richard did.  They all reconnected at the marina and had a fine dinner together before the trekkers caught a bus north to where they would hike Volcan Villarica.

Abrazo required paint, varnish, cleaning, and other maintenance after the long months of cruising Patagonia, so Richard found a place to live on Isla Tenglo, a short ferry ride from the marina, before the cold rains of Puerto Montt's winter season came on.  He worked on board Abrazo by day, enjoying the warmth of her wood stove; and he ferried floor boards and other parts across to the the island for refinishing there.  I visited from the US during the month of June, when the weather is miserable in Pto Montt.  We took a bus north to the warmer parts of Chile that month.

During this time, the French Trekkers had a community education project in another Chilean village, then traveled north to Chile's glorious desert before entering Peru.  In July, Raphael emailed that they'd just completed a 10-day trek in the high cordillera Huayhuash in the Andes.  They were on their way to Ecuador and Columbia.  

While Richard completed many of his boat projects thru the months of July to September, he was also logging his time in Chile in order to secure his permanent resident visa, which requires a full year without leaving the country to visit your wife..  

When Rafael emailed in September that they were scheduling their return to France, but hoped, if it was possible, to have another sail with Capitan Baila on Abrazo before they left, Richard was delighted to invite them aboard for a ten-day cruise.  In Puerto Montt, Johanna helped again to get the zarpe.   

October 30, they cast off the dock lines, headed out.  They sailed Abrazo south along the west side of Reloncavi Bay to a small island near Calbuco, where they anchored near Estero Machildad.  That first night they may have watched one of the Hornblower movies on Richard's computer.

October 31:  Crossed the Gulf of Ancud and anchored at Isla Anihue (the red balloon marks the spot on the map below).  Richard wrote in his log:  "We had a good day with north winds 15 to 20 with a few higher gusts in the rain.  Raphael and Johanna did most of the work.  I advised them on technicalities. And read my book."  [Predator Nation: Corporate Criminals, Political Corruption, and the Hijacking of America, by Charles H. Ferguson]

November 1:  Richard sailmailed me:  "As I write this, two more power boats arrived in the anchorage. It blew and rained last night and today so we stayed put, played cards and generally stayed warm and dry. Curare, a boat from Vancouver, arrived and Geoff and Linda are having dinner here tonight. They are both geologists and have a big dog on a boat smaller than Abrazo. Johanna is cooking her chicken dinner and Raphael has been doing the clean up. It makes for a relaxing life."
The trekkers also knew how to set up their camera on the companionway step to capture the group after the feast that night in Abrazo's main cabin.  

November 2: Abrazo and crew braved the squalls and sailed south to Isla Quehui, part of that island chain below Castro that divides Golfo de Ancud from the deeper Golfo de Corcovado.

Richard's sail mail:  "We are in Estero Pindo. I have been here a few times and I like the spot. The weather was overcast with rain squalls today ...  later the sun came out and wind switched to SW. We had a late lunch and are ready for settling in for the night. ... We played Rummy and I actually won. I think there is a rematch in store. Life is good."

He recognized another of the boats in the anchorage as that sailed by a young Spanish couple he knew from the marina in Pto Montt.   "I am hoping they come over and meet the French couple. They have a lot in common. They are about the same age. I just love their enthusiasm ... fun to watch."

November 3, motor-sailing, they had some trouble with the batteries not charging and went in to Estero Huildad, still on the coast of Isla Chiloe, for the night.  Richard investigated the alternator, which worked fine the next day.  

Sunday, November 4, they sailed across the Gulf to Tic Toc Bay (left), Chile's Blue Whale Marine Preserve just south of Volcan Corcovado (and just off the bottom of that map above).  Must have run the engine a couple of hours, because Richard reports two full batteries at anchor that night.
"Raphael is baking bread and Johanna is knitting a scarf. It's tacos tonight for dinner and all is well on board. We will be here two nights and then head back to PM."

The weather was not great there near Isla Huepan in Tic Toc Bay.  The sailors spent the next three days anchored, rowing to shore during less-wet spells.  Their zarpe was about to expire when Captain Baila, with a lot of help from Johanna I'm quite sure, emailed the Armada for permission to extend their stay in hopes of better weather.  

Thursday, November 8, the New Zealand boat, Caper, rafted to Abrazo's side.  Captain John Green and crew were on their way south to go thru the Beagle Channel to the Atlantic and on to the Mediterranean.  

Abrazo's wooden decks and Caper's steel ones.

Friday, November 9 brought beautiful weather for a long day of sailing north to Isla Auchemo, one of the small islands near the mouth of the Rio Yelcho.  (Map above:  where the Carretera Austral, south of Parque Pumalin, takes a sharp turn from the water's edge to the east.)

Saturday, November 10: "... motorsailed till 1 pm, then reefed and sailed on winds from S at 15-20 knots.  To Anihue by 6:30 … anchored near S/V Silas Crosby."



Raphael's at the helm, and the main is reefed.

Isla Anihue is that spot marked by the red balloon on the map above.  Captain Steve of S/V Silas Crosby visited aboard Abrazo that night.  

Sunday, November 11:  "... had to cut kelp off the anchor.  Motorsailed to Cahuelmo and tied to a line tied to rocks, left by fisherman."  

Cahuelmo is a small inlet almost directly east of Isla Anihue on the mainland, inside that peninsula, south of Hornopirén.  Fish boats string lines across the deep, narrow fjord, tied to rocks on either side. When the come in, they untie the knot in the middle and connect each end of their boat to shore that way.  
When the fisherman motored in later, Richard expected that they'd raft to Abrazo; instead, they set another line across the bite, and rafted to that.
Breaking Bad, Season One, played on R's computer! 

Monday, November 12: Captain and crew waited for the fishermen to motor away, and then took the skiff up the river to the hot springs, Baños Cahuelmo, where the "tubs" are holes carved in the rocks by native people long ago, with geothermal waters channeled from the source. 



Somehow, they managed to leave that beautiful place around noon to motorsail out of the fjord.   Then, making plenty of sail changes through the afternoon, they sailed till the wind died. 

Along the way, the sailors noted some distant volcanic activity.  Could it possibly be Volcan Villarica (referred to as "His Eminence" by some locals), the peak the French Trekkers had climbed in late March of 2012?  Richard says no ... more likely Volcan Hornopiren, or Yates.  But Villarica is the only Chilean volcano that reported any activity that month.

They motored on to the north, and by 5 pm were safely anchored near Isla Malomacun in Canal Zapatero, not far outside the entrance to Hornopirén.  This is a fish-buying station, where the sailors watched the boats and fishermen "do their thing."

The last day: 

Richard recalls that they took off next morning, motoring, and picked up a nice southerly in clearing weather.  They sailed all day with main and genoa, across Golfo de Ancud to the channel towards Calbuco and back into Cena Reloncavi. 

Near the boat haven, Abrazo's crew rounded up and took down the sails.  Raphael and Johanna bagged the genoa, covered the main, secured the bumpers in place and coiled lines, while Richard motored the boat into the marina.   

 

Richard's not sure whether they rode the bus into town together or not.  He would have been headed to the grocery store, while Raphael and Johanna aimed to get the bus towards Buenos Aires. 

A month later, Raphael emailed some of his photos from the trip, and sent along a link to a couple of guys he and Johanna had met.  "They are traveling through South America on bicycles, they are really adventurous. We talked about you, and they seemed interested to do sailing. We thought that you may be interested by having a crew for your summer cruise. They already have sailing experience, speak English and Spanish and cook bread!"

What with enduring the foul weather of late November with his brother, and then attending to the bureaucratic business of securing his resident visa, Richard didn’t get Abrazo out into the wind again that season.  During the sailing season of 2013-14, he focused on getting the boat officially “imported” into Chile, another kind of voyage entirely. 

Now at the beginning of February, 2015, I think it’s very possible he’ll be sailing Reloncavi Bay soon. 

P.S.  Sorry about all the font variations.  Still need to learn how to work that part of this BlogSpot!